Zanzibar’s culture is a true reflection of the diversity at its best, thanks to its past mix of races, tribes, and religions. The name Zanzibar (Zenj-al-baar) itself originates from Oman and means Black people. It is also found in Persian Scripts as Zangistan. Shirazis followed Africans from Persia who later integrated with offspring’s to be known as “Washirazi”. Other prominent inhabitants apart from the Omanis who colonised Zanzibar, are the Yemeni Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis, and Comorians and for that matter from Europe – Portuguese and English.

Historically, diverse people with very different backgrounds have always inhabited Zanzibar. These people have been proficient in fishing, trading and craftsmanship. Their backgrounds have included escaped convicts and children of marriages between the rulers of the island and resident or visiting traders.

Besides the shared culture among all these inhabitants, majority of them still retain their original traditions and customs. The main religion is of Sunni faith (Islam) constituting 97% and practiced by majority of the islanders. Followed by Christians of both Anglican and Catholics and Hinduism. The social gathering which is quite unique, came out of a language of a Creole type and widely spoken within the East African Coast as far as Somali in the north and Mozambique in the south. The same is spoken widely in the interior of the continent through – Burundi/Rwanda, Zaire, Zambia, and Malawi and inclusive of Kenya and Uganda.

Kiswahili came into writing in the early 19th century. The language, diverse traditions, attire, cuisine, architecture and many, many more paints the true colour of the peculiar Zanzibar culture.