Republic of Zimbabwe (en)
Zimbabwe (en)
( Flag of Zimbabwe ) ( Arms of Zimbabwe )
National motto : Unity, freedom, work. Unity, freedom, work.
Official Languages	English , Shona , Sindebele
Capital	Harare 17 50 'S, 31 03' E
Largest city	Harare
Form of State	Parliamentary republic
- President of the Republic Prime Minister	Robert Mugabe Morgan Tsvangirai
Area - Total - Water (%)	Ranked 60 th 390 580 km 2 1%
Population - Total ( 2010 ) - Density	Ranked 72 th 11,651,858 inhab. 29.8 inhabitants / km 2
Independence - Declared and recognized	The United Kingdom 11 November 1965 (As Southern Rhodesia) 17 April 1980 (As Zimbabwe)
Demonym	Zimbabwean
HDI ( 2005 )	0.491 (low) ( 151st )
Currency	U.S. Dollar ( USD )
Time Zone	UTC 2
National anthem	Kalibusiswe Ilizwe Zimbabwe
Internet domain	. Zw
Indicative Telephone	+263

Zimbabwe, long form Republic of Zimbabwe, in English and formerly known as Southern Rhodesia, then Rhodesia and Zimbabwe Rhodesia, is a country located in Southern Africa. Without access to the sea, the country is surrounded by South Africa , the Botswana to the west, Zambia to the north and Mozambique to the east.

The capital is Harare , the official language of English , the currency was the Zimbabwe dollar until April 2009 but was replaced by the U.S. dollar after a currency crisis.

Summary 1 History 2 Policy 3 Geography 3.1 Provinces 4 Economy 5 Demographics 5.1 Health 6 Culture 7 Agriculture 8 Technology 9 References 10 Codes 11 See also 12 External link

/ / History

• Before 500: the Khoisan are the earliest known inhabitants of the country.
• Around 500: arrival of the Bantu Gokomere ancestors of Shona.
• ^IX - XIII ^century : building the stone monument of Great Zimbabwe in Shona tribes.
• 1420 : Founding of the Empire Monomotapa by King Mwene Mutapa. The civilization of Great Zimbabwe declined irreversibly.
• 1480 : Founding of the Kingdom of Shona Torwa direct successor of Great Zimbabwe. "
• Early ^sixteenth century : Arrival of the Portuguese Rhodesian plateau that invest in the Zambezi Valley.
• 1690 : The Portuguese were finally expelled by the troops of Monomatapa. But the area of the former empire is now confined to the Zambezi valley.
• 1684 : the collapse of the dynasty Torwa overthrown by the clan Changamire who founded the empire Rozwi.
• 1840 : foundation of a state military Ndebele led by Mzilikazi clan Zulu Xumalo on the ruins of the empire Rozwi.
• 1852 : recognition of the Ndebele of Mzilikazi Kingdom by the South African Republic of Transvaal.
• 1854 : the explorer David Livingstone reaches Victoria Falls.
• 1 870 - in 1880 : Exploring the Shona and Ndebele territory by Europeans which Frederick Selous and Thomas Baines.
• 1888 : Signing of the concession Rudd by King Lobengula , abused by a bad translation. It sells well in the BSAC of Cecil Rhodes all the land between the rivers Zambezi and Limpopo. With the intervention of the British army (see article on Cecil Rhodes), to be determined.
• In 1893 - 1894 : First Anglo-Matabele. The Matabele are beaten on the Shangani and Bembesi but destroy the British patrol of Major Allan Wilson on Shangani. Defeated Lobengula fled and died early 1894.
• 1895 : Administration by the BSAC territory called "Rhodesia" in honor of Cecil Rhodes.
• 1901 : administrative division between the territories of northern Zambezi baptized Northern Rhodesia south and those baptized in Southern Rhodesia.
• 1923 : the administration of BSAC ends. Failure of integration to South Africa in Southern Rhodesia which takes the status of autonomous colony while London retains control over the administration of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
• 1953 - one thousand nine hundred and sixty-three : Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, comprising Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
• 1964 : Dissolution of the Federation and independence of Northern Rhodesia was renamed Zambia and Nyasaland renamed Malawi.
• 1965 : unilateral declaration of independence by Southern Rhodesia by the white government led by Ian Smith.
• 1970 : Proclamation of the Republic of Rhodesia.
• 1978 : internal agreements between Rhodesian government and moderate black nationalist movements for the establishment of a new assembly and a multiracial government.
• 1979 : creation of ephemeral state of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. Reinstatement in the UK. Lancaster House Agreement preparing the independence of Zimbabwe and a redistribution of land after 10 years.
• 1980 : Fifteen years after Ian Smith's UDI, the British granted independence to Southern Rhodesia was renamed Zimbabwe, a member of the Commonwealth. The former leader of guerrilla Robert Mugabe is the new Prime Minister . In this climate of terror, Tsvangirai decided five days before the second round of the presidential election boycott it, allowing Robert Mugabe to be re-elected . The inflation exceeding 10 million annual rate in%: editing notes 100 billion Zimbabwean dollars (about 3 euros at the end July 2008) is required. The population is forced to return to a barter economy and walking: there is more diesel buses to roll , .
  In addition, since August, an outbreak of cholera has gripped the country and has already made in compliance with WHO : 2971 dead and 56,123 infected people (official figures on January 27, 2009). Also according to the WHO, up to half of the 12 million Zimbabweans are at risk of contracting the disease due to unsanitary living conditions in the country. .
• 2009 : Following pressure from the UN about the fraud on the presidential election, Mugabe decided to share power with his opponent and rival Morgan Tsvangirai, whose party is the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). .
• April 2010 , Mugabe received the President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with whom he signed eight trade agreements between the two countries. This tour is not well perceived by the opposition and the rest of the world. .

Politics

Zimbabwe is officially a republic president , in which voting rights are granted to all citizens over 18 years. The president is both head of state and head of government.

The regime of Robert Mugabe is accused of gross violations of human rights. The atrocities carried out by police and army are still continuing under the current ruling coalition .

Geography

Zimbabwe is a country of high plateaus with no access to the sea Its highest point is Mount Nyangana (2592 m). The Lake Kariba and the river Zambezi define much of the border with Zambia (north west). The natural landscapes are the savannah or dry trees.

The country covers an area of 390,580 km ^2. Natural resources are: the coal , the chromium , the asbestos , the gold , the nickel , the copper , ores of iron , the vanadium , the lithium , the tin , and group metals platinum.

Zimbabwe is suffering from deforestation , soil erosion, and regular drought. The rhino black is in danger of extinction because of poaching.

Zimbabwe is bordered by Zambia , the Mozambique , the South Africa and Botswana.

Geography of Zimbabwe

Area in square kilometer	390 580
Culminating in meters	2 592
Low point in meters	162
Source: http://www.statistiques-mondiales.com/zimbabwe.htm.

Provinces

The country is divided into 8 provinces:

• Manicaland
• Mashonaland Central
• Mashonaland West
• Mashonaland East
• Masvingo
• Matabeleland North
• Matabeleland South
• Midlands

Zimbabwe has also two cities with provincial status: Bulawayo and Harare.

Economy

Zimbabwe's economy

GDP	4548 current U.S. million	2008
GDP per capita	Value U.S. 200 PPP per capita	2008
Source: http://www.statistiques-mondiales.com/zimbabwe.htm.

The country's involvement in the war in Democratic Republic of Congo has weighed heavily on the economy, but in exchange Mugabe and Zimbabwean officials have made fortunes thanks to minerals of the Congo ( cobalt , diamond , etc.)..

The inflation was 32% in 1998 , 59% in 1999 , 208% in February 2002 of a 042.9% in May 2006 , and over 100,000% in January 2008. The rate of inflation year (between July 2007 and July 2008 ) reached approximately 231 million%, this being regarded not as the inflation , but as of hyperinflation.

The agriculture sector has suffered from a bad distribution of land started in 1999 and 2000. In 1996 , 4 500 white farmers still owned at that time about 30% of farmland in the country (against 47% in 1980) growing wheat , peanuts and tobacco , whose turnover was over 50% of GDP. Called the breadbasket of Africa, the countries participating as a supplier of food to the World Food Programme (WFP). Since, for the expropriation of white farmers, half of these lands have been fragmented or redistributed in defiance of common sense to cronies or to black farmers without technical knowledge to manage operations. Many whites have emigrated to the Australia , the Zambia , South Africa or England. Since then, Zimbabwe has become a client of the World Food Programme.

Zimbabwe is also a great mining country (gold, platinum, diamonds, chromium). The operation performed using private capital has collapsed, a large part of the holding is now underground. New diamond mines were discovered in 2006. The ore is sold illegally in South Africa. Zimbabweens officials would nevertheless ensure has most of the smuggling and do not hesitate to track the population. . More cuts are then put into circulation and for three weeks, both will progress. This reassessment should however not stop the severe economic crisis, where the rate of unemployment is about 70%. The rationale of this operation is most likely purely cosmetic, believing that prices have fallen. Thus, in a television advertisement of the government, we see a housewife announce that bread "will now cost more than 200" whereas previously it cost 200 000. Another reason is that for certain transactions, computer systems no longer able to manage the numbers are too high.

Zimbabwe has set a new record inflation in January 2007 to 1 593% annual rate, just days after announcing the dismissal of Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa , replaced by Samuel Mumbengegwi . Inflation for the month of March 2007 would be 2200%.

In August 2007 , 2 liters of cooking oil costs Z 400,000, about 2.8 U.S. or 2 . The U.S. currency traded against 252 ZWD but officially worth nearly 100 billion ZWD black market ( July 2008 ).

In January 2008 , the rate of inflation reached an annual record of 100 580.2% while the rate of unemployment is approaching 80% . The Zimbabwean dollar has lost all its value exchanges are increasingly often in South African rand in pula Botswana or in U.S. dollar

In July 2008 , the rate of inflation reached 231 million annual% .

To fight inflation using the U.S. dollar was legalized in early 2009, which helped reduce inflation.

In January 2009, following over-inflation, the Zimbabwe dollar has dropped and the official currency of Zimbabwe is the U.S. dollar. Following this event, prices fall in one month by 3.1%. .

Demographics

Demography

Population	11 392 629	2009
Population Density	29.2 inhabitants / km	2009
Population under 15 years	43.9%	2009
Population 15 to 64 years	52.2%	2009
Population over 64 years	3.9%	2009
Life expectancy at birth	45.77 years	2009
Urban population	37.3%	2008
Median Age	17.6 years	2009
Fertility rate	3,69	2009
Birth rate	3.149%	2009
Mortality Rate	1.619%	2009
Rate of natural increase	1.53%	2009
Infant mortality	3.231%	2009
Mortality rate under 5 years	1.05%	2006
Percentage of population undernourished	47%	2004
Unemployment rate	95%	2009
Source: a href = "https: / / www.cia.gov / library / publications / the-world-factbook / geos / zi.html" class = "external free" rel = "nofollow"> https: / / www.cia. gov / library / publications / the-world-factbook / geos / zi.html

The country has about 13.5 million inhabitants ( 2008 ). He has more than tripled its population since 1960. Ravaged by AIDS , the epidemic has reduced life expectancy to 43.6 years and became a real threat to the survival of the Zimbabwean state. The mortality rate is raised to the high level of 17.9 per thousand, a level comparable to that of Southern Africa (17 per thousand). The average number of children per woman, or total fertility rate is 3.15, corresponding to a birthrate of 27.7 per thousand. The population growth rate is slowed to about 1% per year or 9.8 per thousand.