The UK annexed Southern Rhodesia from the [British] South Africa Company in 1923. A 1961 constitution was formulated that favored whites in power. In 1965 the government unilaterally declared its independence, but the UK did not recognize the act and demanded more complete voting rights for the black African majority in the country (then called Rhodesia). UN sanctions and a guerrilla uprising finally led to free elections in 1979 and independence (as Zimbabwe) in 1980. Robert MUGABE, the nation's first prime minister, has been the country's only ruler (as president since 1987) and has dominated the country's political system since independence. His chaotic land redistribution campaign, which began in 2000, caused an exodus of white farmers, crippled the economy, and ushered in widespread shortages of basic commodities. Ignoring international condemnation, MUGABE rigged the 2002 presidential election to ensure his reelection. In April 2005, Harare embarked on Operation Restore Order, ostensibly an urban rationalization program, which resulted in the destruction of the homes or businesses of 700,000 mostly poor supporters of the opposition. President MUGABE in June 2007 instituted price controls on all basic commodities causing panic buying and leaving store shelves empty for months. General elections held in March 2008 contained irregularities but still amounted to a censure of the ZANU-PF-led government with the opposition winning a majority of seats in parliament. MDC opposition leader Morgan TSVANGIRAI won the most votes in the presidential polls, but not enough to win outright. In the lead up to a run-off election in late June 2008, considerable violence enacted against opposition party members led to the withdrawal of TSVANGIRAI from the ballot. Extensive evidence of violence and intimidation resulted in international condemnation of the process. Difficult negotiations over a power-sharing government, in which MUGABE remained president and TSVANGIRAI became prime minister, were finally settled in February 2009, although the leaders failed to agree upon many key outstanding governmental issues. MUGABE since 2010 has called for early elections - his term does not expire until June 2013 - but no election has been held.

Southern Africa, between South Africa and Zambia

slightly larger than Montana

tropical; moderated by altitude; rainy season (November to March)

mostly high plateau with higher central plateau (high veld); mountains in east

coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals

recurring droughts; floods and severe storms are rare

deforestation; soil erosion; land degradation; air and water pollution; the black rhinoceros herd - once the largest concentration of the species in the world - has been significantly reduced by poaching; poor mining practices have led to toxic waste and heavy metal pollution

landlocked; the Zambezi forms a natural riverine boundary with Zambia; in full flood (February-April) the massive Victoria Falls on the river forms the world's largest curtain of falling water; Lake Kariba on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border forms the world's largest reservoir by volume (180 cu km; 43 cu mi)

African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1%

English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects

syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%, Christian 25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1%

12,619,600 (July 2012 est.)

32.19 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

12.38 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

23.77 migrant(s)/1,000 population

HARARE (capital) 1.606 million (2009)

570 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

3.61 children born/woman (2012 est.)

0.16 physicians/1,000 population (2004)

3 beds/1,000 population (2006)

urban: 56% of population

rural: 37% of population

total: 44% of population

urban: 44% of population

rural: 63% of population

total: 56% of population

1.2 million (2009 est.)

parliamentary democracy

8 provinces and 2 cities* with provincial status; Bulawayo*, Harare*, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Midlands

18 April 1980 (from the UK)

Independence Day, 18 April (1980)

mixed legal system of English common law, Roman-Dutch civil law, and customary law

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

18 years of age; universal

bicameral Parliament consists of a Senate (93 seats - 60 members elected by popular vote for a five-year term, 10 provincial governors nominated by the president and the prime minister, 16 traditional chiefs elected by the Council of Chiefs, 2 seats held by the president and deputy president of the Council of Chiefs, and 5 members appointed by the president) and a House of Assembly (210 seats - members elected by popular vote for five-year terms)

Supreme Court; High Court

African National Party or ANP [Egypt DZINEMUNHENZVA]; Movement for Democratic Change - Tsvangirai or MDC-T [Morgan TSVANGIRAI]; Movement for Democratic Change - Ncube or MDC-N [Welshman NCUBE]; Peace Action is Freedom for All or PAFA; United Parties [Abel MUZOREWA]; United People's Party or UPP [Daniel SHUMBA]; Zimbabwe African National Union-Ndonga or ZANU-Ndonga [Wilson KUMBULA]; Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front or ZANU-PF [Robert Gabriel MUGABE]; Zimbabwe African Peoples Union or ZAPU [Dumiso DABENGWA]; Zimbabwe Youth in Alliance or ZIYA

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition; National Constitutional Assembly or NCA [Lovemore MADHUKU]; Women of Zimbabwe Arise or WOZA [Jenny WILLIAMS]; Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions or ZCTU [Wellington CHIBEBE]

ACP, AfDB, AU, COMESA, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

seven equal horizontal bands of green, yellow, red, black, red, yellow, and green with a white isosceles triangle edged in black with its base on the hoist side; a yellow Zimbabwe bird representing the long history of the country is superimposed on a red five-pointed star in the center of the triangle, which symbolizes peace; green represents agriculture, yellow mineral wealth, red the blood shed to achieve independence, and black stands for the native people

Zimbabwe bird symbol; African fish eagle

Zimbabwe's economy is growing despite continuing political uncertainty. Following a decade of contraction from 1998 to 2008, Zimbabwe's economy recorded real growth of more than 9% per year in 2010-11, before slowing to 5% in 2012, due in part to a poor harvest and low diamond revenues. However, the government of Zimbabwe still faces a number of difficult economic problems, including infrastructure and regulatory deficiencies, ongoing indigenization pressure, policy uncertainty, a large external debt burden, and insufficient formal employment. Zimbabwe's 1998-2002 involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy. The government's subsequent land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, badly damaged the commercial farming sector, the traditional source of exports and foreign exchange and the provider of 400,000 jobs, turning Zimbabwe into a net importer of food products. Until early 2009, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe routinely printed money to fund the budget deficit, causing hyperinflation. Dollarization in early 2009 - which allowed currencies such as the Botswana pula, the South Africa rand, and the US dollar to be used locally - ended hyperinflation and restored price stability but exposed structural weaknesses that continue to inhibit broad-based growth.

$6.909 billion (2012 est.)

$6.579 billion (2011 est.)

$6.015 billion (2010 est.)

3.909 million (2012 est.)

21.9% of GDP (2012 est.)

NA% of GDP (2010 est.)

202.7% of GDP (2012 est.)

219.7% of GDP (2011 est.)

7.17% (31 December 2010 est.)

975% (31 December 2007)

30% (31 December 2012 est.)

34% (31 December 2011 est.)

$12.28 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$6.586 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$11 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$22.71 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$9.852 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$6.289 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$10.9 billion (31 December 2011)

$11.48 billion (31 December 2010)

$3.83 billion (31 December 2009)

corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs

-$521.9 million (2012 est.)

-$621.5 million (2011 est.)

$3.314 billion (2012 est.)

$2.932 billion (2011 est.)

platinum, cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing

South Africa 17.3%, China 16.9%, Democratic Republic of the Congo 11.7%, Botswana 10.5%, Italy 6.1% (2011)

$4.675 billion (2012 est.)

$4.37 billion (2011 est.)

machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels, food products

South Africa 55.4%, China 9.2% (2011)

$422 million (31 December 2012 est.)

$461 million (31 December 2011 est.)

$6.975 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$6.43 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) per US dollar -

7.615 billion kWh (2009 est.)

12.54 billion kWh (2009 est.)

53 million kWh (2009 est.)

5.497 billion kWh (2009 est.)

2.005 million kW (2009 est.)

66.1% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

33.9% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

19,030 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

13,140 bbl/day (2008 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

8.493 million Mt (2010 est.)

government owns all local radio and TV stations; foreign shortwave broadcasts and satellite TV are available to those who can afford antennas and receivers; in rural areas, access to TV broadcasts is extremely limited (2007)

1.423 million (2009)

refined products 270 km (2010)

(some navigation possible on Lake Kariba) (2011)

Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF): Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ), Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) (2009)

18-24 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; women are eligible to serve (2012)

Botswana built electric fences and South Africa has placed military along the border to stem the flow of thousands of Zimbabweans fleeing to find work and escape political persecution; Namibia has supported, and in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections to, plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi River, thereby de facto recognizing a short, but not clearly delimited, Botswana-Zambia boundary in the river

transit point for cannabis and South Asian heroin, mandrax, and methamphetamines en route to South Africa