The following is a timeline of the history of Zanzibar City, Unguja island, Zanzibar, Tanzania. The city is composed of Ng'ambo and Stone Town. Until recently it was known as Zanzibar Town.

Prior to 19th century

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Pre-colonial period
Oldowan stone tool culture Olduvai Gorge Laetoli footprints Mumba Cave hunter-gatherers Cushitic expansion Luxmanda Bantu expansion Nilotic expansion Indian Ocean trade History of Zanzibar Menouthias Rhapta Urewe culture Swahili culture Kilwa Sultanate Engaruka
Colonial period
Vasco da Gama and Portuguese expansion Omani Empire East African slave trade Sultanate of Zanzibar Zanzibar slave trade Scramble for Africa German East Africa Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty Maji Maji Rebellion East African Campaign British East Africa Tanganyika Territory
Modern history
Tanganyika Zanzibar Revolution Julius Nyerere Ujamaa Uganda–Tanzania War 1998 United States embassy bombings East African Community COVID-19 pandemic in Tanzania
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• 1700 – Old Fort of Zanzibar is built by Omanis (approximate date).^[1]
• 1710 – Queen Fatima in power.^[2]
• 1746 – "Arab garrison" installed in fort.^[2]
• 1753 – Fort "unsuccessfully attacked by Mazrui Arabs from Mombasa."^[2]
• 1784 – Zanzibar becomes part of Oman.^[2]

19th century

• 1822 – Moresby Treaty.
• 1828 – The sultan orders a particular portion of the land to be cultivated in to cloe plantations. This result in an expansion of slave import.
• 1830 – Mtoni Palace built near town.^[3]
• 1832 – Capital of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman relocated to Zanzibar from Muscat, Oman by Said bin Sultan.^[4]
• 1836 – United States consulate established.^[4]
• 1841 – British consulate established.^[5]
• 1844 – French consulate established.^[6]
• 1845 – Hamerton Treaty.
• 1850 - Kidichi Baths built near town.^[7]
• 1856 – Majid bin Said of Zanzibar in power.^[8]
• 1870
  • Barghash ibn Said in power.^[5]
  • Population: 70,000 (approximate).^[5]
• 1872 - Cyclone.^[9]
• 1873 – British "forced the closure of the slave market."^[5]
• 1879 – Anglican Christ Church built.^[4]
• 1880 – Marhubi Palace built near town.^[3]
• 1883 – House of Wonders built.
• 1888 – Hamamni Persian Baths built.
• 1890 – British in power per Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty.
  • The purchase and selling of slaves is prohibited; slavery itself is preserved.
• 1896 – 27 August: Anglo-Zanzibar War.
• 1897 – Slavery in Zanzibar abolished^[10] except in the case of concubines (abolished in 1909^[11]).
• 1898 – Catholic St. Joseph's Cathedral built.

20th century

• 1904 – Darajani Market building constructed.
• 1905
  • Bububu railway constructed.
  • Plague.^[12]
• 1909 – Slavery in Zanzibar fully abolished with the abolition of slave concubinage.^[13]
• 1910
  • Law courts built.^[4]
  • Population: 35,262.^[14]
• 1914 – 20 September: German SMS Königsberg sinks British HMS Pegasus in harbour.
• 1925 – Peace Memorial Museum established.^[15][3]
• 1928 - Rent strike in Ng'ambo.^[16]
• 1935 - Jubilee Gardens laid out.^[17]
• 1948
  • General strike.^[5][18]
  • Population: 45,284.^[19]
• 1957 – Afro-Shirazi Party headquartered in town.
• 1961 – June: Unrest.^[20]
• 1964
  • 12 January: Zanzibar Revolution; city becomes capital of People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba.
  • April: Sultanate of Zanzibar becomes part of the new United Republic of Tanzania.
  • City becomes capital of semiautonomous region of Zanzibar.^[5]
  • Mtoro Rehani becomes mayor.^[21]
• 1966 - Kikwajuni GDR housing built.^[22]
• 1972 - 7 April: Abeid Karume assassinated.
• 1973 - Television Zanzibar inaugurated.
• 1977 - Trains of Michenzani (housing) built (approximate date).^[22]
• 1985
  • Economic liberalization begins.^[22]
  • Population: 133,000 (estimate).^[23]
• 1994
  • Palace Museum established.
  • Stone Town Conservation Plan approved.^[24]
  • Old Dispensary building restored.
• 1997
  • Zanzibar International Film Festival founded.^[25]
  • Keele Square rehabilitated.^[17]
• 1999
  • Area of city: 1,600 hectares.^[24]
  • Population: 195,000 (estimate).^[24]
• 2000 – Stone Town designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[25]

21st century

• 2004 – Sauti za Busara (music festival) begins.
• 2005 – Population: 220,000 (estimate).^[5]
• 2008 – 21 May – 19 June: 2008 Zanzibar power blackout.
• 2009–2010 – 10 December–March: Second Zanzibar power blackout
• 2009 – Forodhani Gardens rehabilitated.^[17]
• 2012 – Anti-government protests.^[26]
• 2013 – August: Two 18-year-old, British volunteer teachers, Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup, were injured by an acid attack by men on a motorcycle near Stone Town.^[27]
• 2014 – June: Mosque bombed.^[28]