🇿🇼Facts about Zimbabwe

Great Zimbabwe flourished between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries as a major settlement of a Shona-speaking society, connected through trade to the Indian Ocean coast. Its dry-stone walls give the modern country its name. Later regional states included Mutapa, Torwa and Rozvi polities. In the nineteenth century, Mzilikazi established the Ndebele kingdom in the southwest. These histories overlap and should not be reduced to a single uninterrupted kingdom.

The British South Africa Company imposed colonial rule in the 1890s. Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing British colony in 1923 under white minority rule. Ian Smith’s government issued a unilateral declaration of independence in 1965, without international recognition. The liberation war and negotiations led to the Lancaster House Agreement in 1979 and recognised independence on 18 April 1980. Canaan Banana became president and Robert Mugabe prime minister. Mugabe became executive president in 1987 and resigned in November 2017 after military intervention.

Mbira instruments have metal keys mounted on a wooden soundboard, often played inside a resonating gourd. Mbira music can accompany ceremonies, storytelling and everyday performance. UNESCO inscribed the art of crafting and playing mbira/sansi in Malawi and Zimbabwe in 2020. Contemporary Zimbabwean stone sculpture became internationally prominent in the twentieth century; artists use different stones and styles rather than one uniform national tradition.

Thomas Mapfumo helped develop chimurenga music, bringing mbira-inspired patterns into electric popular music. Oliver Mtukudzi’s distinctive music reached audiences far beyond Zimbabwe. Sungura, gospel, jazz and Zimdancehall are also part of a changing musical landscape. Totems, family relationships and ancestral traditions matter in many communities, alongside Christianity and other beliefs. Lobola or roora refers to negotiated marriage exchanges between families; practices differ, and neither one faith nor one custom describes every Zimbabwean.

Zimbabwe is a republic with a president who serves as head of state and government. Parliament consists of the National Assembly and Senate. The 2013 Constitution sets out institutions, rights and devolved government. The country has ten provinces for administrative purposes, including the metropolitan provinces of Harare and Bulawayo. ZANU-PF has roots in the liberation movement and has dominated national government. The 1987 Unity Accord brought ZANU and PF-ZAPU together.

Emmerson Mnangagwa became president in November 2017 after Robert Mugabe resigned. Morgan Tsvangirai led the Movement for Democratic Change and served as prime minister in the power-sharing government formed in 2009 after the disputed 2008 elections. Gukurahundi refers to state violence in the 1980s in Matabeleland and the Midlands, in which many thousands of civilians were killed; Ndebele-speaking communities were particularly affected. Elections, accountability, public services and constitutional rights remain subjects of debate. These dated events should be distinguished from claims about future officeholders or election outcomes.

Sadza is a thick cooked porridge, commonly made from maize meal, though millet and sorghum also have important food traditions. It is served with accompaniments such as leafy greens, beans, meat or fish. In Ndebele it is commonly called isitshwala. Bota is a thinner porridge often eaten for breakfast. Peanut butter, dovi in Shona, adds flavour and richness to vegetables, porridges and sauces.

Mopane caterpillars, called madora or macimbi, are harvested, dried and cooked in some regions; they are insects rather than worms. Kapenta are small fish associated with Lake Kariba fisheries. Roasted or boiled maize, chibage, is a familiar snack, while maputi are popped maize. Mutakura combines boiled grains and pulses. Food varies with community, season, income and household preference: urban restaurants, markets and home kitchens are as much part of Zimbabwean food as the dishes presented as national staples.

Zimbabwe’s 2022 census counted 15,178,979 people. This is a dated census count, not a current population estimate. Harare and Bulawayo are major urban centres, while towns, farming districts and cross-border connections shape settlement and mobility. Shona-speaking and Ndebele-speaking populations are prominent, alongside Tonga, Kalanga, Venda, Shangani, Nambya, Chewa and other communities. Citizenship, language and ancestry are related in varied ways rather than interchangeable labels.

Writers include Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of Nervous Conditions, Dambudzo Marechera, author of The House of Hunger, and NoViolet Bulawayo, author of We Need New Names. Oliver Mtukudzi and Thomas Mapfumo helped bring Zimbabwean music to international audiences. Kirsty Coventry won seven Olympic swimming medals across the 2004 and 2008 Games. Nick Price held golf’s world number one ranking for a total of 43 weeks. Sporting and cultural achievements form one part of wider lives shaped by work, education, family, migration and community.