Zimbabwe
Stone cities, the Zambezi, and a land of dramatic reinvention
Zimbabwe takes its name from a ruined city of mortarless stone, Great Zimbabwe, whose soaring walls testify to a powerful medieval African kingdom that traded gold across the Indian Ocean. Landlocked between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, the country pairs spectacular natural assets, a share of Victoria Falls, the wildlife of Hwange, and the granite balancing rocks of its highveld, with one of modern Africa's most turbulent recent histories. From hyperinflation that erased a currency to deep political upheaval, Zimbabwe is a nation of resilience, mineral wealth, and a famously well-educated population.
The land is dominated by a high central plateau, the highveld, flanked by lower middleveld and lowveld, and bordered by the Zambezi to the north and the Limpopo to the south. The eastern highlands rise along the Mozambican border to Mount Nyangani, the highest point at 2,592 meters, a cooler, greener world of forests and waterfalls. Victoria Falls thunders on the Zambezi in the northwest, upstream of Lake Kariba, while the dry lowveld supports the great game reserves. The climate is subtropical and moderated by altitude, with a wet summer and a dry, mild winter.
Great Zimbabwe and successor states grew rich on gold before British colonization created Southern Rhodesia, and a white-minority government's unilateral declaration of independence led to a long liberation war. Independence under majority rule came in 1980 with Robert Mugabe, whose long rule brought early gains in education and health but later economic collapse, controversial land seizures, and hyperinflation so severe the national currency was abandoned. Mugabe was removed in 2017, and the country has since cycled through new currencies, most recently the gold-backed ZiG. English, Shona, and Ndebele lead a constitution that recognizes sixteen official languages.