- House of Wonders first place in East Africa to have electricity and an elevator.
- First place in East Africa to have color TV.
- Birthplace of Feddie Mercury, the lead player of Queen (born in 1946 as Farok Bulsara).
- Che Guevara visited in 1966 before returning to Bolivia where he was killed.
- In its time largest producer of cloves in the world.
- Largest slave market in the world until its closure in 1873 (a total of 600,000 sold in the 19th century).
- Aldabra tortoises are the second largest in the world after those found in Galapagos weighing up to 200kgs, and evolved over 180 million years ago, to be found on Changuu island.
- Zanzibar derives it’s name from the Persian term “Zangh-i-bar” or “land of the blacks”.
- The main island Unguja derives its name from “unguja” a term applied by mainlanders to the island meaning “full pot” or an area where one could harvest and forage for a full pot of basket of food.
- Zanzibar island is about the same size as the mediterranean island of Majorca. (1,500 sq km.)
- Zanzibar has largest surviving numbers of carved arab doors in East Africa (approx 277).