]! ^! 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. Opposition and labor strikes in 2003 were unsuccessful in pressuring MUGABE to retire early; security forces continued their brutal repression of regime opponents. The ruling ZANU-PF party used fraud and intimidation to win a two-thirds majority in the March 2005 parliamentary election, allowing it to amend the constitution at will and recreate the Senate, which had been abolished in the late 1980s. 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, according to UN estimates. ZANU-PF announced in December 2006 that they would seek to extend MUGABE's term in office until 2010 when presidential and parliamentary elections would be "harmonized." 
]" ^" Southern Africa, between South Africa and Zambia ^# 20 00 S, 30 00 E ^$ Africa ^% `! 390,580 sq km `" 386,670 sq km `# 3,910 sq km ^& slightly larger than Montana ^' `! 3,066 km `Y Botswana 813 km, Mozambique 1,231 km, South Africa 225 km, Zambia 797 km ^( 0 km (landlocked) ^) none (landlocked) ^* tropical; moderated by altitude; rainy season (November to March) ^+ mostly high plateau with higher central plateau (high veld); mountains in east ^, `% junction of the Runde and Save rivers 162 m `& Inyangani 2,592 m ^- coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals ^. `' 8.24% `( 0.33% `) 91.43% (2005) ^/ 1,740 sq km (2003) ^0 recurring droughts; floods and severe storms are rare ^1 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 _P `P Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection `Q none of the selected agreements ^2 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 
]# ^3 12,311,143 `* 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 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 37.2% (male 2,308,731/female 2,266,027) `, 59.3% (male 3,663,108/female 3,641,519) `- 3.5% (male 198,867/female 232,891) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 20.1 years `. 19.9 years `/ 20.2 years (2007 est.) ^6 0.595% (2007 est.) ^7 27.72 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 21.76 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population `* there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.03 male(s)/female `1 1.019 male(s)/female `, 1.006 male(s)/female `- 0.854 male(s)/female `2 1.005 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 51.12 deaths/1,000 live births `. 53.87 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 48.29 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 39.5 years `. 40.62 years `/ 38.35 years (2007 est.) ^= 3.08 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> 24.6% (2001 est.) ^? 1.8 million (2001 est.) ^@ 170,000 (2003 est.) _` `h high `i bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid vectorborne disease: malaria water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2007) ^A `3 Zimbabwean(s) `4 Zimbabwean ^B African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1% ^C syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%, Christian 25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1% ^D English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects ^E `5 age 15 and over can read and write English `2 90.7% `. 94.2% `/ 87.2% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 Republic of Zimbabwe `7 Zimbabwe `\ Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia ^H parliamentary democracy ^I `8 Harare `9 17 50 S, 31 03 E `: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J 8 provinces and 2 cities* with provincial status; Bulawayo*, Harare*, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Midlands ^K 18 April 1980 (from UK) ^L Independence Day, 18 April (1980) ^M 21 December 1979 ^N mixture of Roman-Dutch and English common law ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Vice President Joseph MSIKA (since December 1999) and Vice President Joyce MUJURU (since 6 December 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government `< Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Vice President Joseph MSIKA (since December 1999) and Vice President Joyce MUJURU (since 6 December 2004) `= Cabinet appointed by the president; responsible to the House of Assembly `> 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 for a six-year term (no term limits); election last held 9-11 March 2002 (next to be held in March 2008); co-vice presidents appointed by the president `? Robert Gabriel MUGABE reelected president; percent of vote - Robert Gabriel MUGABE 56.2%, Morgan TSVANGIRAI 41.9% ^Q bicameral Parliament consists of a Senate (66 seats - 50 elected by popular vote for a five-year term, 6 nominated by the president, 10 nominated by the Council of Chiefs) and a 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) `> Senate last held 26 November 2005 (next to be held in 2010; House of Assembly last held 31 March 2005 (next to be held in 2010) `? Senate - percent of vote by party - ZANU-PF 73.7%, MDC 20.3%, other 4.4%, independents 1.6%; seats by party - ZANU-PF 43, MDC 7; House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - ZANU-PF 59.6%, MDC 39.5%, other 0.9%; seats by party - ZANU-PF 78, MDC 41, independents 1 ^R Supreme Court; High Court ^S African National Party or ANP; Movement for Democratic Change or MDC [Morgan TSVANGIRAI, anti-Senate faction; Arthur MUTAMBARA, pro-Senate faction]; Peace Action is Freedom for All or PAFA; United Parties [Abel MUZOREWA]; United People's Party [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 [Agrippa MADLELA]; Zimbabwe Youth in Alliance or ZIYA ^T Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition [Arnold TSUNGA]; National Constitutional Assembly or NCA [Lovemore MADHUKU]; Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions or ZCTU [Wellington CHIBEBE] ^U ACP, AfDB, AU, COMESA, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO ^V `R Ambassador Dr. Machivenyika T. MAPURANGA `S 1608 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 `T [1] (202) 332-7100 `U [1] (202) 483-9326 ^W `R Ambassador Christopher W. DELL `_ 172 Herbert Chitepo Avenue, Harare `` P. O. Box 3340, Harare `T [263] (4) 250-593 and 250-594 `U [263] (4) 796-488 ^X 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 
]% ^Y 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 drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy. The government's land reform program, characterized by chaos and violence, has 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. Badly needed support from the IMF has been suspended because of the government's arrears on past loans, which it began repaying in 2005. The official annual inflation rate rose from 32% in 1998, to 133% in 2004, 585% in 2005, and approached 1000% in 2006, although private sector estimates put the figure much higher. Meanwhile, the official exchange rate fell from approximately 1 (revalued) Zimbabwean dollar per US dollar in 2003 to 160 per US dollar in 2006. ^Z $25.05 billion (2006 est.) ^[ $3.146 billion (2006 est.) ^\ -4.4% (2006 est.) ^] $2,000 (2006 est.) ^^ `@ 17.7% `A 22.9% `B 59.4% (2006 est.) ^_ 3.958 million (2006 est.) ^` `@ 66% `A 10% `B 24% (1996) ^a 80% (2005 est.) _! 80% (2004 est.) _" `C 2% `D 40.4% (1995) _d 56.8 (2003) _# 976.4% official data; private sector estimates are much higher (2006 est.) _V 16.1% of GDP (2006 est.) _$ `E $1.411 billion `F $1.924 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) _% 108.4% of GDP (2006 est.) _& corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs _' mining (coal, gold, platinum, copper, nickel, tin, clay, numerous metallic and nonmetallic ores), steel; wood products, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, clothing and footwear, foodstuffs, beverages _( -1.8% (2006 est.) _) 9.412 billion kWh (2004) _* 11 billion kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 2.25 billion kWh (2004) _- 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) _. 22,500 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) _0 23,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) _1 0 cu m (2004 est.) _2 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Q $-264.6 million (2006 est.) _3 $1.766 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _4 cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing _5 South Africa 26.9%, China 7.9%, Japan 6.7%, Zambia 5.5%, Netherlands 5.4%, US 4.9%, Italy 4.5%, Germany 4.4% (2005) _6 $2.055 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _7 machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels _8 South Africa 52.5%, China 5.7%, Botswana 4.1% (2005) _[ $140 million (2006 est.) _9 $5.26 billion (2006 est.) _: $178 million; note - the EU and the US provide food aid on humanitarian grounds (2000 est.) _; Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) _< Zimbabwean dollars per US dollar - 162.07 (2006), 77.965 (2005), 5.729 (2004), 0.824 (2003), 0.055 (2002) `* these are official exchange rates; non-official rates vary significantly _= calendar year 
]& _> 328,000 (2005) _? 699,000 (2005) _@ `G 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 `H 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 `I country code - 263; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat; 2 international digital gateway exchanges (in Harare and Gweru) _A AM 7, FM 20 (plus 17 repeater stations), shortwave 1 (1998) _B 16 (1997) _C .zw _D 7,954 (2006) _E 1 million (2005) 
]' _F 403 (2006) _G `! 17 `a 3 `J 2 `b 4 `c 8 (2006) _R `! 386 `b 5 `c 187 `W 194 (2006) _^ refined products 261 km (2006) _e `! 3,077 km `n 3,077 km 1.067-m gauge (313 km electrified) (2005) _H `! 97,440 km `K 18,514 km `L 78,926 km (2002) _b on Lake Kariba (2005) _I Binga, Kariba 
]( _J Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF): Zimbabwe National Army, Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ), Zimbabwe Republic Police (2005) _T 18 years of age (est.) (2004) _K males age 18-49: 2,778,404 females age 18-49: 2,681,531 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 1,304,424 females age 18-49: 1,115,096 (2005 est.) _U 3.7% (2006 est.) 
]) _N 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 _c `o 6,536 (Democratic Republic of Congo) `k 569,685 (MUGABE-led political violence, human rights violations, land reform, and economic collapse) (2006) __ `f Zimbabwe is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation; children may be trafficked internally for forced agricultural labor, domestic servitude, and sexual exploitation; women and girls are lured out of the country to South Africa, China, Egypt, and Zambia with false job or scholarship promises that result in domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation; there are reports of South African employers demanding sex from undocumented Zimbabwean workers under threat of deportation; women and children from Malawi, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo transit Zimbabwe en route to South Africa; small numbers of South African girls are trafficked to Zimbabwe for domestic labor `g Tier 3 - Zimbabwe does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so _O transit point for cannabis and South Asian heroin, mandrax, and methamphetamines en route to South Africa 