FACTS ABOUT ZIMBABWE

AMAZING FACTS ABOUT ZIMBABWE

1.                 The first people of the country were the Bantu-speaking Iron Age farmers that settled in the region around AD 300.

2.                 Zimbabwe’s former president – Robert Gabriel Mugabe – is one of the oldest and also the longest-serving leaders of a non-royal country in the world.

3.                 It is illegal in Zimbabwe for the police to impound your vehicle on the road.

4.                 Zimbabwe has won a total of eight medals at the Olympic Games in two sports.

5.                 Zimbabwe is a landlocked plateau country.

6.                 Zimbabwe was once a very rich country.

7.                 The country has one of the world’s highest inflation and unemployment rates.

8.                 Manufacturing, mining, and farming constitute the backbone of the Zimbabwean economy.

9.                 Zimbabwe became independent from the United Kingdom on April 18, 1980. They celebrate their national day on this day to commemorate their independence.

10.            Zimbabweans mostly call every kind of toothpaste “Colgate,” every soft drink “Coke,” every washing powder “Surf” and every floor polish “Cobra.”

11.            In Zimbabwe, blackouts are quite frequent and random, and when they occur, they can last for up to 3 hours or even more.

12.            Zimbabwe has one of the lowest life expectancies in the world. Females can expect to live 58.7 years and males survive for 57.3 years, on average.

13.            As per data (UNICEF, 2015), more than 1.4 million people in the country are living with AIDS.

14.            The ‘mbira’, which is a small hand-held instrument, has been played for more than 1,000 years in Zimbabwe.

15.            In Zimbabwe, there is a strong belief that mermaids exist. In fact, these mythical creatures are often blamed for unfortunate events such as kidnapping, torture, and murder.

16.            Cholera and malaria are two major diseases in the country.

17.            As most men in the world try to shade their large tummies for flat ones, the opposite is true in Zimbabwe. Zimbabweans see pot bellies in men as a sign of success and wealth.

18.            In terms of the land area, Zimbabwe is three times the size of England.

19.            One of the largest waterfalls in the world, Victoria Falls, is located on the Zambezi River. It is wider than a kilometer and has a height of more than one hundred meters.

20.            The noise of Victoria Falls can be heard from a distance of 40 kilometers.

21.            Mosi-O-Tunya is the name given to the falls by the local tribe. It translates to ‘The smoke that thunders.’

22.            The waterfall was named after Queen Victoria by well-known explorer of Africa David Livingstone (1813-1873).

23.            The waterfall was discovered in 1855.

24.            The waterfall is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

25.            76% of the country’s rural households live on less than $1.25 per day.

26.            Zimbabwe is ranked 156 out of 187 developing countries on the Global Hunger Index. It is a low-income and food-deficit country.

27.            Amazingly, Zimbabwe has one of the highest literacy rates in Africa. 86.5% of its population is literate.

28.            Many of its citizens are forced to survive on only a meal per day due to food shortage and crises.

29.            ‘Mount Inyangani,’ at 2,592 meters, is the highest point in the country.

30.            Football is the most important sport in this country, which is played by a majority of the Africans.

31.            The Zimbabwean government repaid roughly $108 million to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in October 2016.

32.            Sixty-three percent of Zimbabweans live below the poverty line in 2017.

33.            The total population of the country is 14,546,961.

34.            Zimbabwe shares a border with Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Namibia.

35.            Zimbabwe Exports: platinum, cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys and textiles/clothing

36.            Zimbabwe Imports: machinery and transport equipment, other manufactures, chemicals, fuels and food products

37.            The internet country code for Zimbabwe is .zw.