Zanzibar the sheltered harbor located on the site of present-day Zanzibar City. The clove, originating from the Moluccan Islands (today in Indonesia), was introduced in Zanzibar by the Omani sultans in the first half of the 19th century. Zanzibar, mainly Pemba Island, was once the world's leading clove producer, but annual clove sales have plummeted by 80 percent since the 1970s. Zanzibar's clove industry has been crippled by a fast-moving global market, international competition, and a hangover from Tanzania's failed experiment with socialism in the 1960s and 1970s, when the government controlled clove prices and exports. Zanzibar now ranks a distant
Wildlife of Zanzibar diving and snorkelling sites. The Menai Marine Park ecosystem is a protected marine conservation area which covers . A marine reserve management plan has been developed with participation of the local communities. Tumbatu Island is part of the north-west coast of Zanzibar. This tiny island was once the capital of Zanzibar during the reign of the Sultan of Shiraz. The proud people of the island trace their ancestry to the Shiraz rulers of Persia who came to the island in the 10th century. The island is shaped like a long, thin dagger. Vegetation on the island consists of very large