Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, and formerly Southern Rhodesia, the Republic of Rhodesia and Zimbabwe Rhodesia, is a landlocked country in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It borders South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest, and Mozambique to the east. The official language of Zimbabwe is English, however the majority of the population speaks Shona, one of the native languages of Zimbabwe.

From circa 1250–1629, the area that is known as Zimbabwe today was ruled under the Mutapa Empire, also known as Mwene Mutapa, Monomotapa or the Empire of Great Zimbabwe, which was renowned for its gold trade routes with Arabs. However, Portuguese settlers destroyed the trade and began a series of wars which left the empire near collapse in the early 17th century. In 1834, the Matabele people arrived while fleeing from the Zulu leader Shaka, making the area their new empire, Matabeleland. In the 1880s, the British arrived with Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company. In 1898, the name Southern Rhodesia was adopted.

In 1965, then-Prime Minister of Rhodesia Ian Smith declared Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom; a republic was declared in 1970. In 1979, Smith and Abel Muzorewa reached an agreement and formed Zimbabwe Rhodesia, hoping to end the Rhodesian Bush War, but a few months later the Lancaster House Agreement overrode Muzorewa's compromise and Zimbabwe Rhodesia reverted to colonial status. On 18 April 1980, the country attained independence and along with it a new name, Zimbabwe, new flag, and government led by Robert Mugabe of ZANU. Canaan Banana served as the first president with Mugabe as Prime Minister. In 1987, the government amended the Constitution to provide for an Executive President and abolished the office of Prime Minister. The constitutional changes went into effect on 1 January 1988, establishing Robert Mugabe as President.

Under the leadership of President Mugabe, the economy of Zimbabwe declined from one of the strongest in Africa to one of the world's weakest. Political opponents and critics of Mugabe formed the Movement for Democratic Change in 1999, in an attempt to campaign for an end to "Mugabe's Reign of Terror," and political tension greatly increased as a result. Today, 80% of Zimbabweans are unemployed and inflation has soared to well over 15,000%. Even Zimbabweans of means spend a great deal of time attempting to locate the day's meals which are cooked over firewood due to electricity shortages.

Flag

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