Tanzania contains Kilwa Kisiwani, a medieval trading city on an island off the country’s southern coast.
Kilwa Kisiwani became a major Swahili trading center from the 11th century onward. Its merchants participated in Indian Ocean commerce linking the East African coast with Arabia, Persia, India, and other regions; gold and ivory from the African interior were among the important goods traded through the port.
The island preserves substantial ruins, including the Great Mosque of Kilwa, which contains some of the earliest surviving examples of its type on the East African coast. UNESCO inscribed Kilwa Kisiwani and nearby Songo Mnara as a World Heritage Site in 1981.
Kilwa Kisiwani is sometimes confused with Zanzibar’s historic Stone Town. Both belong to the Swahili cultural world, but Kilwa Kisiwani is an archaeological island site farther south in Tanzania.