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 Travel to Zimbabwe — Unbiased reviews and great
deals from TripAdvisorZimbabwe
| Republic of Zimbabwe President: Robert Mugabe (1980)
Current government officials Land
area: 149,293 sq mi (386,669 sq km); total area: 150,804 sq
mi (390,580 sq km) Population (2007
est.): 12,311,143 (growth rate: 0.6%); birth rate: 27.7/1000;
infant mortality rate: 51.1/1000; life expectancy: 39.8; density per
sq mi: 82 Capital and largest city (2003
est.): Harare, 2,331,400 (metro. area),
1,919,700 (city proper) Other large
cities: Bulawayo, 965,000; Chitungwiza, 411,700 Monetary unit: Zimbabwean dollar Languages: English (official), Shona, Ndebele (Sindebele), numerous minor tribal
dialects Ethnicity/race: African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%,
white less than 1% Religions: syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%, Christian
25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1% Literacy rate: 91% (2003 est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.):
$2.211 billion; per capita $200. Real growth rate: –6.1%.
Inflation: 10, 453% official data; private sector estimates are
much higher (yearend 2007 est.). Unemployment: 80%. Arable
land: 8%. Agriculture: corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat,
coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs. Labor force:
4.032 million (2007); agriculture 66%, services 24%, industry 10%
(1996). Industries: mining (coal, gold, platinum, copper,
nickel, tin, clay, numerous metallic and nonmetallic ores), steel;
wood products, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, clothing and footwear,
foodstuffs, beverages. Natural resources: coal, chromium ore,
asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin,
platinum group metals. Exports: $1.766 billion f.o.b. (2006
est.): cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing.
Imports: $2.055 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): machinery and
transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels. Major
trading partners: South Africa, Switzerland, UK, China, Germany,
Botswana (2004). Communications:
Telephones: main lines in use: 331,700 (2006); mobile cellular:
832,500 (2006). Radio broadcast stations: AM 7, FM 20 (plus 17
repeater stations), shortwave 1 (1998). Radios: 1.14 million
(1997). Television broadcast stations: 16 (1997).
Televisions: 370,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers
(ISPs): 6 (2000). Internet users: 1 million (2005). Transportation: Railways: total: 3,077 km
(2002). Highways: total: 97,440 km ; paved: 18,514 km ;
unpaved: 78,926 km (2002 est.). Waterways: the Mazoe and
Zambezi rivers are used for transporting chrome ore from Harare to
Mozambique. Ports and harbors: Binga, Kariba. Airports:
430 (2002) . International
disputes: dormant dispute remains where Botswana, Namibia,
Zambia, and Zimbabwe boundaries converge. Major sources and definitions |
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Geography Zimbabwe, a
landlocked country in south-central Africa, is slightly smaller than
California. It is bordered by Botswana on the west, Zambia on the north,
Mozambique on the east, and South Africa on the south. Government Parliamentary democracy.
History The remains of early
humans, dating back 500,000 years, have been discovered in present-day
Zimbabwe. The land's earliest settlers, the Khoisan, date back to 200 B.C. After a period of Bantu domination, the Shona
people ruled, followed by the Nguni and Zulu peoples. By the mid-19th
century the descendants of the Nguni and Zulu, the Ndebele, had established
a powerful warrior kingdom. The first British explorers, colonists,
and missionaries arrived in the 1850s, and the massive influx of foreigners
led to the establishment of the territory Rhodesia, named after Cecil Rhodes
of the British South Africa Company. In 1923, European settlers voted to
become the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia. After a brief
federation with Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Nyasaland (now Malawi) in
the post–World War II period, Southern Rhodesia (also known as Rhodesia)
chose to remain a colony when its two partners voted for independence in
1963. On Nov. 11, 1965, the conservative white-minority government of
Rhodesia declared its independence from Britain. The country resisted the
demands of black Africans, and Prime Minister Ian Smith withstood British
pressure, economic sanctions, and guerrilla attacks in his effort to uphold
white supremacy. On March 1, 1970, Rhodesia formally proclaimed itself a
republic. Heightened guerrilla war and a withdrawal of South African
military aid in 1976 marked the beginning of the collapse of Smith's 11
years of resistance. Black nationalist movements were led by Bishop
Abel Muzorewa of the African National Congress and Ndabaningi Sithole, who
were moderates, and guerrilla leaders Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African
National Union (ZANU) and Joshua Nkomo of the Zimbabwe African People's
Union (ZAPU), who advocated revolution. On March 3, 1978, Smith,
Muzorewa, Sithole, and Chief Jeremiah Chirau signed an agreement to transfer
power to the black majority by Dec. 31, 1978. They formed an executive
council, with chairmanship rotating but with Smith retaining the title of
prime minister. Blacks were named to each cabinet ministry, serving as
coministers with the whites already holding these posts. African nations and
rebel leaders immediately denounced the action, but Western governments were
more reserved, although none granted recognition to the new regime.
The white minority finally consented to hold multiracial elections in
1980, and Robert Mugabe won a landslide victory. The country achieved
independence on April 17, 1980, under the name Zimbabwe. Mugabe eventually
established a one-party socialist state, but by 1990 he had instituted
multiparty elections and in 1991 deleted all references to Marxism-Leninism
and scientific socialism from the constitution. Parliamentary elections in
April 1995 gave Mugabe's party a stunning victory with 63 of the 65
contested seats, and in 1996 Mugabe won another six-year term as
president. In 2000, veterans of Zimbabwe's war for independence in
the 1970s began squatting on land owned by white farmers in an effort to
reclaim land taken under British colonization—one-third of Zimbabwe's arable
land was owned by 4,000 whites. In Aug. 2002, Mugabe ordered all white
commercial farmers to leave their land without compensation. Mugabe's
support for the squatters and his repressive rule has led to foreign
sanctions against Zimbabwe. Once heralded as a champion of the anticolonial
movement, Mugabe is now viewed by much of the international community as an
authoritarian ruler responsible for egregious human rights abuses and for
running the economy of his country into the ground. In March 2002,
Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations. That month Mugabe
was reelected president for another six years in a blatantly rigged election
whose results were enforced by the president's militia. In 2003, inflation
hit 300%, the country faced severe food shortages, and the farming system
had been destroyed. In 2004, the IMF estimated that the country had grown
one-third poorer in the last five years. Parliamentary elections in
March 2005 were judged by international monitors to be egregiously flawed.
In April, Zimbabwe was reelected to the UN Commission on Human Rights,
outraging numerous countries and human rights groups. In mid-2005, Zimbabwe
demolished its urban slums and shantytowns, leaving 700,000 people homeless
in an operation called “Drive Out Trash.” In 2006, the government launched
“Operation Roundup,” which drove 10,000 homeless people out of the
capital. Since 2000, Zimbabwe has experienced precipitous
hyperinflation and economic ruin. By 2008, inflation skyrocketed to nearly
100,000%, up from 7,000% in 2007, unemployment reached 80%, and the
Zimbabwean dollar was basically worthless. According to the World Health
Organization, Zimbabwe has the world's lowest life expectancy.
Zimbabweans, clearly fed up with the economic collapse and the lack
of available necessities in Zimbabwe, expressed their anger at the polls in
March 2008's presidential and parliamentary elections. The opposition
Movement for Democratic Change won a majority of the seats in Parliament, a
remarkable defeat for Mugabe's party, ZANU-PF. Four days after the vote,
Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Movement for Democratic Change, declared
himself the winner by a slim margin. Mugabe refused to concede until the
vote count was complete. More than a month after the election, howvever, the
vote was not yet complete. Zimbabwe's HIgh Court dismissed the opposition's
request for the release of election results. Many observers speculated that
Mugabe ordered the delay to either intimidate election officials or to rig
the results in his favor. Indeed, in April police raided the offices of the
opposition and election monitors and detained dozens of people for
questioning. After the election, supporters of Mugabe began a brutal
campaign of violence against the opposition that left more than 30 people
dead and hundreds wounded. Tsvangirai fled the country, fearing
assassination attempts. He returned to Zimbabwe in late May. On May 2,
election officials finally released the results of the vote, with Tsvangirai
defeating President Robert Mugabe, 47.9% to 43.2%. A runoff election,
scheduled for June 27, is necessary because neither candidate won more than
50%. In the lead-up to the runoff election, police intensified their
crackdown on Tsvangirai and members of his party. Indeed, at least 85
supporters of his party were killed in government-backed violence. Officials
banned rallies and repeatedly detained Tsvangirai for attempting to do so.
In addition, Tsvangirai’s top deputy, Tendai Biti was arrested on charges of
treason. Biti denied he committed treason, and several members of Parliament
alleged the charges were trumped up. In June Mugabe barred humanitarian
groups from providing aid in the country—a drastic move that aid
organizations estimated would deny about two million people much-needed
assistance. On June 22, Tsvangirai withdrew from the race, saying he
could not subject his supporters to violence and intimidation. He also said
he refused to take part in "this violent, illegitimate sham of an election
process." He took refuge in the Dutch Embassy. The United Nations issued a
statement condemning the violence that has plagued Zimbabwe and said it
would be "impossible for a free and fair election to take place."The
presidential election did take place, but it was neither free nor fair.
Nevertheless, Mugabe was elected to a sixth term, taking 85% of the vote.
President Bush joined the chorus of world leaders who condemned the election
and the government-sponsored crackdown on the opposition. China and Russia,
however, blocked the U.S.-led effort in the UN Security Council to impose
sanctions on Zimbabwe. In a historical meeting in July, Mugabe and
Tsvangirai agreed to end the poltical violence and engage in talks to form a
government of national unity.See also Encyclopedia: Zimbabwe.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Zimbabwe
Information Please® Database, ©
2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. More on Zimbabwe from Infoplease:
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