Introduction
Background: The UK annexed Southern Rhodesia from the South Africa Company in 1923. A 1961 constitution was formulated that favored whites in power. In 1965 the government unilaterally declared its independence, but the UK did not recognize the act and demanded more complete voting rights for the black African majority in the country (then called Rhodesia). UN sanctions and a guerrilla uprising finally led to free elections in 1979 and independence (as Zimbabwe) in 1980. Robert MUGABE, the nation's first prime minister, has been the country's only ruler (as president since 1987) and has dominated the country's political system since independence. His chaotic land redistribution campaign begun in 2000 caused an exodus of white farmers, crippled the economy, and ushered in widespread shortages of basic commodities. Ignoring international condemnation, MUGABE rigged the 2002 presidential election to ensure his reelection. Opposition and labor groups launched general strikes in 2003 to pressure MUGABE to retire early; security forces continued their brutal repression of regime opponents.
Geography
Location: Southern Africa, between South Africa and Zambia
Geographic coordinates: 20 00 S, 30 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 390,580 sq km; land: 386,670 sq km; water: 3,910 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly larger than Montana
Land boundaries: total: 3,066 km; border countries: Botswana 813 km, Mozambique 1,231 km, South Africa 225 km, Zambia 797 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: tropical; moderated by altitude; rainy season (November to March)
Terrain: mostly high plateau with higher central plateau (high veld); mountains in east
Elevation extremes: lowest point: junction of the Runde and Save rivers 162 m; highest point: Inyangani 2,592 m
Natural resources: coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals
Land use: arable land: 8.32%; permanent crops: 0.34%; other: 91.34% (2001)
Irrigated land: 1,170 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: recurring droughts; floods and severe storms are rare
Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; land degradation; air and water pollution; the black rhinoceros herd - once the largest concentration of the species in the world - has been significantly reduced by poaching; poor mining practices have led to toxic waste and heavy metal pollution
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: landlocked; the Zambezi forms a natural riverine boundary with Zambia; in full flood (February-April) the massive Victoria Falls on the river forms the world's largest curtain of falling water
People
Population: 12,746,990; note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 39.2% (male 2,522,609/female 2,474,131); 15-64 years: 57.1% (male 3,686,354/female 3,592,662); 65 years and over: 3.7% (male 235,478/female 235,756) (2005 est.)
Median age: total: 19.26 years; male: 19.28 years; female: 19.24 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.51% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 29.74 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 24.66 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population negligible migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female; total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 67.69 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 70.32 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 64.98 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 36.67 years; male: 37.21 years; female: 36.11 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate: 3.54 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 24.6% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.8 million (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 170,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: high; food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid; vectorborne disease: malaria; water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2004)
Nationality: noun: Zimbabwean(s); adjective: Zimbabwean
Ethnic groups: African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1%
Religions: syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%, Christian 25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1%
Languages: English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write English; total population: 90.7%; male: 94.2%; female: 87.2% (2003 est.)
Government
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Zimbabwe; conventional short form: Zimbabwe; former: Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia
Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Harare
Administrative divisions: 8 provinces and 2 cities* with provincial status; Bulawayo*, Harare*, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Midlands
Independence: 18 April 1980 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 18 April (1980)
Constitution: 21 December 1979
Legal system: mixture of Roman-Dutch and English common law
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Vice President Joyce MUJURU (since 6 December 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; head of government: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Vice President Joyce MUJURU (since 6 December 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; responsible to the House of Assembly; elections: presidential candidates nominated with a nomination paper signed by at least 10 registered voters (at least one from each province) and elected by popular vote for a 6-year term; election last held 9-11 March 2002 (next to be held March 2008); co-vice presidents appointed by the president; election results: Robert Gabriel MUGABE reelected president; percent of vote - Robert Gabriel MUGABE 56.2%, Morgan TSVANGIRAI 41.9%
Legislative branch: unicameral House of Assembly (150 seats - 120 elected by popular vote for five-year terms, 12 nominated by the president, 10 occupied by traditional chiefs chosen by their peers, and 8 occupied by provincial governors appointed by the president); elections: last held 31 March 2005 (next to be held NA 2010); election results: percent of vote by party - ZANU-PF 59.6%, MDC 39.5%, other 0.9%; seats by party - ZANU-PF 78, MDC 41, Independents 1
Judicial branch: Supreme Court; High Court
Economy
Economy - overview: The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems as it struggles with an unsustainable fiscal deficit, an overvalued exchange rate, soaring inflation, and bare shelves. Its 1998-2002 involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy. Badly needed support from the IMF has been suspended because of the country's failure to meet budgetary goals. Inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in 1998 to 133% at the end of 2004, while the exchange rate fell from 24 Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar to 6,200 in the same time period. The government's land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, has badly damaged the commercial farming sector, the traditional source of exports and foreign exchange and the provider of 400,000 jobs.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $24.37 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: -8.2% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,900 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 18.1%; industry: 24.3%; services: 57.7% (2004 est.)
Labor force: 4.23 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 66%, industry 10%, services 24% (1996)
Unemployment rate: 70% (2002 est.)
Population below poverty line: 70% (2002 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1.97%; highest 10%: 40.42% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 50.1 (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 133% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 9.9% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues: $1.325 billion; expenditures: $1.593 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
Public debt: 52.3% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs
Industries: mining (coal, gold, platinum, copper, nickel, tin, clay, numerous metallic and nonmetallic ores), steel, wood products, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, clothing and footwear, foodstuffs, beverages
Industrial production growth rate: -7.8% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 8.839 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - consumption: 11.22 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 3 billion kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 23,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: NA
Oil - imports: NA
Current account balance: $-230.3 million (2004 est.)
Exports: $1.409 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing
Exports - partners: South Africa 11.9%, Zambia 6.3%, China 3.4% (2004)
Imports: $1.599 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels
Imports - partners: South Africa 47.2%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 6.2%, China 4.4% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $57 million (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $4.086 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $178 million; note - the EU and the US provide food aid on humanitarian grounds (2000 est.)
Currency (code): Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD)
Exchange rates: Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar - 4,303.28 (2004), 697.424 (2003), 55.036 (2002), 55.052 (2001), 44.418 (2000)
note: these are official exchange rates, non-official rates vary significantly
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 300,900 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 379,100 (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment: system was once one of the best in Africa, but now suffers from poor maintenance; more than 100,000 outstanding requests for connection despite an equally large number of installed but unused main lines; domestic: consists of microwave radio relay links, open-wire lines, radiotelephone communication stations, fixed wireless local loop installations, and a substantial mobile cellular network; Internet connection is available in Harare and planned for all major towns and for some of the smaller ones; international: country code - 263; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat; two international digital gateway exchanges (in Harare and Gweru)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 7, FM 20 (plus 17 repeater stations), shortwave 1 (1998)
Television broadcast stations: 16 (1997)
Internet country code: .zw
Internet hosts: 4,501 (2003)
Internet users: 500,000 (2002)
Transportation
Railways: total: 3,077 km; narrow gauge: 3,077 km 1.067-m gauge (313 km electrified) (2004)
Highways: total: 18,338 km; paved: 8,692 km; unpaved: 9,646 km (1999 est.)
Waterways: on Lake Kariba, length small (2003)
Pipelines: refined products 261 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Binga, Kariba
Airports: 404 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 17; over 3,047 m: 3; 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4; 914 to 1,523 m: 8 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 387; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5; 914 to 1,523 m: 186;
under 914 m: 196 (2004 est.)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: Botswana has built electric fences and South Africa has placed military along the border to stem the flow of thousands of Zimbabweans fleeing to find work and escape political persecution; Namibia has supported and in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections to plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly delimited Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river
Refugees and internally displaced persons: IDPs: 100,000-150,000 (MUGABE-led political violence, human rights violations, land reform, and economic collapse) (2004)
Illicit drugs: transit point for African cannabis and South Asian heroin, mandrax, and methamphetamines destined for the South African and European markets.
