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PEMBA

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 78 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PEMBA , an See also:

island in the See also:Indian Ocean off the See also:east See also:coast of See also:Africa, forming See also:part of the sultanate of See also:Zanzibar. Pemba lies 30 M. N.N.E. of Zanzibar island between 4° 8o' and 5° 30' S., and 390 35' and 390 50' E. It is some 40 M. See also:long and 10 across at its broadest part, and has an See also:area of 38o sq. m. It is of See also:coral-See also:line formation. On the See also:side facing the mainland the coast is much indented. From its luxuriant vegetation it gets its Arabic name of Al-huthera—" The See also:Green." The interior is diversified by hills, some of which exceed 600 ft. The See also:land is chiefly owned by See also:great Arab proprietors, who See also:work their plantations with See also:Swahili labour, and with negroes from the mainland. See also:Prior to 1897 the labourers were all slaves. Their See also:gradual manumission was accomplished without injury to the prosperity of the island. The See also:population is estimated at between 50,000 and 6o,000, of whom 2000 to 3000 are See also:Arabs. Most of the inhabitants are of See also:Bantu stock, and are known as Wapemba.

In the ports there are many See also:

Hindu traders and a few Europeans. The plantations are nearly all devoted to See also:cloves (the See also:annual See also:average output being 10,000,000 lb) and coco-See also:nut palms (for the preparation of See also:copra). The number of coco-nut plantations is very small compared with those devoted to cloves. Yet cloves need much care and See also:attention and yield small profit, while the coco-nut See also:palm yields a fairly See also:uniform See also:crop of nuts and will grow almost anywhere. The preponderance of clove plantations See also:dates from a See also:cyclone which in 1872 destroyed nearly all the clove-trees in the island of Zanzibar. Thereupon, to benefit from the great rise in the See also:price of cloves, the Pemba planters cut down their palms and planted cloves. The value of the cloves exported in 1907 was £339,000, or 92% of the See also:total exports. See also:India, See also:Germany and Great See also:Britain are, in the See also:order named, the See also:chief purchasers. Other exports include See also:fire-See also:wood, skins and hides, See also:mother-of-See also:pearl, See also:wax and small quantities of See also:rubber, cowries, See also:tortoiseshell and so-called See also:tortoise-See also:nail. The " tortoise-nail " is the See also:valve with which a See also:shell-See also:fish closes its shell. The Llandolphia rubber-See also:vine is indigenous, and since 1906 See also:Ceara rubber-trees have been extensively planted. See also:Rice, the chief of Pemba's imports, could easily be grown on the island.

See also:

Cotton cloths (Kangas) See also:form the next most considerable See also:item in the imports. Pemba has three ports, all on the See also:west side of the island. Shaki-Shaki, the See also:capital and the centre of See also:trade, is centrally situated at the See also:head of a shallow tidal See also:creek partly blocked by dense growths of mangroves. Mkoani is on the See also:south-west coast, Kishi-See also:Kashi on the See also:north-west coast; at the last-named See also:port there is a deep and well-sheltered See also:harbour, approached however by a narrow and dangerous channel. Pemba is administered as an integral part of the Zanzibar dominions, and yields a considerable surplus to the See also:exchequer, mainly from a 25% See also:duty imposed on cloves exported. There is a weekly steamship service to Zanzibar, and in 1907 the two islands were connected by wireless telegraphy (see ZANZIBAR).

End of Article: PEMBA

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