History

People have been living in Zimbabwe for thousands of years, and ruins such as Great Zimbabwe indicate that the land has been home to powerful civilizations. Zimbabwe’s modern history began when Portuguese explorers arrived in the 16th century with hopes of colonizing the land. European missionaries, traders, and ivory hunters followed them.

In 1888 the British-born businessman and mining magnate Cecil Rhodes, with concessions from local chiefs, began mining in the region. In the same year, the area was proclaimed part of the British sphere of influence. In 1889 the British South Africa Company was chartered, and in 1890 the settlement of Salisbury, now known as Harare, was founded. In 1895 the British South Africa Company named the region Rhodesia, after Cecil Rhodes. A large number of British settlers began to arrive in Rhodesia, amassing farmland and overseeing mining operations.

In 1965, Rhodesia made its Unilateral Declaration of Independence (although the country remained a self-governing colony of Britain until 1980, with the majority population of black Zimbabweans living under white minority rule). Because of the disorganization in governance, the United Nations started to impose sanctions on Rhodesia in 1966. During the late 1960s and 1970s black guerrilla and political movements began to form, and, after nationwide elections in 1979, the country’s first black prime minister, Bishop Abel Muzorewa, was elected.

Britain finally agreed to independence in 1980, and in pre-independence elections Robert Mugabe became prime minister. His party, the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), won an absolute majority.

After independence, Mugabe declared a plan for national reconciliation and reconstruction, which he pursued in his first few years in office. Land redistribution caused a large portion of Zimbabwe’s white population to leave the country, though many whites remained and continued to serve in civil service positions.

Over the next few decades, Mugabe’s government grew increasingly authoritarian and became notorious for its violence and brutality. Whites in government and civil service positions were forced out of the country in the late 1980s. The economy fell apart as the political situation became more unstable. Mugabe remained the unopposed leader of Zimbabwe until the early 2000s, when the Movement for Democratic Change party (MDC) rose up against his government. Mugabe responded with violence, causing the deaths of many MDC supporters and innocent bystanders.

In 2009 pressure from foreign governments forced Mugabe to accept the MDC and its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, as part of his government. Mugabe is currently president of Zimbabwe, with Tsvangirai as his prime minister.

The Top 5: Local Advice

1. Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in southern Africa. It sits between South Africa and Zambia and is bordered to the west by Botswana and to the east by Mozambique. It is slightly larger than Montana and is divided into ten provinces. The climate is usually tropical, depending on altitude.

2. The population of Zimbabwe is roughly 11.6 million. About 82 percent of that population is ethnically Shona and 14 percent Ndebele. Roughly 75 percent of Zimbabweans practice some form of Christianity, and 24 percent practice indigenous religions.

3. English is the official language of Zimbabwe, and Shona and Sindabele are both widely spoken.

4. The currency in Zimbabwe is the Zimbabwe dollar (the symbol is ZWD). Because of hyperinflation, several other currencies, like the euro and the American dollar, are in use. Visitors to Zimbabwe should have no problem using American greenbacks. Debit and credit cards are rarely accepted, so cash is essential.

5. Owing to the sometimes volatile political situation in Zimbabwe, visitors should be very mindful of expressing in public their opinions concerning Zimbabwean politics and the economy.

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