1985 - Mr Nyerere retires and is replaced by the president of Zanzibar, Ali Mwinyi.
1992 - Constitution amended to allow multi-party politics.
1995 - Benjamin Mkapa chosen as president in Tanzania's first multi-party election.
Embassy attackImage copyrightAP
US embassies were hit in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam by the al-Qaeda terror group
US embassy attacks remembered
1998 August - Al-Qaeda Islamist terror group bombs US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.
2000 - Mkapa elected for a second term, winning 72% of the vote.
2001 26 January - Tanzanian police shoot dead two people in Zanzibar while raiding the offices in Zanzibar town of the Civic United Front. Front chairman Ibrahim Lipumba charged with unlawful assembly and disturbing the peace.
Zanzibar violence
2005 March-April - Political violence in semi-autonomous Zanzibar ahead of voter registration for October poll.
2005 October - Governing Chama Cha Mapinduzi wins Zanzibar elections. Opposition Civic United Front claims vote-rigging and announces an indefinite boycott of Zanzibar's parliament.
Kikwete elected
2005 December - Jakaya Kikwete, foreign minister and ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi candidate, wins presidential elections.
2006 April - High Court outlaws traditional practice of entertaining candidates during elections. Critics of "Takrima" - the giving of tips - said it encouraged corruption.
2006 June - Visiting Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, on his seven-nation African tour to secure energy deals and strengthen economic ties, signs agreements to help Tanzania's health, transport and communications sectors.
2006 August - The African Development Bank announces the cancellation of more than $640m of debt owed by Tanzania, saying it was impressed with Tanzania's economic record and the level of accountability of public finance.
2007 July - Former US president Bill Clinton launches a programme aimed at making subsidised malaria drugs available in a pilot scheme that could spread to the rest of Africa.
2008 January - Central Bank Governor Daudi Ballali is sacked after an international audit finds the bank made improper payments of more than $120m (£60m) to local companies.
Scandal
2008 February - President Kikwete dissolves cabinet following corruption scandal which forced the prime minister and two ministers to resign.
2009 November - Main opposition party in Zanzibar, Civic United Forum, ends five-year boycott of the island's parliament ahead of upcoming elections.
2010 July - Tanzania joins its neighbours in forming a new East African Common Market, intended to integrate the region's economy.
2010 September - President Kikwete says construction of highway through Serengeti game reserve will go ahead, despite criticism from environmental experts.
2010 October - President Kikwete wins re-election.
