Foreign relations of Zanzibar Foreign relations of Zanzibar The foreign relations of Zanzibar refers to the relationships with other nations by the independent Zanzibari government which existed from 1856 to 1964, when the Zanzibar Revolution overthrew the ruling Sultan and unified the country with Tanganyika, forming Tanzania. In 1890, Zanzibar gave up formal control over their foreign relations to the British Empire. In 1906, the United States of America formalized a treaty in which they relinquished any claims to Zanzibar in favor of the British Empire. Following the unification and creation of Tanzania, Zanzibar's foreign relations were handled by the joint government in Dar
History of Zanzibar place to this day. The third pillar of the economy was slaves, which gave Zanzibar an important place in the Arab slave trade, the Indian Ocean equivalent of the better-known Triangular Trade. The Omani Sultan of Zanzibar controlled a substantial portion of the African Great Lakes coast, known as Zanj, as well as extensive inland trading routes. Sometimes gradually, sometimes by fits and starts, control of Zanzibar came into the hands of the British Empire. In 1890, Zanzibar became a British protectorate. The death of one sultan and the succession of another of whom the British did not approve later