Zanzibar is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about 35 km off the coast of mainland Tanzania, at six degrees south of the Equator.

It comprises many islands, the main two being Unguja (sometimes called Zanzibar) and Pemba. Highest point is 390 feet above sea level. The population today including Pemba is approximately 1 million. The main language is Kiswahili. The main island is 47 miles long by 20 miles wide.

Zanzibar was visited by Vasco da Gama in 1497, and later occupied by portugal. Arabs from Oman dislodged the Portuguese around 1650, but Zanzibar's real rise to power came in 1820 when the great Sultan Sayeed of Muscat moved his capital there. His empire included all the coast of Kenya, Tanganyika, and Oman, as well as Zanzibar.

German, French, Indian, and British Post offices all functioned in Zanzibar. The country became a British protectorate in 1890, and the ruling Al-Busaid dynasty continued as Heads of State, but advised by a British Resident.

In December 1963, Zanzibar became independent, and a month later, a violent revolution overthrew the sultan, proclaimed a republic, and thence the Arabs were no longer the ruling class. In April 1964, Zanzibar united with the newly-independent neighbour country, Tanganyika. The new country came to be called Tanzania. Separate stamps for Zanzibar ceased in 1967, but Tanzania continues to issue a few stamps with Zanzibar themes.

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