1985 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1985 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Agriculture
main crops — tobacco, corn, tea, sugar, cotton; livestock
Aid
economic commitments — Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF (197081), $446 million; US, including Ex-Im (198083), $229 million; Communist countries (1970-83), $59 million
Area
200km Set rrgmnil map VII Land 391,090 km2; nearly as large as California; 40% arable (of which 6% cultivated), 60% extensive grazing; of this total 48% worked communally by Africans, 39% owned by Europeans (farmed by modern methods), 7% national land, 6% other
Branches
legislative authority resides in a Parliament consisting of a 100-member House of Assembly (with 20 seats reserved for whites) and a 40-member Senate (10 elected by white members of the House, 14 elected by the other members of the House; 10 chief s, 5 from Mashonaland and 5 from Matabeleland, elected by members of the Council of Chiefs; 6 appointed by the President, on the advice of the Prime Minister); executive authority lies with a Cabinet led by the Prime Minister; the High Court is the superior judicial authority
Budget
(FY83/84 est.) revenues, $1.82 billion; expenditures, $2.223 billion; deficit, $400 million
Capital
Harare
Communists
negligible
Elections
at discretion of Prime Minister but must be held before expiration of five-year electoral mandate Political parties and leaders: Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), Robert Mugabe; Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), Joshua Nkomo; Conservative Alliance (CA), Ian Smith; independent white (former RF) members of Parliament, Chris Andersen; United African National Council (UANC), Bishop Abel Muzorewa; others failed to win any seats in Parliament
Electric power
1,280,000 kW capacity (1984); 5.606 billion kWh produced (1984), 670 kWh per capita Exporfs:$1.12billion(f.o.b., 1983), including net gold sales and reexports; tobacco, asbestos, cotton, copper, tin, chrome, gold, nickel, meat, clothing, sugar
Ethnic divisions
about 97% African (over 77% members of Shona-speaking subtribes, 19% speak Ndebele); about 3% white, 1% mixed and Asian
Fiscal year
1 July-30 June
GDP
$6.6 billion (1982), $870 per capita; real growth 12% (1980 and 1981), 2% (1982)
Government leaders
Rev. Canaan Sodindo BANANA, President (since April 1980); Robert MUGABE, Prime Minister (since April 1980)
Imports
$1.43 billion (f.o.b. 1982); machinery, petroleum products, wheat, transport equipment
Labor force
1,048,000(1981); 35% agriculture; 25% mining, manufacturing, construction; 40% transport and services
Land boundaries
3,017 km People
Language
English (official); ChiShona and Si Ndebele
Legal system
Roman-Dutch
Literacy
45-55%
Major industries
mining, steel, textiles, chemicals, vehicles
Major trade partner
South Africa
Member of
Af DB, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77.GATT, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, ITO, NAM, OAU, SADCC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO Economy
Monetary conversion rate
1.26 Zimbabwean dollars= US$1 (July 1984)
Nationality
noun — Zimbabwean(s); adjective— Zimbabwean
Official name
Republic of Zimbabwe
Organized labor
about one-third of European wage earners are unionized, but only a small minority of Africans • Government
Political subdivisions
eight provinces
Population
8,667,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 3.3%
Religion
50% syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs), 25% Christian, 24% indigenous beliefs, a few Muslim
Suffrage
universal over age 18; for at least seven years after independence (1980), white, mixed, and Asians vote on a separate roll for 20 seats in the House of Assembly
Type
independent; a British-style parliamentary democracy
Voting strength
(February 1980 elections) ZANU (also known as ZANU-PF), 57 seats; ZAPU (also known as the Patriotic Front), 20 seats; CA, 9 seats; independents, 1 1 seats; UANC, 3 seats