Zimbabwe

Geography

Location: Southern Africa, between South Africa and Zambia. Area: 390,580 sq. km. Principal cities: Harare, and Bulawayo. Tourist attractions: Great Zimbabwe National Monument, Mana Pools National Park, National Archives of Zimbabwe, Na­tional Art Gallery, and Nyanga National Park. Time zone: GMT+2 hours.

People

Population: 12,311,143 (July 2007 est.). Population growth rate:
0.595% {2007 est.). Sex ratio: 1.005 male(s)/femate (2007 est.). Religions: Syncretic (partly Christian, partly indigenous beliefs), Christian, indigenous beliefs, Muslim and others. Languages: English (official), Shona, Sindebele (the language of the Ndebele, sometimes called Ndebele), and many tribal dialects. Literacy rate: Total 90.7%, Male 94.2%, Female 87.2% (2003 est.). Infant mortality rate: 51.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.). Life expectancy: Total 39.5 years, Male 40.62 years, Female 38.35 years (2007 est.).

Government

Capital: Harare. National anthem: Simudzai Mureza We Zimbabwe. Gov­ernment type: Parliamentary democ­racy. Independence: 18 April 1980 (from UK). Legal system: Mixture of Roman-Dutch and English common law. Executive branch: Chief of state: Executive President Robert Gabriel Mugabe {since 31 December 1987). The president is both the chief of state and head of government. Legislative branch: Zimbabwe has a unicameral House of Assembly. Judicial branch: Supreme court; High court.

Economy

Currency: Zimbabwean dollar. Cur­rency conversion: Zimbabwean dollar per Indian rupee—6.1912 (June 2007 est.). GDP: Purchasing power parity— $25.36 billion (2006 est.). GDP—real growth rate; -4.4% (2006 est.). GDP—per capita: Purchasing power parity—$2,100 (2006 est.). Inflation rate: 976.4% (2006 est.). Exports: $1,766 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.). Imports: $2,055 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.). External debt: $5.26 billion (2006 est.).

Transport and Communications

Railways: 3,077 km. Roads: 18,338 km. Airports: Harare International Air­port. Telephones: 328,000 (2005). Mobile cellular: 699,000 {2005). Internet users: I million (2005). Internet country code: ,iw. ISD code: 260.