Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a landlocked southern African country sharing borders with Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia, with a land mass of approximately 386,000 sq. km. The population is 98 percent African, 1 percent mixed and Asian ethnicities, and less than 1 percent white. Although English is the official language, Shona and Ndebele are the prominent African languages spoken by the majority of people. Approximately 50 percent of the population practice a blend of Christian and indigenous religions, 25 percent practice Christianity, 25 percent indigenous religions, and 1 percent Islam. It is home to the world's largest waterfall, Victoria Falls, a popular tourist destination, although because of the crises in Zimbabwe, visitors view the falls from neighboring Zambia.

The country is endowed with various mineral resources, which have replaced agriculture as the primary export, including gold, platinum, diamonds, nickel, asbestos, tin, iron, chromite, copper, and coal. Among Zimbabwe's industrial products are iron and steel, cement, foodstuffs, machinery, textiles, fertilizer, and consumer goods. It imports machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, and fuels primarily from South Africa, Zambia, and China. Its major export partners are South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Japan, Botswana, the Netherlands, China, and Italy. Its agricultural products include corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, sorghum, peanuts, soybeans, and valuable hardwoods, including teak and mahogany.

British colonization began in the 1850s, establishing the territory of Rhodesia, which remained a self-governing colony until 1965, when the white-minority government, led by Prime Minister Ian Smith, unilaterally declared its independence from Britain. Increasingly violent guerrilla warfare, international economic sanctions, and the withdrawal of South African military aid led to a 1978 power-sharing agreement between Smith's government and African leaders of the black majority. In 1980 the country witnessed the first multiracial elections, bringing Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) to power as prime minister, as well as formal independence under the name Zimbabwe. Mugabe has been in power ever since, becoming president in 1987, thanks to rigged elections enforced by the militia [Page 1737]and Zimbabwe High Court, including the most recent in 2008, with a challenge from Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change. However, just before the runoff election, Tsvangirai withdrew, accusing Mugabe of supporting violence against him and his opposition party. International condemnation and economic sanctions by the United States followed. Mugabe and Tsvangirai then negotiated to end the political violence and engaged in talks to form a unified government. They reached an agreement in February 2009 that led to Mugabe remaining president and Tsvangirai becoming prime minister.

Mugabe's authoritarian rule and disastrous economic policies have severely crippled the country. A corrupt and chaotic land reform program beginning in 2000 drove white commercial farmers from their land without compensation, leading to a sharp decline in agricultural production—51 percent between 2000 and 2007—traditionally the source of Zimbabwe's exports, foreign currency, and jobs. Consequently, Zimbabwe faces shortages of food and other consumer goods, which were exacerbated by 2007 price controls, leading to a thriving black market. The currency shortage and fiscal deficit financed by prolific printing of money has led to hyperinflation, estimated by private analysts at over 100,000 percent in 2007. Meanwhile, the official exchange rate fell from approximately 1 (revalued) Zimbabwean dollar per U.S. dollar in 2003 to 30,000 per U.S. dollar in 2007.

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