Zimbabwe

Republic of Zimbabwe
Motto: "Unity, Freedom, Work"[1]
Anthem: "Blessed be the land of Zimbabwe"[2]
Location of Zimbabwe (dark green)
Location of Zimbabwe (dark green)
Capital
and largest city
Harare
17°49′45″S 31°03′08″E / 17.82917°S 31.05222°E / -17.82917; 31.05222
Official languages16 languages:[3]
Ethnic groups
(2017[4])
Religion
(2017)[5]
  • 10.2% no religion
  • 4.5% traditional faiths
  • 1.2% others
Demonym(s)Zimbabwean
Zimbo[6] (colloquial)
GovernmentUnitary presidential republic
• President
Emmerson Mnangagwa
Constantino Chiwenga
Kembo Mohadi
LegislatureParliament
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
Increase $44.448 billion[9] (131st)
• Per capita
Increase $2,749[9] (175th)
GDP (nominal)2023 estimate
• Total
Increase $32.424 billion[9] (106th)
• Per capita
Increase $2,005[9] (149th)
Gini (2019)Negative increase 50.3[10]
high
HDI (2022)Decrease 0.550[11]
medium (159th)
CurrencyZimbabwean dollar
U.S. dollar ($) (USD)[12]
South African rand;[12] Other currencies[note 1]
Time zoneUTC+2 (CAT[13])
Date formatdd/mm/yyyy
Driving sideleft
Calling code+263
ISO 3166 codeZW
Internet TLD.zw

Zimbabwe (/zɪmˈbɑːbw, -wi/), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southern 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.

A country of roughly 15 million people as per 2022 census,[14] 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.[15] 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 nationalist 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.[16] 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.

  1. ^ "Zimbabwe". The Beaver County Times. 13 September 1981. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  2. ^ "The World Factbook – Zimbabwe". Central Intelligence Agency. 2 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Constitution of Zimbabwe (final draft)" (PDF). Government of Zimbabwe. January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 October 2013 – via Kubatana.net.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference zimstat.co.zw was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Inter Censal Demography Survey 2017 Report" (PDF). Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency. 2017.
  6. ^ "Developments in English". International Association of University Professors of English Conference. Cambridge University Press. 31 October 2014. ISBN 9781107038509 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "Zimbabwe Population Live". Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  8. ^ "2022 Population and Housing Census - Preliminary Report - Zimbabwe Data Portal". zimbabwe.opendataforafrica.org. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2023 Edition. (Zimbabwe)". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  10. ^ "GINI Index". World Bank. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Human Development Report 2023/24". United Nations Development Programme. 13 March 2024. Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Zimbabwe adopts new inflation rate based on U.S. dollar, local currency". Reuters. Harare. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  13. ^ "Zimbabwe Time". Greenwich Mean Time. Greenwich 2000. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  14. ^ "UNFPA Zimbabwe | 2022 Population and Housing Census Preliminary Results".
  15. ^ "Who built Great Zimbabwe? And why? - Breeanna Elliott". TED-Ed. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Zimbabwe 2015 Human Rights Report". United States Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2016.


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