Zimbabwe

• tropical;
• moderated by altitude;
• rainy season (November to March)

total:

4.21 cu km/yr (14%/7%/79%)

per capita:

324 cu m/yr (2002)

• 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

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• 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

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.81 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.78 male(s)/female

total population:

0.9 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne disease:

malaria

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis

animal contact disease:

rabies (2009)

noun:

Zimbabwean(s)

adjective:

Zimbabwean

conventional long form:

Republic of Zimbabwe

conventional short form:

Zimbabwe

former:

Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia

name:

Harare

geographic coordinates:

17 50 S, 31 03 E

time difference:

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 8 provinces and 2 cities* with provincial status;
• Bulawayo*, Harare*, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Midlands

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)

head of government:

Prime Minister Morgan TSVANGIRAI (since 11 February 2009); Deputy Prime Minister Arthur MUTAMBARA

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 five-year term (no term limits);
• elections last held 28 March 2008 followed by a run-off on 27 June 2008 (next to be held in 2013);
• co-vice presidents appointed by the president

election results:

• Robert Gabriel MUGABE reelected president;
• percent of vote - Robert Gabriel MUGABE 85.5%, Morgan TSVANGIRAI 9.3%, other 5.2%;
• note - first round voting results - Morgan TSVANGIRAI 47.9%, Robert Gabriel MUGABE 43.2%, Simba MAKONI 8.3%, other 0.6%;
• first-round round polls were deemed to be flawed suppressing TSVANGIRAI's results;
• the 27 June 2008 run-off between MUGABE and TSVANGIRAI were severely flawed and internationally condemned

• African National Party or ANP [Egypt DZINEMUNHENZVA];
• Movement for Democratic Change or MDC [Morgan TSVANGIRAI];
• Movement for Democratic Change - Mutambara or MDC-M [splinter faction under Arthur MUTAMBARA];
• Peace Action is Freedom for All or PAFA;
• United Parties [Abel MUZOREWA];
• United People's Party or UPP [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

• Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition [Xolani ZITHA];
• National Constitutional Assembly or NCA [Lovemore MADHUKU];
• Women of Zimbabwe Arise or WOZA [Jenny WILLIAMS];
• Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions or ZCTU [Wellington CHIBEBE]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Machivenyika MAPURANGA

chancery:

1608 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009

telephone:

[1] (202) 332-7100

FAX:

[1] (202) 483-9326

chief of mission:

Ambassador James D. MCGEE

embassy:

172 Herbert Chitepo Avenue, Harare

mailing address:

P. O. Box 3340, Harare

telephone:

[263] (4) 250-593 through 250-594

FAX:

[263] (4) 796-488, or 722-618

• 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

agriculture:

66%

industry:

10%

services:

24% (1996)

lowest 10%:

2%

highest 10%:

40.4% (1995)

• mining (coal, gold, platinum, copper, nickel, tin, clay, numerous metallic and nonmetallic ores), steel;
• wood products, cement, chemicals, fertilizer, clothing and footwear, foodstuffs, beverages

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;
• 2 international digital gateway exchanges (in Harare and Gweru)

total:

3,077 km

country comparison to the world: 55

narrow gauge:

3,077 km 1.067-m gauge (313 km electrified) (2008)

total:

97,267 km

country comparison to the world: 45

paved:

18,481 km

unpaved:

78,786 km (2002)

males age 16-49:

3,264,258

females age 16-49:

3,048,049 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,198,727

females age 16-49:

1,436,232 (2009 est.)

male:

149,592

female:

149,717 (2009 est.)

• 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

refugees (country of origin):

2,500 (Democratic Republic of Congo)

IDPs:

569,685 (MUGABE-led political violence, human rights violations, land reform, and economic collapse) (2007)

current situation:

• Zimbabwe is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation;
• large scale migration of Zimbabweans to surrounding countries - as they flee a progressively more desperate situation at home - has increased;
• rural Zimbabwean men, women, and children are trafficked internally to farms for agricultural labor and domestic servitude and to cities for domestic labor and commercial sexual exploitation;
• young men and boys are trafficked to South Africa for farm work, often laboring for months in South Africa without pay before "employers" have them arrested and deported as illegal immigrants;
• young women and girls are lured abroad with false employment offers that result in involuntary domestic servitude or commercial sexual exploitation;
• men, women, and children from neighboring states are trafficked through Zimbabwe en route to South Africa

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Zimbabwe is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of human trafficking, and because the absolute number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is significantly increasing;
• the trafficking situation in the country is worsening as more of the population is made vulnerable by declining socio-economic conditions (2008)