Pemba

This article is about the island. Pemba is also a city in Mozambique.

Pemba is an island about 50 kilometres to the north of the island Zanzibar. Both islands are part of Tanzania and lie off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. It lies 50 kilometres east of the mainland Tanzania. Together with Mafia Island (south of Zanzibar), they form the Spice Islands. In 1988, the estimated population was 265,000, with an area of 980 km².

Most of the island, which is regarded to be hillier and more fertile than Zanzibar, is dominated by small scale farming. There is large scale farming of cash crops such as cloves — there are over 3 million clove trees.

The island is seldom visited, although it is a center for traditional medicine and witchcraft. People come from as far away as Zaire to seek spiritual and physical healers.

The most important towns in Pemba are Chake Chake and Wete.

See also: Pemba, 1988, Africa, Clove, Farming, Indian Ocean, Mafia Island, Mozambique, Pemba, Mozambique, Spice Islands