In the period from April 12 to May 10, 2003, an expedition of Russian anthropologists was organized in Tanzania on the initiative of the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Rosarubezhcenter, with the support of the University of Dar es Salaam and the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Tanzania. This expedition was the first experience of large-scale field research of Russian scientists in Africa since the collapse of the USSR (and in East Africa-including the Soviet period).

The head of the expedition was Zav. Department of Cultural Anthropology of the Center for Civilizational and Regional Studies of the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences (hereinafter - CCRI) D. M. Bondarenko. The expedition also included A.D. Savateev, V. V. Usacheva, and D. A. Khalturina from the Center for African Studies, E. S. Lvova, Professor of the Department of African Studies at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University, and M. Petronoti, an employee of the Center for Social Research in Athens (Greece).

The study focuses on Islam-Christian relations in Tanzania. In this regard, it should be noted that today the interaction of the two most influential confessions is actively studied by scientists from different countries based mainly on the materials of "classical countries" representing these two civilizations, including Russia. Tanzania, on the other hand, is an extremely interesting example of Islam - Christian interaction on the periphery of two great civilizations. Its peculiarity lies in the high degree of conflict-free relations between Christians and Muslims, which have lasted since the XVI century (and especially actively since the second half of the XIX century). Now Tanzania is recognized by various international organizations as a country where freedom of conscience is really respected. The number of Christians and Muslims in the continental part of the country is approximately the same.

The task of the expedition, therefore, was to identify models and mechanisms of interaction between the Islamic and Christian communities in Tanzania, which for a long time allow maintaining tolerance in the relationship between these two communities. At the same time, one should keep in mind the confessional heterogeneity of each of the communities separately: Sunnis, Shiites of various trends, supporters of different tariqas among Muslims; Catholics, adherents of a huge number of Protestant churches and even Orthodox Christians among Christians. The presence of adherents of the so-called "traditional African beliefs", Hindus, etc., also adds important touches to the already motley picture of confessional relations in Tanzania.

The central problem of the expedition was also directly related to the consideration of a number of factors that can affect the confessional situation: gender, age and social stratification of the population, its educational level, marital relations, etc. Special attention was paid to the ethno-racial aspect. On the one hand, Tanzania is home to several dozen large and small indigenous peoples, who in general make up more than 90% of the country's population. At the same time, among the representatives of the overwhelming majority of them, one can meet both Christians and Muslims. On the other hand, the country is home to Indians, Arabs, and Greeks, who play a prominent role primarily in the economic life of Tanzania.

The research objectives determined its methodology. Three methods were chosen as the main ones: questionnaires, interviews, and observation.

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Four versions of the 69-question questionnaire were developed, addressed to Christians and Muslims of African and non-African descent and translated into English and Swahili. In particular, the questionnaire contained questions focused on identifying the parameters of interfaith tolerance and xenophobia, on studying the confessional aspects of the political consciousness of Tanzanians, as well as Muslim and Christian models of gender and family relations. There were also questions that mark positions on a certain aggravation of relations between Christianity and Islam on a geopolitical scale. Parishioners of churches and mosques, employees of secular institutions, and passers-by were asked to fill out questionnaires. As a result, 953 questionnaires were collected: 472 were filled out by Christians of African descent, 345 - by Muslims of African descent, 34 - by Christians of non - African origin, 77-by Muslims of non-African origin. Another 25 questionnaires were received from representatives of other faiths (mainly Hindus) and atheists. Despite the fact that, for a number of reasons, the work was conducted only in Dar es Salaam, the results obtained can be considered indicative: the largest city, economic and political center of the country gave a complete cross-section of the confessional, ethnic, social, gender and age composition of the country's population.

The participants of the expedition took about 70 semi-formal and informal interviews with Christians and Muslims, both ordinary citizens and people who can influence public opinion: representatives of the clergy, journalists, school and university teachers, etc. More than half of the interviews were conducted on a special questionnaire, which included 18 questions; each interview of this kind took about 20 minutes. 25-30 minutes. Other interviews were classified as expert interviews, but they were conducted according to a different plan and lasted an average of 40-50 minutes. Finally, a series of interviews consisted of a conversation without a preliminary plan, which lasted from an hour to one and a half. The vast majority of interviews were recorded on a tape recorder. They made it possible to identify a holistic image of the adept of their own and other faiths in the minds of the interviewees, various aspects of the attitude of believers to another religion and its followers, as well as their ideas about the nature of interaction between Islam and Christianity in Tanzania and in the world in the past, present and future. The interviews also revealed the reasons for choosing a particular religion, which is very interesting.

A large part of the work was devoted to monitoring the daily and festive life of Christians and Muslims in Tanzania (if possible included), accompanied by photographs and audio recordings. Attending religious ceremonies in churches and mosques, Christian and Muslim wedding ceremonies, etc. provided a more complete picture of the life of adherents of various faiths in Tanzania.

Of course, it is still premature to draw scientific conclusions based on the results of the expedition: the next few months will be devoted to processing the collected materials. Then it is planned to publish a collection of works of the expedition participants and a series of articles in scientific journals, including " Vostok (Oriens)".

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