Pemba is the northern island of the Zanzibar archipelago, about 50 km north of Unguja and separated from the mainland by the deep Pemba Channel. It covers 988 km² and is more hilly, greener and far less visited than Unguja; the 2022 census counted 543,441 residents, and Chake-Chake is the main town, with Wete and Mkoani the district capitals. The island's economy rests on cloves — some 3.5 million trees, the largest concentration in Zanzibar — with rice, coconut and fishing. For visitors the draw is underwater: the channel's steep walls, healthy coral and abundant pelagic fish make Pemba one of East Africa's best dive areas, and the Misali Island reserve offers sheltered snorkelling. Game fishing in the channel is well established. On land, the Ngezi forest in the north shelters the endemic Pemba flying fox, the island is a BirdLife Important Bird Area for its endemic green pigeon, scops owl, white-eye and sunbird, and ruins at Ras Mkumbuu and Pujini record medieval Swahili settlements.
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