About Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, sharing its southern border with South Africa, while Botswana is to its west, Zambia is to its north, and Mozambique lies to its east.
Zimbabwe derives its name from historical stone structures called “Great Zimbabwe” (houses of stone), the largest in Africa after the pyramids of Egypt. The stone sculptures were built in stages between 800 and 1500 A.D. They are the remaining evidence of a past imperial capital of imposing architecture whose wall, made up of millions of hand cut brick sized blocks of granite fitted together without mortar or cement, still stand, about 11 meters high and six meters thick in places. The Great Enclosure is about 250 meters in circumference. During its zenith, the city had 20,000 to 30,000 inhabitants. Great Zimbabwe became a citadel, a regional Mecca and famous for world trading. Two centuries before the Norman Conquest of England, Zimbabwe had a thriving civilization in southern Africa, which lasted for six hundred years. Smaller stone structures were found at Khami, Dhlodhlo, Nalatele and 250 other sites in present day Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique.
In terms of European colonialism in this country, with gold and diamond mining thriving in nearby South Africa, English mining magnate Cecil Rhodes (who obtained a concession for mining rights in portions of Zimbabwe from the Ndebele ethnic group in 1888) started the process of British settlement into that country. The territory, which became known as Southern Rhodesia (named after Rhodes), became a self-governing British colony in 1923.
During the 1960s, when much of the African continent became independent of European colonialism (including nearby Zambia), Rhodesian politician Ian Smith and his political party, the Rhodesian Front (RF) issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from the United Kingdom in 1965 – launching the independent country of Rhodesia (instituting white minority rule in that country). With neighboring (Apartheid-ruled) South Africa being the only country to recognize Rhodesia, local black nationalist movements “Zimbabwe African People’s Union” (ZAPU – headed by Joshua Nkomo) and “Zimbabwe African National Union “ (ZANU — headed by Robert Mugabe) launched separate guerrilla wars against the Rhodesian government.
After a long and costly civil war, elections were held in February 1980, which ushered into power Robert Mugabe as the country’s first black prime minister (under the country’s current name, Zimbabwe). Mugabe’s controversial policy of confiscating the country’s arable farmlands from local white owners handicapped the country’s mostly agrarian economy, and contributed to food security problems throughout Zimbabwe.
Issues with hyper-inflation and international sanctions being imposed upon the Mugabe regime (over allegations of sham elections which kept him in power) have also contributed to the country’s unstable economy over the years. This prompted Zimbabwe to adopt the U.S. dollar in 2009, which helped eliminate hyperinflation. Questions remain on Zimbabwe’s economic future, since Mugabe was re-elected (yet again) in 2013, whose political party (ZANU-PF) advocated the seizure of foreign banks in the country (such as Britain’s Standard Chartered and Barclays). One saving grace for Zimbabwe’s economic future is the mining sector – with proven reserves of platinum, the country also has extensive reserves of chrysolite, asbestos, chromite, iron ore, lithium ore and coal. That, as well as diamonds.
In the meantime, even with the country’s economic ups and downs, Zimbabwe’s tourism is gradually expanding, with potential for further growth. By 2013, tourism contributed 10% to the country’s GDP (with US$1 billion in tourism receipts). Visitors from neighboring South Africa, and other nearby African countries like Mozambique and Zambia contributed significantly to those totals (and growing numbers from Far East countries like China and Japan). There is still room for growth in arrivals from USA and Europe.