File:Tanzania (MODIS).jpg

English: With a land area spanning roughly 885,800 square miles (2.9 million sq km), Tanzania sprawls across Eastern Africa. From the border with Democratic Republic in the west to its eastern islands (Mafia, Pemba, and Zanzibar) in the Indian Ocean, the country’s landscape varies widely to include the Great Rift Valley (west), the central plateau, the coastal plain, and a mountainous north. A few of the things that makes Tanzania is notable is an amazing variety of lakes, iconic big game parks, and its diverse geology, which includes diamonds and gemstones. The intensely colored violet-blue gemstone called tanzanite is only found in Tanzania and is said to be much rarer than either diamonds or sapphire.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image that captured much of Tanzania on July 20, 2023.

Lake Tanganyika, which is shared by the Democratic Republic of Congo, is visible in the far west. The rugged heights of the Great Rift Valley separates Tanganyika and mud-colored Lake Rukwa. Green patches mark agricultural regions as well as several parks that provide homes for big game animals and drive the economically-important tourism industry. Plumes of smoke in these areas suggests that agricultural burning, which is common at this time of year, is taking place. The nearly-round Lake Sulunga sits only about 45 km (30 miles) of Dodoma, the capital city of Tanzania. Dodoma is not easily visible in this image.