SPAMfighter information about
Zimbabwe
| The data on this page is obtained from The World Factbook. |
 Communications information
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| SPAMfighters: | 118 |
| Internet users: | 1 million (2005) |
| Internet hosts: | 7,954 (2006) |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 6 (2000) |
| Internet country code: | .zw |
| Telephones - main lines in use: | 328,000 (2005) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular: | 699,000 (2005) |
| 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: country code - 263; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat; two international digital gateway exchanges (in Harare and Gweru) |
| Radio broadcast stations: | AM 7, FM 20 (plus 17 repeater stations), shortwave 1 (1998) |
| Radios: | 1.14 million (1997) |
| Television broadcast stations: | 16 (1997) |
| Televisions: | 370,000 (1997) |
 Geographical information
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| Location: | Southern Africa, between South Africa and Zambia |
| Geographic coordinates: | 20 00 S, 30 00 E |
| Map references: | Africa |
| Area: |
total: 390,580 sq km land: 386,670 sq km water: 3,910 sq km |
| Area - comparative: | slightly larger than Montana |
| Land boundaries: |
total: 3,066 km border countries: Botswana 813 km, Mozambique 1,231 km, South Africa 225 km, Zambia 797 km |
| Coastline: | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime claims: | none (landlocked) |
| Climate: | tropical; moderated by altitude; rainy season (November to March) |
| Terrain: | mostly high plateau with higher central plateau (high veld); mountains in east |
| Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: junction of the Runde and Save rivers 162 m highest point: Inyangani 2,592 m |
| Natural resources: | coal, chromium ore, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium, tin, platinum group metals |
| Land use: |
arable land: 8.24% permanent crops: 0.33% other: 91.43% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: | 1,740 sq km (2003) |
| Natural hazards: | recurring droughts; floods and severe storms are rare |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
 People information
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| Population: |
12,236,805 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 2006 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 37.4% (male 2,307,170/female 2,265,298) 15-64 years: 59.1% (male 3,616,528/female 3,621,190) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 199,468/female 227,151) (2006 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 19.9 years male: 19.7 years female: 20 years (2006 est.) |
| Population growth rate: | 0.62% (2006 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 28.01 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Death rate: | 21.84 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Net migration rate: |
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population note: there is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities (2006 est.) |
| Sex ratio: |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: |
total: 51.71 deaths/1,000 live births male: 54.5 deaths/1,000 live births female: 48.83 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth: |
total population: 39.29 years male: 40.39 years female: 38.16 years (2006 est.) |
| Total fertility rate: | 3.13 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 24.6% (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 1.8 million (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 170,000 (2003 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Zimbabwean(s) adjective: Zimbabwean |
| Ethnic groups: | African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1% |
| Religions: | syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%, Christian 25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1% |
| Languages: | English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), numerous but minor tribal dialects |
| 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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Governmental information
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| Country name: |
conventional long form: Republic of Zimbabwe conventional short form: Zimbabwe former: Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia |
| Government type: | parliamentary democracy |
| Capital: |
name: Harare geographic coordinates: 17 50 S, 31 03 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| 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 |
| Independence: | 18 April 1980 (from UK) |
| National holiday: | Independence Day, 18 April (1980) |
| Constitution: | 21 December 1979 |
| Legal system: | mixture of Roman-Dutch and English common law |
| Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal |
| Executive branch: |
chief of state: 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 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); 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 for a six-year term (no term limits); election last held 9-11 March 2002 (next to be held 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% |
| Legislative branch: |
bicameral Parliament consists of 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 eight occupied by provincial governors appointed by the president) and a Senate (66 seats - 50 elected by popular vote for a five-year term, six nominated by the president, 10 nominated by the Council of Chiefs) elections: House of Assembly last held 31 March 2005 (next to be held in 2010), Senate last held 26 November 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: 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; 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 |
| Judicial branch: | Supreme Court; High Court |
| Political parties and leaders: | African National Party or ANP; Movement for Democratic Change or MDC [Morgan TSVANGIRAI]; 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 |
| Political pressure groups and leaders: | Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition [Wellington CHIBEBE]; National Constitutional Assembly or NCA [Lovemore MADHUKU]; Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions or ZCTU [Lovemore MATOMBO] |
| International organization participation: | ACP, AfDB, AU, COMESA, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIS, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
| Diplomatic representation in the US: |
chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Machivenyika T. MAPURANGA chancery: 1608 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 332-7100 FAX: [1] (202) 483-9326 |
| Diplomatic representation from the US: |
chief of mission: Ambassador Christopher W. DELL embassy: 172 Herbert Chitepo Avenue, Harare mailing address: P. O. Box 3340, Harare telephone: [263] (4) 250-593 and 250-594 FAX: [263] (4) 796-488 |
| 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 |
 Economical information
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| 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 government´s arrears on past loans, which it began repaying in 2005. The official annual inflation rate rose from 32% in 1998, to 133% at the end of 2004, and 585% at the end of 2005, although private sector estimates put the figure much higher. Meanwhile, the official exchange rate fell from 24 Zimbabwean dollars per United States dollar in 1998 to 96,000 in mid-January 2006. 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. |
| GDP (purchasing power parity): | $25.69 billion (2005 est.) |
| GDP (official exchange rate): | $3.207 billion (2005 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | -7.7% (2005 est.) |
| GDP - per capita (PPP): | $2,100 (2005 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: 17.9% industry: 24.3% services: 57.9% (2005 est.) |
| Labor force: | 3.94 million (2005 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture: 66% industry: 10% services: 24% (1996) |
| Unemployment rate: | 80% (2005 est.) |
| Population below poverty line: | 80% (2004 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: 2% highest 10%: 40.4% (1995) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 266.8% official data; private sector estimates are much higher (2005 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $1.409 billion expenditures: $1.905 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.) |
| Agriculture - products: | corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs |
| Industries: | mining (coal, gold, platinum, copper, nickel, tin, clay, numerous metallic and nonmetallic ores), steel; wood products, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, clothing and footwear, foodstuffs, beverages |
| Industrial production growth rate: | 3.6% (2005 est.) |
| Electricity - production: | 8.877 billion kWh (2003) |
| Electricity - production by source: |
fossil fuel: 47% hydro: 53% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
| Electricity - consumption: | 11.22 billion kWh (2003) |
| Electricity - exports: | 0 kWh (2003) |
| Electricity - imports: | 3.3 billion kWh (2003) |
| Oil - production: | 0 bbl/day (2003 est.) |
| Oil - consumption: | 22,500 bbl/day (2003 est.) |
| Oil - exports: | 0 bbl/day |
| Oil - imports: | 23,000 bbl/day |
| Natural gas - production: | 0 cu m (2003 est.) |
| Natural gas - consumption: | 0 cu m (2003 est.) |
| Current account balance: | $-519 million (2005 est.) |
| Exports: | $1.644 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) |
| Exports - commodities: | cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing |
| Exports - partners: | South Africa 32.8%, China 7.4%, Japan 6.3%, Zambia 5.2%, Netherlands 5%, United States 4.6%, Italy 4.2%, Germany 4.1% (2005) |
| Imports: | $2.059 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) |
| Imports - commodities: | machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels |
| Imports - partners: | South Africa 42.9%, China 4.6%, Botswana 3.3% (2005) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: | $160 million (2005 est.) |
| Debt - external: | $5.216 billion (2005 est.) |
| Currency (code): | Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) |
| Currency code: | ZWD |
| Exchange rates: |
Zimbabwean dollars per United States dollar - 4,303.28 (2005), 5,068.66 (2004), 697.424 (2003), 55.036 (2002), 55.052 (2001) note: these are official exchange rates; non-official rates vary significantly |
| Fiscal year: | calendar year |
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Transportations information
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| Airports: | 403 (2006) |
| 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 (2006) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways: |
total: 386 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 187 under 914 m: 194 (2006) |
| Pipelines: | refined products 261 km (2006) |
| Railways: |
total: 3,077 km narrow gauge: 3,077 km 1.067-m gauge (313 km electrified) (2005) |
| Roadways: |
total: 97,440 km paved: 18,514 km unpaved: 78,926 km (2002) |
| Waterways: | on Lake Kariba, length small (2005) |
| Ports and terminals: | Binga, Kariba |
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Military information
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| Military branches: | Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF): Zimbabwe National Army, Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ), Zimbabwe Republic Police (2005) |
| Military service age and obligation: | 18 years of age (est.) (2004) |
| Manpower available for military service: |
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.) |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $124.7 million (2005 est.) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 4% (2005 est.) |
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Information about transnational issues
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| Disputes - international: | Botswana has 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 |
| Refugees and internally displaced persons: | IDPs: 400,000-450,000 (MUGABE-led political violence, human rights violations, land reform, and economic collapse) (2005) |
| Illicit drugs: | transit point for African cannabis and South Asian heroin, mandrax, and methamphetamines destined for the South African and European markets |
