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.