Zimbabwe (2003) | Southern Ocean (2005) | |
Administrative divisions | 8 provinces and 2 cities* with provincial status; Bulawayo*, Harare*, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Midlands | - |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 39.7% (male 2,517,608; female 2,471,342)
15-64 years: 56.8% (male 3,600,832; female 3,542,497) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 224,631; female 219,832) (2003 est.) |
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Agriculture - products | corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats, pigs | - |
Airports | 430 (2002) | - |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 17
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 8 (2002) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 413
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 197 under 914 m: 212 (2002) |
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Area | total: 390,580 sq km
land: 386,670 sq km water: 3,910 sq km |
total: 20.327 million sq km
note: includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Montana | slightly more than twice the size of the US |
Background | The UK annexed Southern Rhodesia from the 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 begun 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. Opposition and labor groups launched general strikes in 2003 to pressure MUGABE to retire early; security forces continued their brutal repression of regime opponents. | A decision by the International Hydrographic Organization in the spring of 2000 delimited a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - from the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit. The Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean). |
Birth rate | 30.34 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) | - |
Budget | revenues: $2.5 billion
expenditures: $2.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000) |
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Capital | Harare | - |
Climate | tropical; moderated by altitude; rainy season (November to March) | sea temperatures vary from about 10 degrees Celsius to -2 degrees Celsius; cyclonic storms travel eastward around the continent and frequently are intense because of the temperature contrast between ice and open ocean; the ocean area from about latitude 40 south to the Antarctic Circle has the strongest average winds found anywhere on Earth; in winter the ocean freezes outward to 65 degrees south latitude in the Pacific sector and 55 degrees south latitude in the Atlantic sector, lowering surface temperatures well below 0 degrees Celsius; at some coastal points intense persistent drainage winds from the interior keep the shoreline ice-free throughout the winter |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 17,968 km |
Constitution | 21 December 1979 | - |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Zimbabwe
conventional short form: Zimbabwe former: Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia |
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Currency | Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) | - |
Death rate | 22.02 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) | - |
Debt - external | $3.9 billion (2002 est.) | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Joseph G. SULLIVAN
embassy: 172 Herbert Chitepo Avenue, Harare mailing address: P. O. Box 3340, Harare telephone: [263] (4) 250-593 and 250-594 FAX: [263] (4) 796488 |
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Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Simbi Veke MUBAKO
chancery: 1608 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 332-7100 FAX: [1] (202) 483-9326 |
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Disputes - international | dormant dispute remains where Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe boundaries converge | Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica entry), but Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and UK assert claims (some overlapping), including the continental shelf in the Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest in extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to include undersea ridges; the US and most other states do not recognize the land or maritime claims of other states and have made no claims themselves (the US and Russia have reserved the right to do so); no formal claims exist in the waters in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west |
Economic aid - recipient | $178 million (2000 est.) | - |
Economy - overview | The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems as it struggles with an unsustainable fiscal deficit, an overvalued exchange rate, soaring inflation, and bare shelves. Its 1998-2002 involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy. Badly needed support from the IMF has been suspended because of the country's failure to meet budgetary goals. Inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in 1998 to 59% in 1999, to 60% in 2000, to over 100% by yearend 2001, to 228% in early 2003. The government's land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, has nearly destroyed the commercial farming sector, the traditional source of exports and foreign exchange and the provider of 400,000 jobs. | Fisheries in 2000-01 (1 July to 30 June) landed 112,934 metric tons, of which 87% was krill and 11% Patagonian toothfish. International agreements were adopted in late 1999 to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which in the 2000-01 season landed, by one estimate, 8,376 metric tons of Patagonian and antarctic toothfish. In the 2000-01 antarctic summer 12,248 tourists, most of them seaborne, visited the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, compared to 14,762 the previous year. |
Electricity - consumption | 9.813 billion kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - imports | 3.55 billion kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production | 6.735 billion kWh (2001) | - |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 47%
hydro: 53% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
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Elevation extremes | lowest point: junction of the Runde and Save rivers 162 m
highest point: Inyangani 2,592 m |
lowest point: -7,235 m at the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench
highest point: sea level 0 m |
Environment - current issues | 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 | increased solar ultraviolet radiation resulting from the Antarctic ozone hole in recent years, reducing marine primary productivity (phytoplankton) by as much as 15% and damaging the DNA of some fish; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in recent years, especially the landing of an estimated five to six times more Patagonian toothfish than the regulated fishery, which is likely to affect the sustainability of the stock; large amount of incidental mortality of seabirds resulting from long-line fishing for toothfish
note: the now-protected fur seal population is making a strong comeback after severe overexploitation in the 18th and 19th centuries |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
the Southern Ocean is subject to all international agreements regarding the world's oceans; in addition, it is subject to these agreements specific to the Antarctic region: International Whaling Commission (prohibits commercial whaling south of 40 degrees south [south of 60 degrees south between 50 degrees and 130 degrees west]); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (limits sealing); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (regulates fishing)
note: many nations (including the US) prohibit mineral resource exploration and exploitation south of the fluctuating Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) which is in the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and serves as the dividing line between the very cold polar surface waters to the south and the warmer waters to the north |
Ethnic groups | African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1% | - |
Exchange rates | Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar - 55 (2002), 55.05 (2001), 44.42 (2000), 38.3 (1999), 23.68 (1998) | - |
Executive branch | chief of state: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Joseph MSIKA (since 23 December 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Joseph MSIKA (since 23 December 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; responsible to the House of Assembly elections: presidential candidates nominated with a nomination paper signed by at least 10 registered voters (at least one from each province) and elected by popular vote; election last held 9-11 March 2002 (next to be held NA March 2008); co-vice presidents appointed by the president election results: Robert Gabriel MUGABE reelected president; percent of vote - Robert Gabriel MUGABE 56.2%, Morgan TSVANGIRAI 41.9% |
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Exports | NA (2001) | - |
Exports - commodities | tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing | - |
Exports - partners | China 6%, South Africa 5.7%, Germany 5.4%, UK 4.8%, Japan 4.7%, Netherlands 4.4%, US 4.1% (2002) | - |
Fiscal year | 1 January - 31 December | - |
Flag description | 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 symbolizes agriculture, yellow - mineral wealth, red - blood shed to achieve independence, and black stands for the native people | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $26.07 billion (2002 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 18%
industry: 24% services: 58% (2001) |
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GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,100 (2002 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | -13% (2002 est.) | - |
Geographic coordinates | 20 00 S, 30 00 E | 65 00 S, 0 00 E (nominally), but the Southern Ocean has the unique distinction of being a large circumpolar body of water totally encircling the continent of Antarctica; this ring of water lies between 60 degrees south latitude and the coast of Antarctica and encompasses 360 degrees of longitude |
Geography - note | 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 | the major chokepoint is the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica; the Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) is the best natural definition of the northern extent of the Southern Ocean; it is a distinct region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that separates the very cold polar surface waters to the south from the warmer waters to the north; the Front and the Current extend entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60 degrees south near New Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South Atlantic coinciding with the path of the maximum westerly winds |
Highways | total: 18,338 km
paved: 8,692 km unpaved: 9,646 km (1999 est.) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1.97%
highest 10%: 40.42% (1995) |
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Illicit drugs | transit point for African cannabis and South Asian heroin, mandrax, and methamphetamines destined for the South African and European markets | - |
Imports | NA (2001) | - |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels | - |
Imports - partners | South Africa 47.7%, Congo, Democratic Republic of the 5.7%, Mozambique 5.3% (2002) | - |
Independence | 18 April 1980 (from UK) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | -3.1% (2002 est.) | - |
Industries | mining (coal, gold, copper, nickel, tin, clay, numerous metallic and nonmetallic ores), steel, wood products, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, clothing and footwear, foodstuffs, beverages | - |
Infant mortality rate | total: 66.47 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 69.17 deaths/1,000 live births female: 63.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 134.5% (2002 est.) | - |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, ECA, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 6 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 1,170 sq km (1998 est.) | - |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; High Court | - |
Labor force | 5.8 million (2000 est.) | - |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 66%, services 24%, industry 10% (1996) | - |
Land boundaries | total: 3,066 km
border countries: Botswana 813 km, Mozambique 1,231 km, South Africa 225 km, Zambia 797 km |
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Land use | arable land: 8.4%
permanent crops: 0.34% other: 91.26% (1998 est.) |
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Languages | English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects | - |
Legal system | mixture of Roman-Dutch and English common law | - |
Legislative branch | unicameral House of Assembly (150 seats - 120 elected by popular vote for five-year terms, 12 nominated by the president, 10 occupied by traditional chiefs chosen by their peers, and 8 occupied by provincial governors appointed by the president)
elections: last held 24-25 June 2000 (next to be held NA 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - ZANU-PF 48.6%, MDC 47.0%, other 4.4%; seats by party - ZANU-PF 62, MDC 57, ZANU-Ndonga 1 |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population: 39.01 years
male: 40.09 years female: 37.89 years (2003 est.) |
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Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write English
total population: 90.7% male: 94.2% female: 87.2% (2003 est.) |
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Location | Southern Africa, between South Africa and Zambia | body of water between 60 degrees south latitude and Antarctica |
Map references | Africa | Antarctic Region |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | - |
Military branches | Zimbabwe National Army, Air Force of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Republic Police (includes Police Support Unit, Paramilitary Police) | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $625.1 million (FY02) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 3.2% (FY02) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 3,236,042 (2003 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 2,003,572 (2003 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 18 April (1980) | - |
Nationality | noun: Zimbabwean(s)
adjective: Zimbabwean |
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Natural hazards | recurring droughts; floods and severe storms are rare | huge icebergs with drafts up to several hundred meters; smaller bergs and iceberg fragments; sea ice (generally 0.5 to 1 meter thick) with sometimes dynamic short-term variations and with large annual and interannual variations; deep continental shelf floored by glacial deposits varying widely over short distances; high winds and large waves much of the year; ship icing, especially May-October; most of region is remote from sources of search and rescue |
Natural resources | coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals | probable large and possible giant oil and gas fields on the continental margin, manganese nodules, possible placer deposits, sand and gravel, fresh water as icebergs; squid, whales, and seals - none exploited; krill, fishes |
Net migration rate | NEGL migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2003 est.) |
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Pipelines | refined products 261 km (2003) | - |
Political parties and leaders | Movement for Democratic Change or MDC [Morgan TSVANGIRAI]; National Alliance for Good Governance or NAGG [Shakespeare MAYA]; United Parties [Abel MUZOREWA]; 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 [Agrippa MADLELA] | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | National Constitutional Assembly or NCA [Lovemore MADHUKU]; Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition [Brian KAGORO]; Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions or ZCTU [Lovemore MATOMBO] | - |
Population | 12,576,742
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2003 est.) |
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Population below poverty line | 70% (2002 est.) | - |
Population growth rate | 0.83% (2003 est.) | - |
Ports and harbors | Binga, Kariba | McMurdo, Palmer, and offshore anchorages in Antarctica
note: few ports or harbors exist on the southern side of the Southern Ocean; ice conditions limit use of most of them to short periods in midsummer; even then some cannot be entered without icebreaker escort; most antarctic ports are operated by government research stations and, except in an emergency, are not open to commercial or private vessels; vessels in any port south of 60 degrees south are subject to inspection by Antarctic Treaty observers (see Article 7) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 7, FM 20 (plus 17 repeater stations), shortwave 1 (1998) | - |
Railways | total: 3,077 km
narrow gauge: 3,077 km 1.067-m gauge (313 km electrified) note: includes the 318 km Bulawayo-Beitbridge Railway Company line (2002) |
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Religions | syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%, Christian 25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1% | - |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.02 male(s)/female total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
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Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | - |
Telephone system | general assessment: system was once one of the best in Africa, but now suffers from poor maintenance; more than 100,000 outstanding requests for connection despite an equally large number of installed but unused main lines
domestic: consists of microwave radio relay links, open-wire lines, radiotelephone communication stations, fixed wireless local loop installations, and a substantial mobile cellular network; Internet connection is available in Harare and planned for all major towns and for some of the smaller ones international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat; two international digital gateway exchanges (in Harare and Gweru) |
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Telephones - main lines in use | 212,000 (in addition, there are about 20,000 fixed telephones in wireless local loop connections) (1997) | - |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 111,000 (2001) | - |
Television broadcast stations | 16 (1997) | - |
Terrain | mostly high plateau with higher central plateau (high veld); mountains in east | the Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 meters over most of its extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400 to 800 meters (the global mean is 133 meters); the Antarctic icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million square kilometers in March to about 18.8 million square kilometers in September, better than a sixfold increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (21,000 km in length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers |
Total fertility rate | 3.66 children born/woman (2003 est.) | - |
Transportation - note | - | Drake Passage offers alternative to transit through the Panama Canal |
Unemployment rate | 70% (2002 est.) | - |
Waterways | chrome ore is transported from Harare - by way of the Mazoe River - to the Zambezi River in Mozambique | - |