- Harare; 1,469,000 - 390,757 square kilometers (150,872 square
miles) - English, Shona, Sindebele - Syncretic (part Christian,
part indigenous beliefs), Christian, indigenous beliefs -
Zimbabwean dollar - Life Expectancy: - GDP per Capita: - U.S.
$2,100 - Literacy Percent: Zimbabwe Facts Flag This landlocked
plateau country in southern Africa takes its name from Great
Zimbabwe, a fortified trading hub built in medieval times and
used by the majority Shona tribe (about 70 percent of today's
population). In 1890 the first British settlers arrived; colony
status came in 1923 under the name Southern Rhodesia. In 1965
the white minority government unilaterally declared
independence, as Rhodesia. International sanctions and guerrilla
warfare against the illegal regime led to legitimately
independent Zimbabwe in 1980. Although nominally a multiparty
state, in practice the party of President Robert Mugabe
dominates the political system. The economy centers on farming,
mining (Zimbabwe holds a tenth of the world's ch