Nyerere, Julius Kambarage, << nih RAIR ee, JOOL yuhs kahm BAH rah guh >> (1922-1999), was president of Tanzania from 1964 until he retired in 1985. Tanzania consists of Tanganyika, a region on the African mainland; and Zanzibar, a nearby island group. Tanganyika and Zanzibar were formerly ruled by the United Kingdom. Nyerere led the movement that resulted in Tanganyika’s independence from the United Kingdom in 1961. He became the president of Tanganyika in 1962. He also helped unite Tanganyika and Zanzibar to form Tanzania in 1964, and he became the new country’s president. He was first elected president in 1965 and was reelected in 1970, 1975, and 1980. Nyerere retired as president in 1985 and as chairman of the only legal political party in 1990. But he remained a major influence in Tanzania until his death on Oct. 14, 1999.
As Tanzania’s president, Nyerere became a leading spokesman for cooperation among black African nations, and he helped unite Tanzania’s many ethnic groups. In 1979, Nyerere sent Tanzanian troops to Uganda, after Uganda had invaded Tanzania. The Tanzanian troops helped overthrow the dictatorship of Idi Amin Dada in Uganda.
Nyerere was born on April 13, 1922, near what is now Musoma, Tanzania. He was educated at various schools in what are now Tanzania and Uganda and at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
