Facts About Zimbabwe

Facts about Zimbabwe include some interesting ones because of the economic and political environments in the past 10 years.

In fact, Zimbabwe is a country of about 13.5 million people according to the last official population censors. It is a land locked African country located in southern Africa. It's bordering neighbors are South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia. Zimbabwe capital is Harare with some estimated 2 million inhabitants.The capital of Zimbabwe is located in the Mashonaland region of the country.

Zimbabwe people speak mainly two local Zimbabwe languages Shona and Ndebele. There are other numerous smaller dialects and many of them are closer to Shona or Ndebele. The official languages are three i.e English, Shona and Ndebele. Other smaller languages are recognized and some radio and TV programmes cater for these groups like the Kalanga and Venda people of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe facts have on record that the country attained independence on the 18th April 1980 from the British government after a protracted armed struggle. To this day the 18th day of April is an important day on the national calendar which is celebrated as Zimbabwe Independence Day. Since 1980, the nation has received an independence address from it's Prime minister cum President; Robert Mugabe

Zimbabwe Political Facts

On the political front there are numerous political parties in Zimbabwe many of which only emerge on the eve of elections every five years. These small parties have remained in the public mind as possible secret service sponsored outfits meant to divide votes from the opposition. However, it seems equally likely that many of them are genuine but lack funds to sustain active existence until another round of elections. Zimbabwe law does not provide for the support of these small "insignificant" parties.

The two main political parties are ZANU PF lead by Robert Gabriel Mugabe who is also the President of Zimbabwe and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) lead by Morgan Tsvangirai. The MDC has a splinter competitor also called the MDC and lead by a former NASA employee Professor Arthur Mutambara.

Zimbabwe has held elections on time every time consistently since 1980. Until 2000 when a referendum on a proposed new constitution was held elections had gone in every case ZANU PF's way. The MDC was formed in 1999 and vigorously opposed the adoption of the mostly ZANU PF sponsored constitution making process. The people of Zimbabwe voted NO for the adoption of that constitution draft.

Since then ZANU PF has participated in national elections heavily opposed with close "wins" which in almost every case are disputed due to fierce violence mostly blamed on ruling party supporters especially in rural areas.

Zimbabwe Economic Facts 

Facts about Zimbabwe will reveal that Zimbabwe is an agriculture based economy mostly relying on tobacco and other agricultural produce exports including beef and flowers. However, in 2001 things took a terrible dip after government sanctioned land inversions began. Most farms mostly owned by white farmers were taken over by landless locals. The actual inversion was started by a small group of people called Svosve from Svosve village in rural Zimbabwe. Svosve means tiny ant.

Between 2000 and 2008 the economy entered a free fall with the Zimbabwe dollar losing value daily. The reserve bank of Zimbabwe entered into an uncontrollable printing of Zimbabwe dollars under the leadership of Dr Gideon Gono. This spiraled inflation to world record levels of 1 billion percent even though government only acknowledged inflation levels of just over 200 million %. Many Zimbabweans in the diaspora saw an opportunity to make money by selling Zimbabwe's highest notes of $10 billion and $100 trillion on eBay. A single note worth less than $1.00 equivalent would fetch at its pick as much as $80 to a $100 on eBay.

In 2008 in a bid to curb fierce inflation which rendered the Zim dollar worthless the government introduced the multi-currency system were-by businesses and employee salary transactions would be carried out in any of the currencies - United States Dollar, Pound Sterling or South African Rand. Other currencies such as the Botswana Pula were also accepted. This marked the end of outrageous inflation which was initially followed by high prices of goods and commodities which then began to fall and fall into 2009. inflation even entered into negative territory.

Facts about Zimbabwe weather

Zimbabwe is amongst countries with the best weather characterized by long summers and short winters. The seasons in Zimbabwe are commonly known as winter and summer. Winters are mostly dry but light showers may occur. Winter weather involves temperature drops of about 14 to 16 degrees Celsius. Winter in Zimbabwe runs from about May to July and Summer from August to the next May.

The coldest parts of Zimbabwe are the Midlands province occupied by cities in Zimbabwe such as Gweru and Kwekwe. Manicaland province were you find the eastern highlands is also notoriously cold in winter.

Summers in Zimbabwe can be very hot especially in the Matebeland region. Temperatures can reach up to 40 degrees Celsius about 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Summer is also a rainy season starting from the month of November right through to the following March. Rainy season may have heavy storms and lightning. In recent years flooding has been frequently occurring in Zimbabwe due to global weather shifts.

10 Facts about Zimbabwe

1. Zimbabwe officially uses three different currencies of other economies i.e USD, South African Rand and Pound Sterling
2. Over 03 million of its nationals are in the diaspora mostly the UK, South Africa and the USA
   
3. Zimbabwe has an estimated unemployment rate of 90%
4. In 2009, Zimbabwe needs $10 billion (American dollars) to kick-start its economy. During the inflationary days Z$10 billion was worth less than a dollar at some point.
5. During the inflationary years the price of an egg was once Z$25million
6. Zimbabweans who are 30 years old in 2009 have only known one president - Robert Mugabe
7. South Africa is the biggest trading partner of Zimbabwe
8. In 2008 South Africa removed visa requirements for Zimbabwe passport holders entering South Africa. there was an initial flood of Zimbabweans into South Africa which later subsided.
   
9. Most Zimbabweans are linked one way or another to a person who died of AIDS or who has AIDS - an indication of the high infection rate.
10. The life expectancy in Zimbabwe has fallen from over 50 years in 1998 to just 35 years in 2008.

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