1. The first people of the country were the Bantu-speaking Iron Age farmers that settled in the region around AD 300.
#2. Zimbabwe’s President – Robert Gabriel Mugabe – is one of the current oldest and also the longest serving leaders of a non-royal country in the world. He has served as the leader of this country for the past 36 years and is still in service to the nation. He served as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987, and then assumed office as the President of Zimbabwe on 22 December 1987. He was born on 21 February 1924.
#3. Zimbabwe abandoned its currency and is currently using others’. This happened after the massive inflation that hit the country in 2008. The country abandoned its currency and has been using the U.S. Dollar, the South African Rand, and the Botswana Pula since April 12, 2009.
#4. It is illegal in Zimbabwe for the police to impound your vehicle on the road. The only occasion when they can do so is when they ask you to produce your driver’s license.
#5. Zimbabwe have won a total of eight medals at the Olympic Games in two sports – hockey (1) and swimming (7). At the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens, Greece, Coventry won three Olympic medals: a gold, a silver, and a bronze, while in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing she won four medals: a gold and three silver. A gold medal was won by the women’s national field hockey team in 1980.
#6. Zimbabwe is a landlocked plateau country.
#7. The name of the country was derived from the fortified trading hub, Great Zimbabwe, which was built in medieval times and was used by the people of the ‘Shona’ tribe. The people of this tribe constitute about 70% of the country’s current population.
#8. Zimbabwe was once a very rich country.
#9. Can you imagine carrying a wheelbarrow load of money to the store only to buy something that only costs one dollar in other countries? Well, in 2008, Zimbabwe experienced a whopping 231 million percent inflation.
#10. The country has one of the world’s highest inflation and unemployment rates.
#11. Manufacturing, mining, and farming constitute the backbone of the Zimbabwean economy.
#12. Zimbabwe became independent from the United Kingdom on April 18, 1980. They celebrate their national day on this day to commemorate their independence.
#13. Zimbabweans mostly call every kind of toothpaste “Colgate,” every soft drink “Coke,” every washing powder “Surf” and every floor polish “Cobra.”
#14. For most people, power shortages and blackouts are a strange occurrence, and when it happens, power is restored in a very short time. But in Zimbabwe, blackouts are quite frequent and random, and when they occur, they can last for up to 3 hours or even more.
#15. Zimbabwe has one of the lowest life expectancies in the world. Females can expect to live 58.7 years and males survive for 57.3 years, on average (2016.)
#16. As per data (UNICEF, 2015), more than 1.4 million people in the country are living with AIDS.
#17. The ‘mbira’, which is a small hand-held instrument, has been played for more than 1,000 years in Zimbabwe. This instrument is also commonly referred to as a ‘thumb piano.
#18. Mwari is the name of the deity of the Shona tribes people in Zimbabwe. They have been believing in this deity for centuries.
#19. Zimbabwe is suffering from a shortage of health care professionals. Many of the country’s health care professionals left Zimbabwe in search of better opportunities elsewhere in the world. Spiritual healing advice is still used by many people for minor and major ailments. HIV/AIDS is prevalent in the country and has been cited as the cause of death of thousands of people in the last few years.
#20. We have all heard about mermaids and most of us believe that they are a myth and just characters in children animations and stories. But in Zimbabwe, there is a strong belief that mermaids exist. In fact, these mythical creatures are often blamed for unfortunate events such as kidnapping, torture, and murder.
#21. Cholera and malaria are two major diseases in the country. Malaria is prevalent in low-lying border areas. More than 760,000 cases of malaria were reported by WHO in 2009, while one-third of its minor population suffers from chronic malnutrition.
#22. As most men in the world try to shade their large tummies for flat ones, the opposite is true in Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans see pot bellies in men as a sign of success and wealth.
#23. Imagine being isolated and stigmatized by your local community just because you divorced with your spouse. In Zimbabwe, divorce is a stigma. This does not mean that it is illegal in the country to divorce. However, it is only women who are allowed to get divorced, though it is very rare.
#24. In terms of the land area, Zimbabwe is three times the size of England.
25. One of the largest waterfalls in the world, Victoria Falls, is located on the Zambezi River. It is wider than a kilometer and has a height of more than one hundred meters.
#26. The noise of Victoria Falls can be heard from a distance of 40 kilometers.
#27. You can notice spray and mist from the falling water from a height of 400 meters, and it can be seen from a distance of 50 kilometers.
#28. Mosi-O-Tunya is the name given to the falls by the local tribe. It translates to ‘The smoke that thunders.’
#29. The waterfall was named after Queen Victoria by well-known explorer of Africa David Livingstone (1813-1873).
#30. The waterfall was discovered in 18
#31. The waterfall started attracting tourists between 1905, when a railway to Bulawayo was constructed, and the 1960s when a guerilla struggle in Zimbabwe threatened visitors entering the country. However, after independence, the waterfall started attracting tourists in large numbers once again.
#32. The waterfall is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the people from both countries – Zambia and Zimbabwe – are actively participating to develop tourism in the region.
#33. During floods, the water flow capacity can reach approximately half a million liters per minute.
#34. October and early November see the lowest level of water flow in the falls.
#36. Chronic malnutrition causes 27% of children under the age of five to experience stunted growth (low height for their age).
#37. 76% of the country’s rural households live on less than $1.25 per day.
#38. Zimbabwe is ranked 156 out of 187 developing countries on the Global Hunger Index. It is a low-income and food-deficit country.
#39. Only 17.3% of Zimbabwean children between the ages of 6 and 23 months receive the recommended minimum diet for adequate nutrition.
#40. Cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys and textiles/clothing comprise the major items that Zimbabwe exports.
#41. A hydroelectric power station was set up in 1950 on the Dam Kariba. The electricity from the power station is provided to both Zambia and Zimbabwe.
#42. Amazingly, Zimbabwe has one of the highest literacy rates in Africa. 86.5% of its population is literate.
#43. The International Organization for Migration estimates that millions of Zimbabweans have left their home country in search of better living conditions and food security in other African countries.
#44. Many of its citizens are forced to survive on only a meal per day due to food shortage and crises.
#45. ‘Mount Inyangani,’ at 2,592 meters, is the highest point in the country.
#46. The capital Harare was formerly called Salisbury in 1890 in honor of the British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury.
47. The country is void of any place that can properly be called desert. However, a few regions in the country are severely arid.
#48. The lowest point in Zimbabwe lies at the intersection of the Runde and Save Rivers at 531 ft.
