Zimbabwe

This article is about the country. For other uses, see Zimbabwe (disambiguation).

Republic of Zimbabwe (in other official languages) Northern Ndebele Ilizwe laseZimbabwe Ndau Nyika yeZimbabwe Chichewa Dziko la Zimbabwe Shona Nyika yeZimbabwe Sotho Rephabliki ea Zimbabwe Tswana Lefatshe la Zimbabwe Tsonga Tiko ra Zimbabwe Venda Riphabuḽiki ya Zimbabwe Xhosa IRiphabhulikhi yaseZimbabwe
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Unity, Freedom, Work"
Anthem: "Blessed Be the Land of Zimbabwe"
Capital and largest city	Harare 17°49′45″S 31°03′08″E
Official languages	16 languages: Chewa Chibarwe English Kalanga Khoisan Nambya Ndau Ndebele Shangani Shona Sotho Tonga Tswana Venda Xhosa Zimbabwean sign language
Ethnic groups (2022 census)	99.6% Black African 0.2% European 0.1% Coloured 0.1% other
Religion (2017)	84.1% Christianity 69.2% Protestantism 14.9% other Christian 10.2% no religion 4.5% traditional faiths 1.2% others
Demonym	Zimbabwean
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic with an executive presidency
• President	Emmerson Mnangagwa
• First Vice-President	Constantino Chiwenga
• Second Vice-President	Kembo Mohadi
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	National Assembly
Independence from the United Kingdom
• Declared	11 November 1965
• Republic	2 March 1970
• Zimbabwe Rhodesia	1 June 1979
• Independence recognised	18 April 1980
• Current constitution	15 May 2013
Area
• Total	390,757 km2 (150,872 sq mi) (60th)
• Water (%)	1
Population
• February 2026 estimate	17,166,852 (74th)
• 2022 census	15,178,957
• Density	45/km2 (116.5/sq mi) (179th)
GDP (PPP)	2025 estimate
• Total	$93.870 billion (104th)
• Per capita	$5,410 (151st)
GDP (nominal)	2025 estimate
• Total	$53.310 billion (101st)
• Per capita	$3,070 (152nd)
Gini (2019)	45.5 medium inequality
HDI (2023)	0.598 medium (153rd)
Currency	De jure: Zimbabwe Gold (ZWG) De facto: United States dollar (USD) South African rand (ZAR); Other currencies
Time zone	UTC+2 (CAT)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Calling code	+263
ISO 3166 code	ZW
Internet TLD	.zw

Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the east. The capital and largest city is Harare, and the second largest is Bulawayo.

A country of roughly 17.3 million people per 2026 estimates, Zimbabwe's largest ethnic groups are the Northern Ndebele and Shona, who make up 95% of the population, followed by the other smaller minorities. Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona, and Ndebele the most common. Zimbabwe is a member of the United Nations, the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

The region was long inhabited by the San, and was settled by Bantu peoples around 2,000 years ago. Beginning in the 11th century the Shona people constructed the city of Great Zimbabwe, which became one of the major African trade centres by the 13th century. From there, the Kingdom of Zimbabwe was established, followed by the Mutapa and Rozvi empires. The British Empire began to consolidate control of the area following the 1890 British Ultimatum against the Portuguese, who had claimed the area between Angola and Mozambique in the 1885 Pink Map. The British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes demarcated the Rhodesia region in 1890 when they conquered Mashonaland and later in 1893 Matabeleland after the First Matabele War. Company rule ended in 1923 with the establishment of Southern Rhodesia as a self-governing British colony. In 1965, the white minority government unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia. The state endured international isolation and a 15-year guerrilla war with black rebel forces; this culminated in a peace agreement that established de jure sovereignty as Zimbabwe in April 1980.

Robert Mugabe became Prime Minister of Zimbabwe in 1980; he was the President of Zimbabwe from 1987, after converting the country's initial parliamentary system into a presidential one, until his resignation in 2017 following a coup. Under Mugabe's authoritarian regime, the state security apparatus dominated the country and was responsible for widespread human rights violations, which received worldwide condemnation. From 1997 to 2008, the economy experienced consistent decline (and in the latter years, hyperinflation), though it has since seen rapid growth after the use of currencies other than the Zimbabwean dollar was permitted. In 2017, in the wake of over a year of protests against his government as well as Zimbabwe's rapidly declining economy, a coup d'état resulted in Mugabe's resignation. Emmerson Mnangagwa has since served as Zimbabwe's president.