Zimbabwe 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 recognise 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.
Short Form: Zimbabwe
Local Short Form: Zimbabwe
Long Form: Republic of Zimbabwe
Local Long Form: Zimbabwe
Script Form: Zimbabwe
Abbreviated Form: Zimbabwe
Former Name: Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia
Territory of: NA
Zimbabwe Head of State: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE
Zimbabwe Government Type: parliamentary democracy
Zimbabwe Independence: 1980 April 18 (from UK)
Zimbabwe Constitution: 1979 December 21
Zimbabwe National Holiday: Independence Day, 18 April
Zimbabwe 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
Zimbabwe Dependent Areas: NA
Zimbabwe Legal System: mixture of Roman-Dutch and English common law
Suffrage: 18 years of age
Zimbabwe Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches: Executive Branch: chief of state: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Co-Vice Presidents Simon Vengai MUZENDA (since 31 December 1987) and Joseph MSIKA (since 23 December 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Co-Vice Presidents Simon Vengai MUZENDA (since 31 December 1987) and Joseph MSIKA (since 23 December 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; responsible to the House of Assembly elections: presidential candidates nominated with a nomination paper signed by at least 10 registered voters (at least one from each province) and elected by popular vote; election last held 9-11 March 2002 (next to be held NA March 2006); co-vice presidents appointed by the president election results: Robert Gabriel MUGABE reelected president; percent of vote - Robert Gabriel MUGABE 56.2%, Morgan TSVANGIRAI 41.9% Legislative Branch: unicameral parliament, called 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: last held 24-25 June 2000 (next to be held NA 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - ZANU-PF 47.2%, MDC 45.6%, ZANU-Ndonga 0.7%, United Parties 0.7%; seats by party - ZANU-PF 63, MDC 56, ZANU-Ndonga 1 Judicial Branch: Supreme Court; High Court
Zimbabwe Party Leaders: Movement for Democratic Change or MDC [Morgan TSVANGIRAI]; United Parties [Abel MUZOREWA]; Zimbabwe African National Union-Ndonga or ZANU-Ndonga [leader NA]; Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front or ZANU-PF [Robert Gabriel MUGABE]; Zimbabwe African Peoples Union or ZAPU [Paul SIWELA]
Zimbabwe International Disputes: NA
Zimbabwe Illicit Drugs: transit point for African cannabis and South Asian heroin, mandrax, and methamphetamines destined for the South African and European markets
ZIMBABWEAN GEOGRAPHY FACTS
Location of Zimbabwe: Southern Africa, between South Africa and Zambia
Continent: Africa
Land Area Total: 390,580 sq km
Region: Southern African
Land Area Land: 386,670 sq km
Zimbabwe Capital: Harare
Land Area Water: 3,910 sq km
Current Time:
Latitude: 020 00 S
Border Boundary Land: 3,066 km
Longitude: 030 00 E
Border Boundary Coastline: 0 km
ArableLand: 8.00 %
Pastures: 0.00 %
Crops: 1.00 %
Woodlands & Forests: 0.00 %
Highest Elevation: 2,592 m
Location: Inyangani
Lowest Elevation: 162 m
Location: junction of the Runde and Save rivers
Largest City in Zimbabwe: Harare
Harare Population: 1,686,000
Threatened Species in Zimbabwe: 38
Environmental Issues in Zimbabwe: 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
Zimbabwe Environmental Agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Irrigated Land in Zimbabwe: 1,170
Bordering Countries of Zimbabwe: Botswana 813 km, Mozambique 1,231 km, South Africa 225 km, Zambia 797 km
Zimbabwe Natural Resources: coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals
Zimbabwe Terrain: mostly high plateau with higher central plateau (high veld); mountains in east
Comparative Area of Zimbabwe: slightly larger than Montana
Notes on Zimbabwe's Geography: 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
ZIMBABWEAN CLIMATE
General Climate in Zimbabwe: tropical; moderated by altitude; rainy season (November to March)
Natural Hazards in Zimbabwe: recurring droughts; floods and s evere storms are rare
ZIMBABWEAN ECONOMY
Overview of the Zimbabwe Economy: The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems as it struggles to consolidate earlier moves to d evelop a market-oriented economy. Its involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, has already 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 59% in 1999, to 60% in 2000, and to 100% by yearend 2001. The economy is being steadily weakened by excessive government deficits, AIDS, and rampant inflation. The government's land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, has derailed the commercial sector, the traditional source of exports and foreign exchange and the provider of 400,000 jobs. Distribution of income is extremely unequal.
Zimbabwe GDP: $28,000,000,000 USD
Zimbabwe Currency: Zimbabwean dollar
GDP per Capita: $2,450 USD
Currency Code: ZWD
GDP Growth Rate: -6.50 %
Currency Exchange Rate History: Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar - 54.9451 (December 2001), 54.9451 (2001), 43.2900 (2000), 38.3142 (1999), 21.4133 (1998), 11.8906 (1997)
Export Partners: South Africa 12.1%, UK 8.5%, Japan 7.7%, Germany 6.1%, China 5.4%
Gini Index: 56.80 %
Zimbabwe Labor Force: 5,500,000
Zimbabwe Labor Force by Occupations: agriculture 66%, services 24%, industry 10%
ZIMBABWEAN COMMUNICATIONS
Radio Broadcast Stations: 28
Radios: 1,140,000
Television Broadcast Stations: 16
Televisions: 370,000
Mainline Telephones: 212,000
Mobile Phones: 111,000
Internet Service Providers: 6
Internet Users: 30,000
Internet Country Code:.zw
Newspapers: 19
Two Letter Country Code: ZW Weights & Measures:
Phone Country Code: +263
Electricity: Volts
Zimbabwe Telephone Systems: general assessment: system was once one of the best in Africa, but now suffers from poor maintenance; more than 100,000 outstanding requests for connection despite an equally large number of installed but unused main lines domestic: consists of microwave radio relay links, open-wire lines, radiotelephone communication stations, fixed wireless local loop installations, and a substantial mobile cellular network; Internet connection is available in Harare and planned for all major towns and for some of the smaller ones international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat; two international digital gateway exchanges (in Harare and Gweru)
ZIMBABWEAN TRANSPORTATION
Highways: 8,692 km
Railways: 3,077 km
Pipelines: 212 km
Waterways: 0 km
Airports: 17
Heliports: 0
Motor Vehicles: 51 per 1k people
CO2 Emissions: 18,203,000 Metric Tons of CO2 / yr
Per Capita CO2 Emissions: 1.60 MT of CO2 / yr
Zimbabwe Merchant Marines: NA
Zimbabwe Ports and Harbors: Binga, Kariba
ZIMBABWEAN PEOPLE
Population: 11,376,676 people
Birth Rate: 24.59 births per 1k people
Population Density: 33.00 people per sq km
Death Rate: 24.06 deaths per 1k people
Population Growth: 0.05 % per year
Fertility Rate: 3.21 babies born per woman
Population Male 0-14: 2,178,073
Population Female 0-14: 2,128,287
Population Male 15-64: 3,376,850
Population Female 15-64: 3,268,315
Population Male 65+: 213,286
Population Female 65+: 211,865
Population 0-14: 37.90 %
Literacy Rate: 85.00 %
Population 15-64: 58.40 %
Literacy Rate Male: 90.00 %
Population 65+: 3.70 %
Literacy Rate Female: 80.00 %
Population Male: 51.50 %
Population Female: 48.50 %
Life Expectancy at Birth: 36.50 years
Infant Mortality Rate: 62.97 babies die per 1000 babies born
Life Expectancy at Birth Male: 37.87 years
Life Expectancy at Birth Female: 35.10 years
AIDS/HIV Rate: 25.06 %
People Living with AIDS/HIV: 1,500,000
People who Died of AIDS: 160,000
Zimbabwe Net Migration Rate: 0.00 migrants per 1k people
Nationality: ZIMBABWEAN Ethnic Groups in Zimbabwe: African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1%
Zimbabwe Primary Language: English
Zimbabwe Other Languages: English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects
Primary Religion in Zimbabwe: syncretic
Other Religions in Zimbabwe: syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%, Christian 25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1%
ZIMBABWEAN MILITARY
Branches: Zimbabwe National Army, Air Force of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Republic Police (includes Police Support Unit, Paramilitary Police)
