Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in southern Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, bordered by South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique. Harare is the capital and largest city and Bulawayo the second. Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona and Ndebele the most widely used.

San hunter-gatherers lived in the region long before Bantu peoples settled about 2,000 years ago. From the 11th century the Shona built Great Zimbabwe, a city of dry stone walls that became one of the major trade centers of Africa by the 13th century and gave the country its name, from a Shona term for houses of stone. The Kingdom of Mutapa ruled much of the plateau from about 1450 to 1760, trading gold, ivory and copper with Arab and Portuguese merchants, and the Rozvi Empire followed. Around 1840 Mzilikazi led the Ndebele to the southwest and founded Bulawayo. The British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes took control in the 1890s, and the country became independent as Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980.

Gold, platinum and farm products are the main exports, and some of the largest platinum reserves in the world are mined by companies such as Zimplats. Tobacco has long been the leading cash crop, and sadza, a thick porridge of cornmeal, is the staple food.

Victoria Falls on the Zambezi is one of the largest waterfalls on Earth, and Lake Kariba is the largest reservoir in the world. Hwange is the largest of eight main national parks, the granite hills of Matobo lie south of Bulawayo, and Mount Nyangani in the Eastern Highlands reaches 2,592 m (8,504 ft). Modern Shona stone sculpture has won international recognition, the mbira is central to Shona ceremonies, and musicians such as Thomas Mapfumo and Oliver Mtukudzi became known worldwide. Cricket is a popular sport.