Zimbabwe

The **Republic of Zimbabwe** is a country in the southern part of the continent of Africa. Its capital city is Harare.

## Geography 
Zimbabwe is surrounded by other countries, and so it has no coast on the sea. This type of country is called *landlocked*. The countries that surround Zimbabwe are Zambia, Botswana, South Africa and Mozambique.

Zimbabwe is home to the famous waterfall, Victoria Falls, which is located on the Zambezi River and also the Great Zimbabwe, the ancient architectural monument from which the country was named after.

### Vegetation (Fauna and Flora) 
The country is mostly savanna. In the east it is moist and mountainous with tropical evergreen and hardwood forests. Trees include teak and mahogany, knobthorn, msasa and baobab. Among the many flowers and shrubs are hibiscus, spider lily, leonotus, cassia, tree wisteria and Dombeya.

There are around 350 species of mammals in Zimbabwe. There are also many snakes and lizards, over 500 bird species, and 131 fish species.

## History 
The area that is now Zimbabwe was added to the British Empire around 1890. Zimbabwe is also known by its old name of **Rhodesia. **In 1965, it became an independent country when Prime Minister Ian Smith announced the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (U.D.I). The government was mostly controlled by the white population, similar to South Africa at the time. African citizens were given full equality in 1980, and the country's name was officially changed to Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe led the country as the Prime Minister and President for 37 years. Though Mugabe was elected fairly at first, he became a dictator, and had put in place a number of cruel and disastrous laws. On November 21, 2017, Mugabe resigned as President of Zimbabwe.

## Language 
The country Zimbabwe has a mixture of languages; Shona, Ndebele, Venda, Manyika, Nyanja, Chagani, and a unique-unified Zimbabwean English.

## Economy 
Zimbabwe uses the currencies of several other countries. The government uses the United States dollar. The economy is currently in a bad situation. Foreign currency reserves are at very low levels, and the Zimbabwean Dollar has become very devalued. Just recently, three zeroes were taken off the Zimbabwean dollar (for example, $1,000,000 (one million dollars) would become $1000 (one thousand dollars)). Many observers link this to Mugabe's controversial Land Reform programme.
* Agriculture: Most people in Zimbabwe work in the field of agriculture: cattle, poultry, pigs, vegetables, millet, sorghum, maize, rice, cassava, tea, coffee, groundnuts, cotton, wheat, sugar cane, timber. 
* Mining: Copper, silver, tin, coal, nickel, cobalt, gold, iron ore, asbestos, chrome. 
* Manufacturing: Iron, steel, food processing, textiles, brewing, wood, furniture, tobacco. 
* Other: Tourism centering on the Victoria Falls and the game parks.

## 2017 coup d'état
On November 15, 2017, President Robert Mugabe was placed under house arrest as Zimbabwe's military took control in a coup. On November 25, 2017, Mugabe resigned  from the Presidency terms.

## Provinces 
Zimbabwe is divided into 8 provinces and 2 cities that are the same as a province.

## Cities
The largest cities are:

## Sports
Football is the most popular sport in Zimbabwe. Rugby union and cricket are also popular. Zimbabwe has won eight Olympic medals.

Zimbabwe has also done well in the Commonwealth Games and All-Africa Games. Kirsty Coventry won 11 gold medals in swimming.
Zimbabwe has also been at Wimbledon and the Davis Cup in tennis.  Zimbabwe has also done well in golf. Other sports played in Zimbabwe are basketball, volleyball, netball, and water polo, as well as squash, motorsport, martial arts, chess, cycling, polocrosse, kayaking and horse racing. Most of these sports don't have international representatives but instead stay at a junior or national level.

## Related pages
*List of rivers of Zimbabwe
*Zimbabwe at the Olympics
*Zimbabwe national football team

## References