BENJAMIN William Mkapa was born on November 12th, 1938 at Masasi, Mtwara Region. Between 1945 and 1951 he attended primary school at Lupaso and Ndanda Schools where he attained a Standard Eight School Certificate.
He completed his 'O' Level education at Ndanda Secondary School in 1955 and proceeded to Saint Francis College (now Pugu Secondary School; where the late former President of Tanzania Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere was a teacher) for his Advanced Level Secondary Education.
In 1959, Mr. Mkapa joined Makerere University College in Uganda and obtained Preliminary Arts (1959) and Bachelor of Arts Degree (Hons) in English (1962).
He worked as a district administrative officer in Dodoma and Dar es Salaam for one year before joining the foreign service in 1963.
Having joined the ruling party, the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), Mr. Mkapa was appointed managing editor of the party's newspaper in May 1966. In July 1974 he was promoted to press secretary for President Julius K. Nyerere and was subsequently appointed Director of SHIHATA, the first Tanzanian news agency, in 1976.
President Mkapa's long diplomatic career included a number of high postings, such as High Commissioner to Nigeria (in 1976) and Minister for Foreign Affairs (from 1977 to 1980).
He became Minister for Information and Culture in 1980-82; and again Minister for Information and Broadcasting in 1990-92.
In 1982, he served as High Commissioner to Canada and between 1983 and 1984 as Ambassador to the United States of America. He returned home in 1984 where he was again appointed as Member of Parliament and Minister for Foreign Affairs. In 1992, he served as Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, prior to being nominated for President in 1995, and Chairman of his Party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, in 1996.
In October 1995 he garnered 62 percent of the vote in Tanzania's first multiparty elections and began his term as President in November 1995. President Mkapa was re-elected with overwhelming mandate in 2000 and is now serving his last term in office.
Throughout his political career, President Mkapa has worked inexhaustibly to strengthen democracy, entrench civil rights and fight poverty, while increasing the country's exposure to international trade and investment. He is active in conflict prevention, management and resolution in the Great Lakes Region and is an active player in regional economic co-operation within the East African Community, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). He is currently the Chairman of SADC.
President Mkapa is also the Co-Chairperson of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalisation. He is co-chairing with President Tarja Kaarina Halonen of Finland.
President Mkapa holds two honorary doctorate degrees from Soka University in Japan (1998) and Morehouse College, Atlanta, USA (1999). His main hobby is reading. He is married to the former Anna Joseph Maro, and they have two sons
Tanzania,
is a country on the east coast of east Africa. 
