Pemba Island

The main islands of the Zanzibar Archipelago: Unguja (left) and Pemba (right)

With a land area of 988 square kilometres (381 sq mi)[1] it is situated about 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the north of Unguja, the largest island of the archipelago. In 1964, Zanzibar was united with the former colony of Tanganyika to form Tanzania. It lies 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of mainland Tanzania, across the Pemba Channel. Together with Mafia Island (south of Unguja), these islands form the Spice Islands (not to be confused with the Maluku Islands of Indonesia).

Most of the island, which is hillier and more fertile than Unguja, is dominated by small scale farming. There is also large scale farming of cash crops such as cloves.

In previous years, the island was seldom visited due to inaccessibility and a reputation for political violence, with the notable exception of those drawn by its reputation as a center for traditional medicine and witchcraft. There is a quite large Arab community on the island, who immigrated from Oman. The population is a mix of Arab and original Waswahili inhabitants of the island. A significant portion of the population also identifies as Shirazi people.

The most important towns in Pemba are Chake-Chake (the capital), Mkoani, and Wete, which is the largest city. The centrally located Chake-Chake is perched on a mound with a view to the west on a bay and the tiny Misali Island, where the tides determine when a dhow can enter the local harbour. Pemba is, with the exception of a strip of land along its eastern coast, a very fertile place: besides clove trees, the locals grow mainly rice, coconut, bananas, cassava, and red beans (called maharagwe in the Swahili language).

Pemba is home to several dive sites, with steep drop-offs, untouched coral, and very abundant marine life.[2][3]

Pemba has a tropical climate, yet somewhat milder than Tanzania's mainland and milder than in Unguja island. This climate is classified as "Aw" by the Köppen-Geiger system. The average temperature in Chake Chake is 25.5 °C (78 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,364 mm. The monthly average temperatures are usually between 24 and 27.4 °C (75 °F and 81 °F). There are two rain seasons, with most rainfall coming between April and May and smaller rain season coming between November and December. Drier months are January and February, and a longer drier season between June and October.

The Mkama Ndume ruins at Pujini village

Archaeological research on Pemba has shown its centrality to the Swahili coast trading system as early as 600 AD.[6] Along the northern coast, urban settlements at Chwaka later developed and flourished from the eleventh century to ~1500 AD.[7]

West of Pemba's capital Chake-Chake, on a long stretched peninsula called Ras Mkumbuu, one can find some of the oldest and best preserved series of early ruins on the islands (Ndagoni ruins, probably 14th century).[8]

East of Chake-Chake one can find the Mkama Ndume ruins at Pujini village (south of the airport) within easy reach by road from Chake-Chake. This is the only known early fortification on the whole Swahili Coast; it is dated to the fifteenth century.[9]

The Ndagoni ruins at Ras Mkumbuu

Old Portuguese Fort in Chake-Chake

According to the Arab geographer Yakut, in the mid-13th century there were two independent sultans ruling over parts of Pemba Island.[10]

On 24 June 2016, the Australian Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Darren Chester, said that a piece of aircraft debris was found on Pemba Island, possibly being from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.[11]

Pemba's courthouse in Chake Chake

Pemba is part of the semi-autonomous Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar.[12] Administratively, it is divided into two regions, North Pemba (Pemba Kaskazini)with its capital at Wete,[13] and South Pemba (Pemba Kusini) with its capital at Mkoani.[14] Although the centrally located city of Chake Chake, near the airport, is considered Pemba's capital,[15][16] and is the seat of Pemba's court and the President of Zanzibar's official Pemba residence.

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  Island near Chake Chake
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  A wharf at Mkoani during the daytime with fishing nets being dried in the sun
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  An example of clove buds being dried in the equatorial sun
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  Threadfin butterflyfish (Chaetodon auriga). Underwater photograph at Pemba island
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  Sunburst butterflyfish (Chaetodon kleinii)
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  Yellow teardrop butterflyfish (Chaetodon interruptus)

• Geography of Tanzania
• Ghurabiyya Shia

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pemba Island.

• Short documentary about Pemba Island on YouTube
• Audio interview with Pemba Island resident about life on Pemba Island