Zimbabwe
Country in Southeastern Africa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zimbabwe (/zɪmˈbɑːbweɪ, -wi/ ; Shona pronunciation: [zi.ᵐba.ɓwe]), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the east. The capital and largest city is Harare, and the second largest is Bulawayo.
Republic of Zimbabwe | |
|---|---|
| Motto: "Unity, Freedom, Work"[1] | |
| Anthem: "Blessed be the land of Zimbabwe"[2] | |
.svg) Location of Zimbabwe (dark green) | |
| Capital and largest city | Harare 17°49′45″S 31°03′08″E |
| Official languages | 16 languages:[3] |
| Ethnic groups (2017[4]) | |
| Religion (2017)[5] |
|
| Demonym(s) | Zimbabwean Zimbo[6] (colloquial) |
| Government | Unitary presidential republic |
| Emmerson Mnangagwa | |
| Constantino Chiwenga | |
| Kembo Mohadi | |
| Legislature | Parliament |
| Senate | |
| National Assembly | |
| Independence from the United Kingdom | |
• Declared | 11 November 1965 |
• Republic | 2 March 1970 |
| 1 June 1979 | |
| 18 April 1980 | |
| 15 May 2013 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 390,757 km2 (150,872 sq mi) (60th) |
• Water (%) | 1 |
| Population | |
• 2024 January estimate | 16,868,409[7] (73rd) |
• 2022 census | 15,178,957[8] |
• Density | 39/km2 (101.0/sq mi) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate |
• Total |  $44.448 billion[9] (131st) |
• Per capita | $2,749[9] (175th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $32.424 billion[9] (106th) |
• Per capita | $2,005[9] (149th) |
| Gini (2019) |  50.3[10]high inequality |
| HDI (2022) |  0.550[11]medium (159th) |
| Currency | Zimbabwe Gold[12] U.S. dollar ($) (USD)[13] South African rand;[13] Other currencies[note 1] |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (CAT[14]) |
| Date format | dd/mm/yyyy |
| Drives on | left |
| Calling code | +263 |
| ISO 3166 code | ZW |
| Internet TLD | .zw |
A country of roughly 15 million people as per 2022 census,[15] Zimbabwe's largest ethnic group are the Shona, who make up 80% of the population, followed by the Northern Ndebele and other smaller minorities. Zimbabwe has 16 official languages,[3] with English, Shona, and Ndebele the most common. 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.
Beginning in the 9th century, during its late Iron Age, the Bantu people (who would become the ethnic Shona) built the city-state of Great Zimbabwe; the city-state became one of the major African trade centres by the 11th century but was abandoned by the mid 15th century.[16] From there, the Kingdom of Zimbabwe was established, followed by the Rozvi and Mutapa empires. The British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes demarcated the Rhodesia region in 1890 when they conquered Mashonaland and later in 1893 Matabeleland after the First Matabele War. Company rule ended in 1923 with the establishment of Southern Rhodesia as a self-governing British colony. In 1965, the white minority government unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia. The state endured international isolation and a 15-year guerrilla war with Black majority forces; this culminated in a peace agreement that established de jure sovereignty as Zimbabwe in April 1980.
Robert Mugabe became Prime Minister of Zimbabwe in 1980, when his ZANU–PF party won the general election following the end of white minority rule and has remained the country's dominant party since. He was the President of Zimbabwe from 1987, after converting the country's initial parliamentary system into a presidential one, until his resignation in 2017. Under Mugabe's authoritarian regime, the state security apparatus dominated the country and was responsible for widespread human rights violations.[17] From 1997 to 2008 the economy experienced consistent decline (and in the latter years, hyperinflation), though it has since seen rapid growth after the use of currencies other than the Zimbabwean dollar was permitted. In 2017, in the wake of over a year of protests against his government as well as Zimbabwe's rapidly declining economy, a coup d'état resulted in Mugabe's resignation. Emmerson Mnangagwa has since served as Zimbabwe's president.
The name "Zimbabwe" stems from a Shona term for Great Zimbabwe, a medieval city (Masvingo) in the country's south-east. Two different theories address the origin of the word. Many sources hold that "Zimbabwe" derives from dzimba-dza-mabwe, translated from the Karanga dialect of Shona as "houses of stones" (dzimba = plural of imba, "house"; mabwe = plural of ibwe, "stone").[18][19][20] The Karanga-speaking Shona people live around Great Zimbabwe in the modern-day Masvingo province. 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.[21]
Zimbabwe was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia (1898), Rhodesia (1965), and Zimbabwe Rhodesia (1979). The first recorded use of "Zimbabwe" as a term of national reference dates from 1960 as a coinage by the black nationalist Michael Mawema,[22] whose Zimbabwe National Party became the first to officially use the name in 1961.[23] The term "Rhodesia"—derived from the surname of Cecil Rhodes, the primary instigator of British colonisation of the territory—was perceived by African nationalists as inappropriate because of its colonial origin and connotations.[22]
According to Mawema, black nationalists held a meeting in 1960 to choose an alternative name for the country, proposing names such as "Matshobana" and "Monomotapa" before his suggestion, "Zimbabwe", prevailed.[24] It was initially unclear how the chosen term was to be used—a letter written by Mawema in 1961 refers to "Zimbabweland"[23] — but "Zimbabwe" was sufficiently established by 1962 to become the generally preferred term of the black nationalist movement.[22] Like those of many African countries that gained independence during the Cold War, Zimbabwe is an ethnically neutral name. It is debatable to what extent Zimbabwe, being over 80% homogenously Shona and dominated by them in various, can be described as a nation state.[25] The constitution acknowledges 16 languages, but only embraces two of them nationally, Shona and English. Shona is taught widely in schools, unlike Ndebele. Zimbabwe has additionally never had a non-Shona head of state.[25][26]
Pre-colonial era
Archaeological records date archaic human settlement of present-day Zimbabwe to at least 500,000 years ago.[27] Zimbabwe's earliest known inhabitants were most likely the San people, who left behind a legacy of arrowheads and cave paintings. Approximately 2,000 years ago, the first Bantu-speaking farmers arrived during the Bantu expansion.[28][29]
Societies speaking proto-Shona languages first emerged in the middle Limpopo River valley in the 9th century before moving on to the Zimbabwean highlands. The Zimbabwean plateau became the centre of subsequent Shona states, beginning around the 10th century. Around the early 10th century, trade developed with Arab merchants on the Indian Ocean coast, helping to develop the Kingdom of Mapungubwe in the 11th century. This was the precursor to the Shona civilisations that dominated the region during the 13th to 15th centuries, evidenced by ruins at Great Zimbabwe, near Masvingo, and by other smaller sites. The main archaeological site used a unique dry stone architecture. The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was the first in a series of trading states which had developed in Zimbabwe by the time the first European explorers arrived from Portugal. These states traded gold, ivory, and copper for cloth and glass.[30]
By 1220, the Kingdom of Zimbabwe eclipsed Mapungubwe. This Shona state further refined and expanded upon Mapungubwe's stone architecture. From c. 1450 to 1760, the Kingdom of Mutapa ruled