ZIMBABWE

Jameson Avenue and the Presbyterian (City) Church (foreground) in Harare, Zimbabwe. officially Republic of Zimbabwe, formerly (191164) Southern Rhodesia, (196479) Rhodesia, or (197980) Zimbabwe Rhodesia landlocked country of southern Africa. It shares a 125-mile (200-kilometre) border on the south with the Republic of South Africa and is bounded on the southwest and west by Botswana, on the north by Zambia, and on the northeast and east by Mozambique. Its total area is 150,873 square miles (390,759 square kilometres). The capital is Harare (formerly called Salisbury; see photograph). Zimbabwe achieved majority rule and internationally recognized independence in April 1980 following a long period of colonial rule and a 15-year period of white-dominated minority rule, instituted after the minority regime's so-called Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965. Jameson Avenue and the Presbyterian (City) Church (foreground) in Harare, Zimbabwe. officially Republic of Zimbabwe, formerly (191164) Southern Rhodesia, (196479) Rhodesia, or (197980) Zimbabwe Rhodesia landlocked country of southern Africa. It is bordered on the north by Zambia, on the northeast and east by Mozambique, on the south by South Africa, and on the southwest and west by Botswana, and its extreme western corner touches Namibia. The capital is Harare (formerly Salisbury; see photograph). Area 150,873 square miles (390,759 square km). Pop. (1993 est.) 10,123,000. Additional reading Discussions of the country's geography, society, economy, and history are available in Harold D. Nelson, Zimbabwe, a Country Study, 2nd ed. (1983). Political economy is addressed by J.D.Y. Peel and T.O. Ranger (eds.), Past and Present in Zimbabwe (1983); Ibbo Mandaza (ed.), Zimbabwe: The Political Economy of Transition, 19801986 (1986); Ian Phimister, An Economic and Social History of Zimbabwe, 18901948: Capital Accumulation and Class Struggle (1987); and Christine Sylvester, Zimbabwe: The Terrain of Contradictory Development (1991).Robert Blake, A History of Rhodesia (1977), includes a commentary sympathetic to the white Rhodesian leaders. The early history of the country is detailed in D.N. Beach, The Shona & Zimbabwe, 9001850: An Outline of Shona History (1980); S.I.G. Mudenge, A Political History of Munhumutapa, c. 14001902 (1988); Philip Mason, The Birth of a Dilemma: The Conquest and Settlement of Rhodesia (1958, reprinted 1982), the best account of the early days (up to 1918) of white settlement and race relations; T.O. Ranger, Revolt in Southern Rhodesia, 189697 (1967, reissued 1979), a full-length study, drawing from African sources, of the risings against white rule in 189697, with significance in terms of the modern liberation movement; Robin Palmer, Land and Racial Domination in Rhodesia (1977); Anthony Verrier, The Road to Zimbabwe, 18901980 (1986); T.O. Ranger, The African Voice in Southern Rhodesia, 18981930 (1970); and Charles Van Onselen, Chibaro: African Mine Labour in Southern Rhodesia, 19001933 (1976), a major pioneering study in social history. Lawrence Vambe, An Ill-Fated People: Zimbabwe Before and After Rhodes (1972), a family history portraying the humour and sadness of occupation, is continued by his From Rhodesia to Zimbabwe (1976), on the years from 1927 to the early 1960s. More recent history is studied by Nathan M. Shamuyarira, Crisis in Rhodesia (1965), a broad description of the racial disparities and political collisions that culminated in the Unilateral Declaration of Independence; Richard Hall, The High Price of Principles: Kaunda and the White South (1969); Martin Meredith, The Past Is Another Country: Rhodesia, UDI to Zimbabwe, rev. and extended ed. (1980), a detailed and objective account of political moves inside Rhodesia from 1965 to 1979; T.O. Ranger, Peasant Consciousness and Guerrilla War in Zimbabwe: A Comparative Study (1985); Norma J. Kriger, Zimbabwe's Guerrilla War: Peasant Voices (1992); David Martin and Phyllis Johnson, The Struggle for Zimbabwe: The Chimurenga War (1981), an authoritative account of the liberation movement; and W.H. Morris-Jones (ed.), From Rhodesia to Zimbabwe: Behind and Beyond Lancaster House (1980). Clyde William Sanger Sir Kenneth Bradley Kenneth Ingham The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica Administration and social conditions Government The constitution of Zimbabwe, which was written in London during SeptemberDecember 1979 and which took effect at independence on April 18, 1980, secured majority rule for Zimbabweans. Under the constitution, white voters, registered on a separate roll, elected 20 of the 100 members of the House of Assembly. Although these members no longer can veto constitutional amendments, a unanimous vote was required during the first 10 years to alter the Declaration of Rights, which stipulates (among other matters) that, if land is acquired for settlement schemes, there must be prompt payment of adequate compensation . . . remittable within a reasonable time to any country outside Zimbabwe. The British insisted that there be a constitutional head of state, a president elected by the House of Assembly, and an executive prime minister and that citizenship of Zimbabwe be automatically available to anyone who was (or had the qualifications to be) a citizen of Rhodesia immediately before independence. The former Senate of 40 members was abolished with a constitutional amendment in 1990, and 50 members were added to the House of Assembly. One hundred twenty seats in the assembly were elective, 10 secured for traditional chiefs, and 8 for the provincial governors, with the remaining 12 to be appointed by the president. At the time of independence, whites controlled the municipal councils, but legislation was soon introduced to amalgamate each municipal council with the council of its surrounding township, and, for the first time, black mayors were elected in 1981. Local government elections in rural areas replaced the old apparatus of district commissioners with a party-based council structure. Justice Under the constitution, the four-member Judicial Service Commission advises the president on the appointment of judges to the High Court. High Court judges may not be removed from office except for misconduct or incapacity. The first black lawyer was appointed a High Court judge in 1980. In addition to magistrates who preside over criminal and civil litigation, other courts adjudicate on matters of African law and custom. Cultural life The year-round temperate climate of the Highveld has combined with the natural inclinations of the white population to produce an outdoor society. Tenniswhether on farms or at urban clubsand bowling have many more followers than any ballet group. Happily for the cause of reconciliation, the first sport heroes after independence were the members of the all-white team that was awarded the first gold medal for women's field hockey in Olympic history at Moscow in 1980. The most famous of Rhodesian-bred writers, Doris Lessing, settled in England in 1949. In some contrast, the nationalist struggle prompted a renaissance of Shona culture. A forerunner of this renaissance (and a victim of the liberation struggle) was Herbert Chitepo, both as abstract painter and epic poet. Stanlake Samkange's novels reconstruct the Shona and Ndebele world of the 1890s, while those of the much younger Charles Mungoshi explore the clash of Shona and Western cultures in both the Shona and English languages. Folk traditions have survived in dance and pottery. The revival of sculpture has drawn on tribal religion and totems to produce some remarkable works, particularly those of Takawira and the Tengenenge school of craftsmen who sculpt in hard serpentine. Clyde William Sanger The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica