Zimbabwe: 17 Interesting Facts You Might Not Have Known

Zimbabwe is one of South Africa’s neighboring countries. I grew up literally 120 km from the Beit Bridge border post (near Musina) in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. I’ve never visited the country though.

Here are 17 Interesting facts about Zimbabwe

1. The country’s name was derived from the stone structures of Great Zimbabwe or Dzimbahwe.

2. It’s a landlocked country bordered by South Africa to the South, Botswana to the South West, Mozambique to the East and Zambia to the North and has an estimated population of 16 million people (according to 2023 statistics).

3. It was first known as Southern Rhodesia (the pre 1965 British Colony named after Cecil John Rhodes) and then known as the Republic of Rhodesia (when the colony declared unilateral independence from Britain in 1965).

4. Rhodesia declared unilateral independence from Britain in 1965 but the new country was only recognized by South Africa. A civil war erupted in Rhodesia which lasted between 1965 and 1979 until the Lancaster House peace agreement was signed to end the war. Zimbabwe’s independence was finally recognized globally in 1980.

5. Robert Mugabe was the first president of the country. Mugabe was in power between 1980 and 2017. The current president is Emmerson Mnangagwa.

6. Zimbabwe has 16 official languages. IThe official languages of Zimbabwe are Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Khoisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shangani, Shona, sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda and Xhosa.

7. The Mugabe government banned many foreign broadcasting stations from the country, including the BBC, CNN, CBC, Sky News, Channel 4, American Broadcasting Company, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Fox News.

8. There were widespread reports of systematic and escalating violations of human rights in Zimbabwe under the Mugabe administration and his party, the ZANU PF.

9. The Zimbabwe dollar was abandoned in April 2009 after it was denominated 3 times and exposed to extreme hyperinflation.

10. In 2008 it was estimated that the country’s annual inflation rate was 516 quintillion per cent (that’s 516 followed by 18 zeros). In 2008 consumer prices on everything from gasoline to glue were doubling on average every 1.3 days.

11. Zimbabwe has five UNESCO World heritage sites. There are three cultural sites: the Khami Ruins, Great Zimbabwe National Monument, and Matobo Hills and two natural sites: Victoria Falls and Mana Pools. The Khami Ruins is an extensive complex of stonewalled sites and once was the capital of the Butua State.

12. Khami was developed between 1450 and 1650 AD.

13. The Great Zimbabwe National Monument was, according to legend, the capital of the Queen of Sheba. The ancestral Shona people built the site between 1100 and 1450 AD.

14. The Matobo Hills have one of the highest concentrations of rock art in Southern Africa. These date back at least 13,000 years.

15. The Mana Pools are home to a wide variety of wild animals, for instance, elephants, buffalo, leopards, cheetahs and Nile crocodiles.

16. Lake Kariba is the largest man-made lake and reservoir in the world by volume. You’ll find it some 1,300km upstream from the Indian Ocean, along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is 226km (140 miles) long and up to 40km (24 miles) wide in some places. It provides electricity to both Zambia and Zimbabwe. There’s also a thriving commercial fishing industry on Lake Kariba. Apart from fish, Nile crocodiles and hippopotami also live in the lake.

17. The country’s flag is full of symbolism. For instance, the green stripe represents vegetation and agriculture. The gold colour represents the country’s mineral wealth. The red stripe represents the blood that was shed during the war of liberation. Black represents the black majority. The white triangle represents peace. The red star represents the nation’s aspirations and the golden bird is the “Great Zimbabwe Bird” which is the national symbol of Zimbabwe.

Well, there you have it, 17 interesting facts you might not have known about Zimbabwe. If I left anything out, feel free to leave a comment below.

Watch this space for updates in the Facts category on Running Wolf’s Rant.