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The Republic of Zimbabwe is a country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the west, Zambia to the north and Mozambique to the east.

Template:Zimbabwe infobox

History

Main article: History of Zimbabwe

Iron Age

Part of Great Zimbabwe

Iron Age Bantu-speaking people began migrating into the area about 2,000 years ago, including the ancestors of the Shona, who account for roughly four fifths of the country's population today. Ruins at Great Zimbabwe, a Shona-speaking state, attest the existence of a medieval Bantu civilization in the region. Linked to the establishment of trade ties with Muslim merchants on the Indian Ocean coast around the early 10th century, Great Zimbabwe began to develop in the 11th century. The state traded gold, ivory, and copper for cloth and glass. It ceased to be the leading Shona state in the mid-15th century.

As of 1837 the Shona were frequently raided by the Ndebele, led by king Mzilikazi who was fleeing Shaka and his Zulu during the Mfecane, and forced them to pay tribute. Later in the 19th century British and Boer traders, hunters, and missionaries started encroaching on the area.

Colonial Era

In 1888, British imperialist Cecil Rhodes extracted mining rights from king Lobengula of the Ndebele. In 1889, Rhodes obtained a charter for the British South Africa Company (BSAC), which conquered the Ndebele and their territory (named "Rhodesia" in 1895 after Cecil Rhodes) and promoted the colonization of the region and its land, labour, and precious metal and mineral resources. Both the Ndebele and the Shona staged unsuccessful revolts against white colonialist encroachment on their native lands in 1896-1897. Chief Garikai Chiremba was captured by the British and it has been rumoured that he tipped his captors to the whereabouts of ancient Zimbabwean platinum smelting secrets.

Southern Rhodesia was adminstered by Rhodes' BSAC before becoming a self-governing British colony in 1922. In 1953, Southern and Northern Rhodesia were combined with Nyasaland, (now called Malawi) to form the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. After the federation was dissolved in 1963, the white minority administration in Southern Rhodesia (known simply as Rhodesia from 1964) demanded independence, but the British government had adopted a policy of NIBMAR — No Independence Before Majority African Rule.

In response, the government of Prime Minister Ian Smith made a unilateral declaration of independence on November 11, 1965. The United Kingdom called the declaration a direct act of rebellion but did not attempt to reestablish control by force. When negotiations in 1966 and 1968 proved fruitless, the UK requested UN economic sanctions against Rhodesia. In an attempt to distance the country from its colonial master, Smith declared Rhodesia a republic in 1970, but this did not result in international recognition.

Civil War

Resistance to white rule strengthened from the late 1960s, mostly consisting of sporadic attacks on white farmers, the setting of landmines and the politicisation of rural populations. With the end of white rule in neighbouring Mozambique in 1975, guerrilla activities intensified into a large-scale uprising known as the Second Chimurenga or the "Bush War".

The Smith regime opened negotiations with the leaders of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), led by Robert Mugabe after the assassination of Herbert Chitepo in Zambia in 1975, and the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), led by Joshua Nkomo. With his regime near the brink of collapse, Smith in March 1978 signed a desperate accord with three black leaders who offered safeguards for whites headed by Bishop Abel Muzorewa.

Muzorewa, who not only had the support of Smith but with the white-minority regime in South Africa as well, lacked credibility among significant sectors of the African population. The Muzorewa government soon faltered. In 1979, the British Government asked all parties to come to Lancaster House in an attempt to negotiate a settlement in the civil war.

Independence

Following the conference, held in London (1979-1980), Britain's Lord Soames was appointed governor to oversee the disarming of revolutionary guerrillas, the holding of elections, and the granting of independence to an uneasy coalition government with Joshua Nkomo, head of Zimbabwe African People's Union. In the free elections of February 1980, Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) won a landslide victory. Mugabe has won re-election ever since.

In 1982 Nkomo was ousted from his cabinet, sparking fighting between ZAPU supporters in the southern Ndebele-speaking region of the country and the ruling ZANU. The fighting was marked by a genocide of the Ndebele people by ZANU's infamous Fifth Brigade (known as the Gukurahundi), headed by Colonel Perence Shiri. Ultimately, Nkomo had no choice but to sign a peace accord in 1987, resulting in ZAPU's merger (1988) into the ZANU Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).

The drought in southern Africa, perhaps the worst of the century, affected Zimbabwe so severely that a national disaster was declared in 1992. The drought compounded the country's debt crisis, and the ensuing IMF-backed economic adjustment and austerity program caused further widespread hardship.

Despite majority rule, whites made up less than 1% of the population but held 70% of the country's commercially viable arable land, of which 80% had been purchased legally since independence in 1980. However whites held no political power. Land redistribution from whites reemerged as the political issue beginning in 1999.

In the aftermath of Mugabe's handling of the land crisis, which moved to redistribute land to blacks, Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations on charges of human rights abuses and of election tampering in 2002. Later, Zimbabwe withdrew from the Commonwealth. The seizure of the white-owned commercial farms led to starvation on a wide scale, as the production of crops ceased.

The UN has recently estimated that 25% of the population has HIV/AIDS, probably the fourth highest in the world, compared to about 0.65% average in the world.

Following elections in 2005, the government initiated "Operation Murambatsvina" in a supposed effort to crackdown on illegal markets and homes. This action has been widely condemned by opposition and international figures, who charge that it has left a large section of the urban poor homeless.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a republic, with an executive president and a unicameral Parliament, formerly known as the House of Assembly. Robert Mugabe, elected Prime Minister in 1980, revised the constitution in 1987 to make himself President, and in 1990 to abolish the Senate. Zanu PF President Mugabe's affiliated party have won every election since independence 18 April 1980. In some quarters corruption and rigging elections have been stated. In particular the elections of 1990 were nationally and internationally condemned as being rigged, with the second-placing party, Edgar Tekere's Zimbabwe Unity Movement, winning only 20% of the vote. Presidential elections were last held in 2002 amid allegations of vote-rigging, intimidation, and fraud. The next Presidential elections are to be held 2008.

The major opposition party at the moment is the Movement for Democratic Change, or MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai. At the present time, Novermber 2005, the MDC is currently split into two factions. One faction, led by Welshman Ncube is contesting the elections to the reformed Senate, while the other led by Morgan Tsvangirai is opposed to contesting the elections, stating that participation in a rigged election is tantamount to endorsing Mugabe's claim that elections in Zimbabwe are completely free and fair.

The 2005 Zimbabwe parliamentary elections were held on March 31. While the African Union reported no major irregularities, opposition figures such as Pius Ncube have made charges of vote rigging.

Education

Zimbabwe had a literacy rate of 90.2% in 2000, the highest in Africa. For males, the country's adult literacy rate (the percentage of persons aged 15 and over who can read and write) of 93%. Comparison with other SADC countries in 2004 is as follows: South Africa, 86%, Zambia, 79.9%, Swaziland, 80.9%, Namibia, 83.3%, Lesotho, 81.4%, Botswana, 78.9%, Tanzania, 77.1%, Malawi, 61.8%, Mozambique, 46.5%.

This is due to the support of various partners. Despite the suspension of lending, the technical relationship with the World Bank remains strong in social protection, resulting in its assistance in a major redesign of the Ministry of Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare (MPSLSW), (together with the National Aids Council) targeted school-fee waiver program, the Basic Education assistance Module (BEAM), which relies on geographic and community-based structures to identify the most needy students. [1] [2] [3]

Provinces

Main article: Provinces of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is divided into 8 provinces and 2 cities with provincial status: Bulawayo (city), Harare (city), Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, and Midlands.

Geography

Map of Zimbabwe

Main article: Geography of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country, surrounded by South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique. The northwestern border is defined by the Zambezi River. Victoria Falls, the world's largest waterfall, is a popular tourist destination on the Zambezi.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Zimbabwe

The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems as it struggles to consolidate earlier progress in developing a market-oriented economy. Its involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy. Badly needed support from the IMF suffers delays in part because of the country's failure to meet budgetary goals. Inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in 1998 to 59% in 1999 and to 600% in 2003. The economy is being steadily weakened by AIDS; Zimbabwe has the highest rate of infection in the world which is a major problem for the country. The political situation makes it unlikely that the West will be inclined to do much more than provide humanitarian assistance.

The lack of foreign exchange, as well as the difference between the official exchange rate and the black-market exchange rate, have resulted in fuel, electric power and water shortages and a lack of other basic supplies. In 2003 Libya supplied fuel, partially in exchange for land, but Zimbabwe could not meet the basic payments, and supplies have since stopped. In 2004 a system of auctioning scarce foreign currency for importers was introduced, which temporarily lead to a slight reduction in the foreign currency crisis, but by mid 2005 foreign currency shortages were once again chronic. The currency was devalued by the central bank twice, first to Z$9000 to the US dollar, and then to Z$17 500 to the US dollar on July 20, but at that date it was reported that that was only half the rate available on the black market. The devaluation continues; on October 26, 2005, the official exchange rate changed from Z$26 000 to Z$60 000 for one US dollar, while on the black market the exchange rate hovers around the six-figure mark.

In July 2005 Zimbabwe was reported to be appealing to the South African government for US$1 billion of emergency loans. On July 26, 2005, it was also reported that Zimbabwe had agreed a trade deal with China, providing mineral and other concessions in exchange for economic aid; details of the agreement were not made public.

The increasingly close "business" relationship between China and Zimbabwe has sparked much controversy. The gift of two turboprop aircraft by China to the country's Air Zimbabwe has been a sign of things to come. Much of the country's much-diminished foreign currency is being sent home by Chinese immigrants making a potential foreign currency crisis beginning in late 2003.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe celebrates its national holiday on April 18.

Miscellaneous topics

Fixed land lines are operated by Tel-One, a government parastatal. There are 3 Mobile network (cell phone) providers: Econet Wireless, Net*One and Telecel.

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