Guide to Zimbabwe Introduction Background: The UK annexed Southern Rhodesia from the South Africa Company in 1923. A 1961 constitution was formulated that favored whites in power. In 1965 the government unilaterally declared its independence, but the UK did not recognize the act and demanded more complete voting rights for the black African majority in the country (then called Rhodesia). UN sanctions and a guerrilla uprising finally led to free elections in 1979 and independence (as Zimbabwe) in 1980. Robert MUGABE, the nation's first prime minister, has been the country's only ruler (as president since 1987) and has dominated the country's political system since independence. His chaotic land redistribution campaign begun in 2000 caused an exodus of white farmers, crippled the economy, and ushered in widespread shortages of basic commodities. Ignoring international condemnation, MUGABE rigged the 2002 presidential election to ensure his reelection. Opposition and labor groups launched general strikes in 2003 to pressure MUGABE to retire early; security forces continued their brutal repression of regime opponents.
Geography Location: Southern Africa, between South Africa and Zambia
Geographic coordinates: 20 00 S, 30 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly larger than Montana
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: tropical; moderated by altitude; rainy season (November to March)
Terrain: mostly high plateau with higher central plateau (high veld); mountains in east
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 1,170 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: recurring droughts; floods and severe storms are rare
Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; land degradation; air and water pollution; the black rhinoceros herd - once the largest concentration of the species in the world - has been significantly reduced by poaching; poor mining practices have led to toxic waste and heavy metal pollution
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: landlocked; the Zambezi forms a natural riverine boundary with Zambia; in full flood (February-April) the massive Victoria Falls on the river forms the world's largest curtain of falling water
People Population: 12,746,990 note
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 0.51% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 29.74 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 24.66 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population negligible migrant(s)/1,000 population note
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 3.54 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 24.6% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.8 million (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 170,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: 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%
Languages: English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Harare
Administrative divisions: 8 provinces and 2 cities* with provincial status; Bulawayo*, Harare*, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Midlands
Independence: 18 April 1980 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 18 April (1980)
Constitution: 21 December 1979
Legal system: mixture of Roman-Dutch and English common law
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: unicameral House of Assembly (150 seats - 120 elected by popular vote for five-year terms, 12 nominated by the president, 10 occupied by traditional chiefs chosen by their peers, and 8 occupied by provincial governors appointed by the president) elections
Judicial branch: Supreme Court; High Court
Political parties and leaders: Movement for Democratic Change or MDC [Morgan TSVANGIRAI]; National Alliance for Good Governance or NAGG [Shakespeare MAYA]; United Parties [Abel MUZOREWA]; Zimbabwe African National Union-Ndonga or ZANU-Ndonga [Wilson KUMBULA]; Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front or ZANU-PF [Robert Gabriel MUGABE]; Zimbabwe African Peoples Union or ZAPU [Agrippa MADLELA]
Political pressure groups and leaders: National Constitutional Assembly or NCA [Lovemore MADHUKU]; Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition [Brian KAGORO]; Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions or ZCTU [Lovemore MATOMBO]
International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, AU, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: seven equal horizontal bands of green, yellow, red, black, red, yellow, and green with a white isosceles triangle edged in black with its base on the hoist side; a yellow Zimbabwe bird representing the long history of the country is superimposed on a red five-pointed star in the center of the triangle, which symbolizes peace; green symbolizes agriculture, yellow - mineral wealth, red - blood shed to achieve independence, and black stands for the native people
Economy Economy - overview: The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems as it struggles with an unsustainable fiscal deficit, an overvalued exchange rate, soaring inflation, and bare shelves. Its 1998-2002 involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy. Badly needed support from the IMF has been suspended because of the country's failure to meet budgetary goals. Inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in 1998 to 133% at the end of 2004, while the exchange rate fell from 24 Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar to 6,200 in the same time period. The government's land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, has badly damaged the commercial farming sector, the traditional source of exports and foreign exchange and the provider of 400,000 jobs.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $24.37 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: -8.2% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,900 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 4.23 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 66%, industry 10%, services 24% (1996)
Unemployment rate: 70% (2002 est.)
Population below poverty line: 70% (2002 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 50.1 (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 133% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 9.9% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Public debt: 52.3% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs
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
Industrial production growth rate: -7.8% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 8.839 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 11.22 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 3 billion kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 23,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: NA
Oil - imports: NA
Current account balance: $-230.3 million (2004 est.)
Exports: $1.409 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing
Exports - partners: South Africa 31.5%, Switzerland 7.4%, UK 7.3%, China 6.1%, Germany 4.3% (2004)
Imports: $1.599 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels
Imports - partners: South Africa 46.9%, Botswana 3.6%, UK 3.4% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $57 million (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $4.086 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $178 million; note - the EU and the US provide food aid on humanitarian grounds (2000 est.)
Currency (code): Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD)
Currency code: ZWD
Exchange rates: Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar - 4,303.28 (2004), 697.424 (2003), 55.036 (2002), 55.052 (2001), 44.418 (2000) note
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 300,900 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 379,100 (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
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 country code: .zw
Internet hosts: 4,501 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 6 (2000)
Internet users: 500,000 (2002)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: on Lake Kariba, length small (2003)
Pipelines: refined products 261 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Binga, Kariba
Airports: 404 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Military Military branches: Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF)
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age (est.) (2004)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $217 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 4.3% (2004)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: Botswana has built electric fences and South Africa has placed military along the border to stem the flow of thousands of Zimbabweans fleeing to find work and escape political persecution; Namibia has supported and in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections to plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly delimited Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river
Refugees and internally displaced persons: IDPs
Illicit drugs: transit point for African cannabis and South Asian heroin, mandrax, and methamphetamines destined for the South African and European markets
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
| Weather Statistics | Kariba |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | | Prcp | 187mm | 151mm | 99mm | 27mm | 4mm | 1mm | 0mm | 0mm | 2mm | 11mm | 70mm | 171mm |
| Source: Global Historical Climatology Network |
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