Zimbabwe is bordered on the north by Zambia, Located in Southern Africa.on the east by Mozambique, on the south by South Africa and by Botswana on the West. With an overall territory of 390,580 sq. m., the country is as big as Germany and Switzerland taken together.
Of the approx. 12 million inhabitants, some 77% belong to the Shona population and some 18% to the Ndebele subculture. The remaining 5% of the Zimbabwean population include other African ethnic groups (Tonga, Hlengwe, Sotho and Venda), a small number of Caucasians, and Asians. Zimbabwe was the last African country to acquire national independence in 1980 after extensive fights against formerly white-ruled South Rhodesia.
In rural areas of Zimbabwe, African traditions are still very much alive today, although they are more and more replaced by modern, Western lifestyles in the cities, popular mainly with to young people. A closer look at modern Zimbabwe and its people reveals, however, that in the suburbs of big cities such as Harare, Bulawayo or Chitungwiza, the often-nightlong traditional ceremonies have lost nothing of their original impact.
With more than a passing resemblance to a National Geographic best-of issue, Zimbabwe is a beautiful and usually safe country to visit. It boasts the majestic Victoria Falls, magnificent wildlife preserves and the medieval ruins of Great Zimbabwe, as well as the bustling city of Harare. Whether you're lying in a tent listening to hippos snuffle in the river nearby or shaking your booty at an all-night percussion jam, there's enough elbow room to raise a bucket of chibuku to your lips and toast this fascinating country.
The first contact with Europeans was with the Portuguese at the end of the 15th century. Relations between the two were fairly stable – the Portuguese were largely concerned with ensuring communications between their colonies in Angola and Mozambique on either side of Zimbabwe – until the 1830s, when the region was thrown into upheaval by the northward migration of the Ndebele people from South Africa. The Ndebele, who espoused a Zulu warrior tradition, effectively enslaved the indigenous Shona people until the end of the century.
Present-day Zimbabwe was the site of a large and complex African civilization in the 13th and 14th centuries. It was populated by descendants of the Bantu tribes, who had migrated from the north around the 10th century. Mainly pastoral, evidence of their lifestyle may be seen in the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, near the present-day town of Masvingo.
The main focus of dissent in the early years was from Joshua Nkomo’s ZAPU opposition party – ZANU’s former ally in the ‘Patriotic Front’ that fought the guerrilla war against Rhodesia from their bases in Zambia and Mozambique. From 1985, however, the two parties moved towards a merger, which was peacefully achieved in January 1988. Named ZANU-PF, the party assumed undisputed political primacy, unchallenged by any significant opposition until the end of the 1990s.
At this point, a new aggressive breed of colonists arrived in the form of British mining interests led by Cecil Rhodes’ British South Africa Company (BSAC). The BSAC took control of the country – which they called ‘Southern Rhodesia’ – until 1923, when it became, nominally, a British colony. This followed a referendum (for whites only) on joining the Union of South Africa. Despite attractive terms from South African leader Jan Smuts, there was a heavy vote against the merger. From 1953–63, Southern Rhodesia formed part of the Central African Federation with neighboring Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Nyasaland (now Malawi). In 1965, to resist decolonization, the settlers – with South African support – issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI). This triggered a bitter civil war between the white minority government and fighters for African independence, ending only in 1980, with the granting of independence and the holding of a general election under British auspices, which was won decisively by Robert Mugabe’s ZANU party.
The year-round temperate climate of the Highveld has combined with the natural inclinations of the white population to produce an outdoor society. Tennis—whether on farms or at urban clubs—and bowling have many more followers than any ballet group. Happily for the cause of reconciliation, the first sport heroes after freedom were the members of the all-white team that was awarded the first gold medal for women's field hockey in Olympic history at Moscow in 1980. The most famous of Rhodesian-bred writers, Doris Lessing, settled in England in 1949. In some contrast, the nationalist fight prompted a renaissance of Shona culture.
A forerunner of this renaissance (and a victim of the liberation fight) was Herbert Chitepo, both as abstract painter and epic poet. Stanlake Samkange's novels reconstruct the Shona and Ndebele world of the 1890s, while those of the much younger Charles Mungoshi explore the clash of Shona and Western cultures in both the Shona and English languages. Folk traditions have survived in dance and pottery. The revival of sculpture has drawn on tribal religion and totems to produce some remarkable works, particularly those of Takawira and the Tengenenge school of craftsmen who sculpt in hard serpentine. Zimbabwe’s economy is well balanced between market agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and tourism, with a considerable subsistence-farming sector.
Before the reached of European settlers in the late 19th century, the peoples of the region practiced mixed farming (raising both crops and farm animal), with cattle ranching predominating in the drier south and west. Gold mining and trade supplemented agriculture. The reached of Europeans led to the growth of the commercial farming sector. Much of the best land was taken over by white settlers, who grew maize (corn) or fruit or practiced mixed farming. By the 1930s, the mainstay of settler agriculture was tobacco. Large numbers of low-paid Africans worked settler farms, many recruited from Mozambique. Gold mining continued, but the development of a large mining and industrial area only took off after World War II (1939-1945), when Southern Rhodesia (as Zimbabwe was then called) benefited from large-scale investment that flowed into the colony.
The rich heritage of traditional music present in Zimbabwe since its earliest times survived only with difficulty once British colonisation was established by the mid-nineteenth century. Even more than in other African countries, British mission houses and schools forced their values upon the African people, suppressing their music and traditions which the British considered as "barbarian". Only much later,with the emergence of African national consciousness as of the 1930s, did church institutions assume a more tolerant attitude towards African customs, finally even allowing traditional African musical instruments to be played during Christian service.
Zimbabwe, officially Republic of Zimbabwe, landlocked republic, southern Africa, bordered on the north-west by Zambia, on the north-east and east by Mozambique, on the south by South Africa, on the south-west by Botswana, and on the west by Botswana and the Caprivi Strip of Namibia. It was formerly the British colony of Southern Rhodesia (later Rhodesia).
The great majority of the black population adheres to traditional religion based on reverence for ancestors. The Shona have preserved their ancient reputation for prophecy, divination, and rainmaking; they believe in Mwari, a supreme being. The stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe are regarded as a shrine of deep religious significance, as also are parts of the Matopo.
Zimbabwe, lying north of the Tropic of Capricorn, is completely within the tropics but enjoys subtropical conditions because of its high average elevation. Toward the end of the hot, dry months, which last from August to October, monsoon winds that have crossed the Indian Ocean and Mozambique result in intense orographic rainfall when they meet the rampart formed
Zimbabwe is a cosmopolitan society and enjoys both local and international cuisine. Eating out is popular and comparatively cheap. A traditional dish is sadza (a stiff maize meal) eaten with meat and/or gravy and a relish. Beer is the most widely consumed alcoholic beverage. Imported wines, spirits and liqueurs are available in hotels. Traditional maize beer, whawha, is made in large quantities on special occasions.
Capital: Harare
Area: 150,803 sq mi (390,580 sq km)
Population: 12.5 million
Largest Cities: Harare1, Bulawayo, Chitungwiza, Mutare etc.
Languages: Official Language English; Other Languages Shona, Ndebele, other local languages
Religions: 44%Christianity, 40%orthodox beliefs, 16%Other, including Hinduism and Islam
Zimbabwe Independence: 18 April 1980
Currency: Zimbabwean dollar
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