Source: MAPS IN MINUTES™ © RH Publications (1997)

A landlocked country in southern Africa, surrounded by Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa, and Botswana

Physical

On the north-west boundary of Zimbabwe with Zambia are the Victoria Falls and Lake Kariba on the Zambezi, and on the boundary with South Africa is the Limpopo. The country stands mainly on a plateau drained by tributaries of these and other rivers.

Economy

Zimbabwe’s economic health has declined greatly since 2000, with the main causes being inefficient and corrupt central planning; the financial strain of involvement in the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (1998–2000); the expropriation of White-owned farms—the backbone of the commercial agricultural sector—from 2000; and hyperinflation in the 2000s. The economy began to grow again after the adoption of the US dollar and other currencies in 2009 put an end to hyperinflation, but two-thirds of the population live in poverty and unemployment remains high. The main exports are platinum, cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles, and clothing. Other mineral resources include nickel, copper, tin, diamonds, and coal; mining and steel production are the principal industries. Agriculture produces cereals, cotton, tobacco, coffee, sugar cane, and groundnuts.

History

Zimbabwe is named after the ancient palace city of Great Zimbabwe, a 24-ha (64-acre) site, that dates from the 11th to the 15th centuries. Gold and copper were exported from more than 1000 mines by the 10th century ad, the trade passing through Sofala, in Mozambique, to Arab hands. In the early 15th century the region’s riches enabled the rise of the Shona (Karanga) empire, with the stone-built city as its capital. The sovereign had an elaborate court and constitution, and trade links with both sides of Africa; but after Portuguese incursions in the 16th century, Zimbabwe’s fortunes steadily declined. In 1629 an attempt to expel the Portuguese resulted in the installation of a puppet ruler. After 1693 the territory was absorbed by the Rozvi empire. In the early 19th century, the Ndebele, under their leader Mzilikazi, invaded the country from the south. He created a kingdom of Matabeleland, which for the next 50 years was to be in a state of permanent tension with the Shona to the north, in what came to be called Mashonaland. When Mzilikazi died he had obtained a peace treaty with the new Transvaal Republic, and he was succeeded by his son Lobengula. In 1889 the British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes was founded, and in 1890 his Pioneer Column marched into Mashonaland. Following the Jameson Raid and the Matabele War of 1893, Mashonaland and Matabeleland were united. Rebellion erupted in 1896–97, but it was ruthlessly suppressed. Rapid economic development followed, the country becoming the crown colony of Southern Rhodesia in 1911 and a self-governing colony in 1923.

After the victory of the right-wing Rhodesian Front in 1962, the colony sought independence but refused British demands for Black political participation in government and, under Prime Minister Ian Smith, issued the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965, renouncing colonial status and declaring Rhodesian independence. Subsequent British-sponsored attempts at negotiating a political compromise failed and nationalist forces waged an increasingly successful guerrilla campaign. Military pressure finally forced Smith to concede the principle of Black majority rule, but the regime of the moderate Bishop Muzorewa could not come to an accommodation with the guerrilla leaders of the Patriotic Front, Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo. Following the Lancaster House Conference (1979) Robert Mugabe was elected Prime Minister, and Rhodesia became the republic of Zimbabwe in 1980.

The decade of the 1980s saw a revival of tension between Shona and Ndebele, personified by Mugabe and Nkomo. The new constitution of 1987 not only eased this, by merging the two parties of which Mugabe and Nkomo were leaders, but also ended racial representation and created the office of executive President. With internal domestic tensions eased, Zimbabwe played a leading role in the politics of southern Africa, while its five-year plan (1986–90) did much to expand the economy. The state of emergency of 1965 was finally ended in July 1990. Controversial land redistribution plans were enacted during 1993–94. In April 1995, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), which had ruled the country since the inception of black majority rule, won its fourth successive election victory with an increased majority. The leader of the only opposition party to win seats, the Revd Ndabaningi Sithole of ZANU-Ndonga, was arrested on charges of conspiracy to assassinate President Mugabe later the same year. In March 1996 Mugabe was re-elected as President; turnout at the polls was lower than 40% of the electorate. From 1997 Mugabe’s regime responded with authoritarian measures to protests over food prices, corruption, and the lack of political reform, and from 2000 he colluded in the violent seizure of White-owned farms by squatters as part of a land reform programme. The 2000 parliamentary elections resulted in large gains for the opposition despite widespread intimidation. Mugabe was re-elected President in 2002 in a poll considered by foreign observers to be fraudulent; state violence during the campaign led to Zimbabwe’s suspension from the Commonwealth (it withdrew from membership in 2003). ZANU-PF won the 2005 parliamentary elections. Its economic position continued to deteriorate, with annual inflation running at about 13,000 per cent in September 2007.

Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in March 2008. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won a majority in parliament and its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, won the first round of the presidential election. However, it was deemed that he had not won by a sufficient margin, requiring a run off. With MDC supporters suffering violent attacks from ZANU-PF, Tsvangirai withdrew and Mugabe was re-elected in June. Under pressure from South Africa, in September he agreed to share power with Tsvangirai; after further disputes Tsvangirai became Prime Minister in 2009. Meanwhile the economy declined further, with inflation running at 231 million per cent. There were food shortages and a major cholera outbreak that collapsing health services could not prevent. The power-sharing government lasted until 2013, but it quickly became clear that ZANU-PF and Mugabe had retained the real power. In 2009 the worthless Zimbabwean dollar was suspended in favour of the US dollar and other currencies, which ended hyperinflation and allowed economic recovery to begin. A new constitution was introduced in 2013; under its terms, Mugabe was re-elected President and ZANU-PF achieved a large parliamentary majority in relatively peaceful but flawed elections. MDC attempts to overturn the results were rejected.