57 Facts About Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the east.

Zimbabwe then joined the Commonwealth of Nations, from which it was suspended in 2002 for breaches of international law by its government under Robert Mugabe and from which it withdrew in December 2003.

On 15 November 2017, in the wake of over a year of protests against his government as well as Zimbabwe's rapidly declining economy, Mugabe was placed under house arrest by the country's national army in a coup d'etat, and Mugabe resigned six days later.

Zimbabwe is a member of the United Nations, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

Name "Zimbabwe" stems from a Shona term for Great Zimbabwe, a medieval city in the country's south-east whose remains is a protected site.

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Many sources hold that "Zimbabwe" derives from dzimba-dza-mabwe, translated from the Karanga dialect of Shona as "houses of stones" .

Archaeologist Peter Garlake claims that "Zimbabwe" represents a contracted form of dzimba-hwe, which means "venerated houses" in the Zezuru dialect of Shona and usually references chiefs' houses or graves.

Zimbabwe was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia, and Zimbabwe Rhodesia .

Zimbabwe presented this concession to persuade the government of the United Kingdom to grant a royal charter to the company over Matabeleland, and its subject states such as Mashonaland as well.

On 29 March 2008, Zimbabwe held a presidential election along with a parliamentary election.

On 10 July 2008, Russia and China vetoed UN sanctions on Zimbabwe pushed by the United Kingdom and the United States.

However, nine of 15 countries on the UN Security Council opposed it, including Vietnam, South Africa and Libya, which argued that Zimbabwe was not a 'threat to international peace and security.

In late 2008, problems in Zimbabwe reached crisis proportions in the areas of living standards, public health and various basic affairs.

On 30 July 2018 Zimbabwe held its general elections, which were won by the ZANU-PF party led by Mnangagwa.

In December 2017 the website Zimbabwe News, calculating the cost of the Mugabe era using various statistics, said that at the time of independence in 1980, the country was growing economically at about five per cent a year, and had done so for quite a long time.

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in southern Africa, lying between latitudes 15° and 23°S, and longitudes 25° and 34°E.

Over geological time Zimbabwe has experienced two major post-Gondwana erosion cycles, and a very subordinate Plio-Pleistocene cycle.

Zimbabwe contains seven terrestrial ecoregions: Kalahari acacia–baikiaea woodlands, Southern Africa bushveld, Southern miombo woodlands, Zambezian Baikiaea woodlands, Zambezian and mopane woodlands, Zambezian halophytics, and Eastern Zimbabwe montane forest-grassland mosaic in the Eastern Highlands.

Large parts of Zimbabwe were once covered by forests with abundant wildlife.

Zimbabwe is a republic with a presidential system of government.

Zimbabwe's resignation came months before the country's constitutional referendum and elections.

Status of Zimbabwe politics has been thrown into question by a coup taking place in November 2017, ending Mugabe's 30 year presidential incumbency.

The authorities in Zimbabwe used force to disperse and arrest nurses and health workers, who were peacefully protesting for better salaries and work conditions.

Zimbabwe has a centralised government and is divided into eight provinces and two cities with provincial status, for administrative purposes.

Since the early 2000s, Zimbabwe has been under sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union that have shaped Zimbabwe's domestic politics as well as the country's relations with the Western nations.

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In 2002, Zimbabwe held general elections and ahead of that election the EU sent observers, but the election observer team was forced to leave the country.

Zimbabwe is the largest trading partner of South Africa on the continent.

From 1999 to 2009, Zimbabwe saw the lowest ever economic growth with an annual GDP decrease of 6.

In 2016, Zimbabwe allowed trade in the United States dollar and various other currencies such as the rand, the pula, the euro, and the pound sterling .

The pan-African investment bank IMARA released a favourable report in February 2011 on investment prospects in Zimbabwe, citing an improved revenue base and higher tax receipts.

The country's flagship airline Air Zimbabwe, which operated flights throughout Africa and a few destinations in Europe and Asia, ceased operations in February 2012.

Zimbabwe is unusual in Africa in that there are a number of ancient and medieval ruined cities built in a unique dry stone style.

Zimbabwe has relatively well-developed national infrastructure and a long-standing tradition of promoting research and development, as evidenced by the levy imposed on tobacco-growers since the 1930s to promote market research.

Zimbabwe was ranked 113rd in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, up from 122nd in 2019.

Zimbabwe was thus considered internationally to have achieved a good record of health development.

In 2006, Zimbabwe had one of the lowest life expectancies in the world according to UN figure—44 for men and 43 for women, down from 60 in 1990, but recovered to 60 in 2015.

In 2006 an association of doctors in Zimbabwe made calls for Mugabe to make moves to assist the ailing health service.

On 4 December 2008 the Zimbabwe government declared the outbreak to be a national emergency and asked for international aid.

The Ministry of Education of Zimbabwe maintains and operates the government schools, but the fees charged by independent schools are regulated by the cabinet of Zimbabwe.

Many of the politicians in the government of Zimbabwe have obtained degrees from universities in the United States or other universities abroad.

Zimbabwe's constitution has provisions in it that provide incentive to achieve greater gender equality, but the data shows that enforcement has been lax and adoption slow.

The Zimbabwe Women's Lawyers Association is an organisation that is assisting the implementation of the legal framework, as defined in the 2013 constitution, to help women.

Zimbabwe has many different cultures, with Shona beliefs and ceremonies being prominent.

The president gives a speech to the people of Zimbabwe which is televised for those unable to attend the stadium.

Zimbabwe has a national beauty pageant, the Miss Heritage Zimbabwe contest which has been held annually since 2012.

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Traditional arts in Zimbabwe include pottery, basketry, textiles, jewellery and carving.

Charles Mungoshi is renowned in Zimbabwe for writing traditional stories in English and in Shona, and his poems and books have sold well with both the black and white communities.

Notable cricket players from Zimbabwe include Andy Flower, Heath Streak and Brendan Taylor.

Zimbabwe has won eight Olympic medals, one in field hockey with the women's team at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and seven by swimmer Kirsty Coventry, three at the 2004 Summer Olympics and four at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Zimbabwe has done well in the Commonwealth Games and All-Africa Games in swimming with Coventry obtaining 11 gold medals in the different competitions.

Zimbabwe has competed at Wimbledon and the Davis Cup in tennis, most notably with the Black family, which comprises Wayne Black, Byron Black and Cara Black.

Former players include now SANZAAR CEO Andy Marinos who made an appearance for South Africa at the Super League World Nines and featured for the Sydney Bulldogs as well as Zimbabwe-born former Scotland rugby union international Scott Gray, who spent time at the Brisbane Broncos.

Zimbabwe has had success in karate as Zimbabwe's Samson Muripo became Kyokushin world champion in Osaka, Japan in 2009.

Media of Zimbabwe is diverse, having come under tight restriction between 2002 and 2008 by the government during the economic and political crisis.

The government bans many foreign broadcasting stations from Zimbabwe, including the CBC, Sky News, Channel 4, American Broadcasting Company, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Fox News.

Stone-carved Zimbabwe Bird appears on the national flags and the coats of arms of both Zimbabwe and Rhodesia, as well as on banknotes and coins .

The most notable formations in Zimbabwe are located in the Matobo National Park in Matabeleland.