Country profilesZimbabwe

Humanitarian profile

Economic meltdown, drought and HIV/AIDS have crippled Zimbabwe, once seen as southern Africa’s “breadbasket”. The country now has one of the lowest life expectancies in the world, and a large proportion of its population is dependent on food aid. Health and education systems are near collapse.

Country snapshot

Zimbabwe was once a success story of post-colonial Africa and a breadbasket of southern Africa, but in the latter years of President Robert Mugabe's rule the economy collapsed and Zimbabwe became increasingly isolated internationally.

Following elections in 2008, a power-sharing government managed to stabilise the economy, but the country is still struggling to feed itself, restore productivity and repair its ruined infrastructure.

About 3 million Zimbabweans are thought to have fled, mostly to South Africa, in search of work and food.

Most Zimbabweans are of Bantu-speaking Shona or Ndebele origin. Other groups include the Venda, Shangaan, Tsonga and San.

Government

Mugabe has led a power-sharing government since early 2009 with the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai is prime minister and co-leads the government with Mugabe, who is both president and chief of the armed forces.

In 1987 the presidency was upgraded from a ceremonial to an executive role. The president serves for five years with no term limits.

The House of Assembly and Senate make up the parliament. The 210 members of the House, and 60 of the 93 senators (the rest are appointees), are elected every five years.

Economy

At independence Zimbabwe was a leader in sub-Saharan Africa, with rich mineral resources and a strong agricultural base.

It flourished in the first decade of independence but growth slowed by the late 1990s, due in part to repeated droughts, an AIDS crisis and controversial land reforms.

Zimbabwe turned from being an abundant producer of food, cotton and tobacco into a nation dependent on food aid.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) suspended technical assistance in 2002 over the country's failure to clear arrears and address its dire economic and social crisis.

Real GDP shrank, price controls failed and hyperinflation spiralled as the government printed money to meet bills it could not pay. The IMF estimated it peaked at 500 billion percent in December 2008.

Things have improved slightly under the power-sharing government. It adopted the U.S. dollar and other foreign currencies in 2009, bringing inflation under control, and lifted price controls.

Supermarkets are well stocked again and fuel is no longer a rarity. But unemployment and poverty are still rife

Gold and platinum are among many minerals mined for export, but the sectors need more investment.

Foreign investors, however, are still wary of Mugabe's policies. Land has been nationalised and all investments are meant to be majority owned by Zimbabweans. Tourists may also take a long time to return.

China has promised loans but Western countries are warier.

Tsvangirai has urged the easing of sanctions.

Zimbabwe's public debt is about three times its GDP, one of the worst ratios in the world. Foreign debts are unsustainable and in arrears.

History

Ruined remains of "Great Zimbabwe", after which the country is named, provide evidence of an indigenous African civilisation around 1,000 years ago that was trading with towns on the coast.

The Shonas, who make up three quarters of the population today, almost came under subjugation after a series of wars with Ndebele fighters who had fled Zulu violence and Boer migration in the south. British colonists arrived in force in the 1890s.

The country was named Southern Rhodesia (Zambia was Northern Rhodesia) after British colonist and businessman Cecil Rhodes, head of the South Africa Company which ran the area until Britain took it over in 1923.

As the prospects for statehood and majority black rule loomed, local whites passed a constitution favouring themselves in power and declared unilateral independence in 1965 which Britain refused to recognise.

Rhodesia became the first country to face mandatory U.N. sanctions.

International isolation and a guerrilla war forced Prime Minister Ian Smith to the negotiating table in London.

Guerrilla leader Mugabe played a key role in the struggle to end white rule. He won free elections, and became prime minister of the newly named Zimbabwe after independence in 1980.

In 2000 the government introduced controversial land reforms aimed at breaking up large white-owned commercial farms and redistributing the land to poor black farmers. Much of the land ended up in the hands of Mugabe's allies and supporters. Few of the new owners had farming experience or the capital to buy farming equipment. Chaos and violence accompanied the land grab.

Output plummeted. White farmers left; by 2005 only some 200 remained out of 4,500 before the land distribution.

Mugabe rigged presidential elections in 2002, amid growing food shortages and discontent.

The Commonwealth suspended Zimbabwe in 2002 (and it formally quit the group in 2003), and the European Union and United States imposed sanctions in 2002 and 2003.

In 2005 tens of thousands of shanty dwellings and street stalls were destroyed in a "clean-up" drive that the United Nations estimated left about 700,000 people homeless.

Crackdowns on the opposition grew more brutal, and scores of people died in political violence ahead of the 2008 elections.

The MDC won the parliamentary elections and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the presidential election but pulled out of a second-round run-off with Mugabe, citing attacks on his supporters.

After much hesitation he agreed to work with the ruling ZANU-PF party and now co-leads the government with Mugabe.

The election was a turning point for Zimbabwe, ending Mugabe's 28 years of unchecked power.

The collapse of healthcare led to a cholera epidemic killing more than 4,000 people the same year.

Legal snapshot

The legal system mixes Roman-Dutch civil law and English common law.

The president appoints the judges to the country's highest court and the heads of the police force.

The courts have no power to review executive decisions and there are no conflicts of interest regulations.

Zimbabwe has not accepted compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction, and does not recognise the authority of the International Criminal Court.

It ranks low in Transparency International's index measuring perceived levels of public-sector corruption (1st position is perceived as least corrupt).

It got an overall ‘very weak' rating in 2009 from U.S.-based non-governmental organisation Global Integrity in its report measuring anti-corruption measures, government accountability and civic freedoms.