Zimbabwe Republic of Zimbabwe
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Unity, Freedom, Work"
Anthem: Simudzai Mureza wedu WeZimbabwe  (Shona) Kalibusiswe Ilizwe leZimbabwe  (sindebele) "Blessed be the land of Zimbabwe"
Capital (and largest city)		Harare (formerly Salisbury) 17°50′S, 31°3′E
Official languages		English
Recognised regional languages		Shona, Sindebele
Demonym		Zimbabwean
Government		Parliamentary Democracy
-	President	Robert Mugabe (1980–Present)
-	Vice President	Joseph Msika (1999–Present) Joyce Mujuru (2004–Present)
-	President of the Senate	Edna Madzongwe
-	Speaker of Parliament	John Nkomo
Independence		from the United Kingdom
-	Rhodesia	November 11, 1965
-	Zimbabwe	April 18, 1980
Area
-	Total	390,757 km² (60th) 150,871 sq mi
-	Water (%)	1
Population
-	July 2005 estimate	13,010,0001 (68th)
-	Density	33/km² (170th) 85/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2005 estimate
-	Total	$30.581 billion (94th)
-	Per capita	$2,607 (129th)
Gini (2003)		56.8 (high)
HDI (2007)		▲ 0.513 (medium) (151st)
Currency		Dollar ($) (ZWD)
Time zone		CAT (UTC+2)
-	Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC+2)
Internet TLD		.zw
Calling code		+263
1 Estimates explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS.

Zimbabwe (pronounced /zɪmˈbɑːbweɪ/), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, and formerly Southern Rhodesia, the Republic of Rhodesia and Zimbabwe Rhodesia, is a landlocked country in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest, and Mozambique to the east. The official language of Zimbabwe is English, however the majority of the population speaks Shona which is the native language of the Shona people, it is one of the native languages of Zimbabwe along with Sindebele which is spoken by the Matabele people.

From circa 1250–1629, the area that is known as Zimbabwe today was ruled under the Mutapa Empire, also known as Mwene Mutapa, Monomotapa or the Empire of Great Zimbabwe, which was renowned for its gold trade routes with Arabs. However, Portuguese settlers destroyed the trade and began a series of wars which left the empire near collapse in the early 17th century. In 1834, the Matabele people arrived while fleeing from the Zulu leader Shaka, making the area their new empire, Matabeleland. In the 1880s, the British arrived with Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company. In 1898, the name Southern Rhodesia was adopted.

As colonial rule was ending throughout the continent, and as African-majority governments assumed control in neighbouring Northern Rhodesia and in Nyasaland, the white-minority Rhodesia government led by Ian Smith declared unilateral independence on 11 November 1965. The United Kingdom deemed this an act of rebellion, but did not re-establish control by force. The white-minority regime declared itself a "republic" in 1970. It was not recognised by the UK or any other state, other than white minority-led South Africa.

A civil war ensued, with Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU and Mugabe's ZANU using assistance from the governments of Zambia and Mozambique.

On 18 April 1980, the country attained independence and along with it a new name, Zimbabwe, new flag, and government led by Robert Mugabe of ZANU. Canaan Banana served as the first president with Mugabe as Prime Minister. In 1987, the government amended the Constitution to provide for an Executive President and abolished the office of Prime Minister. The constitutional changes went into effect on 1 January 1988, establishing Robert Mugabe as President.

Under the leadership of Mugabe, land issues, which the liberation movement promised to solve, reemerged as the vital issue in the 1990s. Despite majority-rule, whites made up less than one percent of the population but held 70% of the country's commercially viable arable land because of the colour line arising from British colonialism. ^[1] Beginning in 2000, Mugabe began an effort to redistribute land from white holders (predominantly large farms) to black people (predominantly government ministers and cronies).^{[citation needed]}

Zimbabwe is currently experiencing a hard currency shortage, which has led to hyperinflation and chronic shortages in imported fuel and consumer goods. Mugabe's critics blame his programme of land reform. Zimbabwe's current economic and food crisis, described by some observers as the country's worst humanitarian crisis since independence, has been attributed, in varying degrees, to a drought affecting the entire region, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the government's price controls and land reforms.^[2]