Africa

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , formerly Rhodesia, officially Republic of Zimbabwe, is bordered on the north by Zambia, on the northeast and east by Mozambique, on the south by South Africa, and on the southwest and west by Botswana. Harare (formerly Salisbury) is the capital and largest city.

Zimbabwe lies on a high plateau, and its terrain consists primarily of grasslands bordered on the east by mountains...More Information on Zimbabwe.

Full country name: Republic of Zimbabwe
Area: 150,803 sq mi (390,580 sq km)
Population: 12,746,990 (growth rate: 0.5%); birth rate: 29.7/1000; infant mortality rate: 67.7/1000; life expectancy: 36.7; density per sq mi: 85
Capital City: Harare
Language: English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects
Religion: syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%, Christian 25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1%
Ethnicity/race: African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1%
Government: parliamentary democracy
Head of State: Robert Mugabe
Head of Government: President Robert Gabriel MUGABE

Also Read: A Short Background of Zimbabwe

History of Zimbabwe

Opposition to white rule strengthened and began with a skirmish at Chinhoyi (then Sinoia) where six fighters of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) fought government forces. There was also resistance from the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA). Both ZANLA and ZIPRA used guerrilla tactics similar to those of the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Around the world, the movement for equal rights for Africans in Africa and in the diaspora intensified in the second half of the 20th century. With the end of Portuguese rule in neighbouring Mozambique in 1975, the Liberation Front of Mozambique (Frelimo) led by Samora Machel lent assistance to ZANLA, and the resistance intensified into a large-scale uprising called the Second Chimurenga. The Rhodesian Security Forces had operational successes against the guerrillas, who had diplomatic support from the Soviet Union and China. Even under the strain of economic and military sanctions, Rhodesian forces mounted highly effective external raids on guerrilla forward bases in Zambia and Mozambique, while evolving "fireforce" battle tactics. more on History of Zimbabwe...

Overview of Zimbabwe's Economy

GDP: $24.37 billion
GDP per capita: $1,900
Annual Growth: 8.2%
Inflation: 133%
Major 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.
Major Trading Partners: Zambia, South Africa, China, Germany, Japan, Democratic Republic of the Congo (2003)
Natural resources: coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals.
Member of EU: No

Also Read: A short note on Economy of Zimbabwe

Political System of Zimbabwe

- Government of Zimbabwe
- Foreign relations of Zimbabwe
- Defence Of Zimbabwe

Climate, Vegetation and Fauna

Zimbabwe is blessed with very agreeable climate despite its location bang in the middle of the tropical zone. The reason for this is the fact that most of the country is a fairly high plateau with an average altitude of around 3,000 feet. The summer temperatures (September to October) on the plateau hover around the mid-twenties (centigrade) and rarely go above 30 ºC in the Zambezi Valley. Night temperatures in the winter can fall below freezing point. The rainy season lasts from November to March. The best months to visit are April to May and August to September.


Envoirnment: Zimbabwe, a landlocked blob with a western spike, is roughly the same size as the...more.

Languages: English is the official language of Zimbabwe, but most Zimbabweans are native speakers...more.

Education: Zimbabwe has two separate education ministries: the Ministry of Education, Sport...more.

Religion Of Zimbabwe: The main religions in Zimbabwe are Christianity and the Mwari cult. Half of all...more

Culture: Artists are highly esteemed in Zimbabwean society and a greater percentage of artists...more.

People of Zimbabwe: Primarily of the Bantu group of south and central Africa, the black Zimbabweans are divided...more.


Facts for the Traveler

Visas: Most visitors are not required to obtain a visa for stays of up to 90 days.
Health risks: Bilharzia, cholera, malaria, rabies, yellow fever
Time: GMT/UTC plus two hours
Electricity: 220V
Weights & measures: Metric
Tourism: About 500,000 visitors per year

Also Read: Money & Costs | Transportation in Algeria | Public holidays in Zimbabwe | Events Of Zimbabwe

When to Go

The dry winter months (May to October) are the most comfortable for travelling, but you’ll miss the green landscapes that characterise the hotter and wetter summer season (November to April). In winter, night-time temperatures can fall below freezing but the days are best for wildlife viewing because animals tend to concentrate close to water holes and are therefore easily observed. National parks are most crowded during South African school holidays, so to avoid the throngs, avoid mid-April to mid-May and mid-July to mid-September. There’s a secondary rush around the Namibian school holidays in December and early January.

Also Read: Getting Around in Zimbabwe | Getting There & Away

What to See in Zimbabwe

Other Tourist Attractions in Zimbabwe

more...
Zimbabwe Game Reserves
Zimbabwe National Parks

What to do in Zimbabwe

If you’re anything like the average visitor to Zimbabwe, you’re planning at least one foray into the bush to encounter the endearing faces you’ve come to know through years of nature documentaries. Safaris range from heading off into the wilderness with stout boots and a long lens to swanky light plane and 4WD combos. But animal-spotting is only the first and most obvious of the adrenaline hits possible in Zimbabwe.

In the Victoria Falls area alone you can go white-water rafting, kayaking, microlighting, parachuting, horse-riding, cycling and even do the world’s highest bungee jump. And that’s before lunch. The Mavuradonha Wilderness and the national parks of the Eastern Highlands offer superb hiking, the Kariba area offers sailing, house-boating and other water activities and the middle Zambezi is ideal for long-distance canoeing. Zimbabwe is one of the world’s least expensive and least crowded golfing venues, and if you’re interested in such novelties as warthogs rooting around on the fairways and crocodiles in the water hazards, it’s ideal.

The earliest inhabitants of the area were Khoisan hunter-gatherers. They were largely replaced by Bantu tribes during a series of migrations. The southern part of the country was named Matabeleland after the Ndebele tribe who occupied the area in the early 1800’s under a loose confederation of Ndebele-speaking tribes headed by the Khumalo tribe under [...]
Countries in Africa Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Cote d’Ivoire Democratic Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Republic of the Congo Rwanda Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
Religion in Africa Africans profess a wide variety of religious beliefs, with Christianity and Islam being the most widespread. Approximately 40% of all Africans are Christians and another 40% Muslims. Roughly 20% of Africans primarily follow indigenous African religions. A small number of Africans also have beliefs from the Judaic tradition, such as the Beta Israel [...]
Culture of Africa Africa has a number of overlapping cultures. The most conventional distinction is that between sub-Saharan Africa and the northern countries from Egypt to Morocco, who largely associate themselves with Arabic culture. In this comparison, the nations to the south of the Sahara are considered to consist of many cultural areas, in particular [...]
Demographics of Africa Africans may be grouped according to whether they live north or south of the Sahara Desert; these groups are called North Africans and Sub-Saharan Africans, respectively. Afro-Asiatic speaking peoples predominate in North Africa, while Sub-Saharan Africa is dominated by a number of disparate populations grouped according to their diverse languages–Niger-Congo predominantly in West [...]
Economy of Africa Africa is the world’s poorest inhabited continent: the United Nations’ Human Development Report 2003 (of 175 countries) found that positions 151 (Gambia) to 175 (Sierra Leone) were taken up entirely by African nations. It has had (and in some ways is still having) a shaky and uncertain transition from colonialism, with increases in corruption [...]
Politics in Africa Colonial Africa Colonialism had a destabilizing effect on what had been a number of ethnic groups that is still being felt in African politics. Prior to European influence, national borders were not much of a concern, with Africans generally following the practice of other areas of the world, such as the Arabian peninsula, where [...]
History of Africa Africa is home to the oldest inhabited territory on earth, with the human race originating from this continent. During the mid 20th century, anthropologists discovered many fossils and evidence of human occupation perhaps as early as 7 million years ago. The famous Leakey family, with ties to both Britain and Africa, discovered fossil [...]
Geography of Africa Africa is the largest of the three great southward projections from the main mass of the Earth’s surface. It includes within its remarkably regular outline an area, of c. 30,360,288 km² (11,722,173 mi²), including the islands. Separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea, it is joined to Asia at its northeast extremity by the [...]
Etymology of Africa The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name Africa terra - “land of the Afri” (plural, or “Afer” singular) - for the northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, corresponding to modern-day Tunisia. The Afri were a tribe - possibly Berber [...]

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Africa Travel Guide