1987 Edition

Climate

tropical; moderated by altitude; rainy season (November to March)

Communists

no Communist party

Comparative area

slightly smaller than California

Environment

recurring droughts; floods and severe storms are rare; deforestation; soil erosion; air and water pollution; desertification

Land boundaries

3,017 km total

Land use

7% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 12% meadows and pastures; 62% forest and woodland; 19% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Member of

AfDB, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, ITO, NAM, OAU, SADCC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO

Special notes

landlocked

Terrain

mostly high plateau with higher central plateau (high veld); mountains in east

Total area

—20 km Boundary representation ta Not necessarily authoritative

390,580 km?; land area: 386,670 km?

Voting strength

(July 1985 elections) ZANU (also known as ZANU-PF), 64 seats; ZAPU, 15 seats; CAZ, 15 seats; 1ZG, 4 seats, ZANU-S, 1 seat; independents, 1

Ethnic divisions

about 96% African (over 73% members of Shona-speaking subtribes, 19% speak Ndebele); about 3% white, 1% mixed and Asian

Infant mortality rate

66/1,000 (1985)

Labor force

1,985,000 (1985); 78% agriculture; 18% mining, manufacturing, construction; 4% transport and services

Language

English (official); ChiShona and Si Ndebele

Life expectancy

men 53.3, women 56.8

Literacy

45-55%

Nationality

noun—Zimbabwean(s); adjective-—Zimbabwean

Organized labor

about one-third of European wage earners are unionized, but only a small minority of Africans

Population

9,371,972 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 3.60%

Religion

50% syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs), 25% Christian, 24% indigenous beliefs, a few Muslim

Administrative divisions

8 provinces

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 chiefs, 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

Elections

last held July 1985 Political parties and leaders: Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), Robert Mugabe; Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), Joshua Nkomo; Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe (CAZ), Ian Smith; Independent Zimbabwe Group (1ZG), Bill Irving; Zimbabwe African National Union - Sithole (ZANU-S), Ndabaningi Sithole; others failed to win any seats in Parliament

Government leaders

Rev. Canaan Sodindo BANANA, President (since April 1980), Robert Gabriel MUGABE, Prime Minister (since April 1980)

Legal system

Roman-Dutch

Official name

Republic of Zimbabwe

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, British-style parliamentary democracy Capital; Harare

Agriculture

tobacco, corn, tea, sugar, cotton; livestock

Aid

Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF (1970-84), $1.3 billion; US, including Ex-lm (1980-85), $327 million; Communist countries (1970-85), $118 million

Budget

(CY85) revenues, $1.42 billion; expenditures, $1.81 billion

Electric power

1,600,000 kW capacity; 4,670 million kWh produced, 520 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$1.1 billion (f.0.b., 1985), including net gold sales and reexports; tobacco, asbestos, cotton, copper, tin, chrome, gold, nickel, meat, clothing, sugar, iron ore, silver

Fiscal year

1 July-30 June

Imports

$930 million (f.0.b. 1985); machinery, petroleum products, wheat, transport equipment

Major industries

mining, steel, textiles, chemicals, vehicles

Major trade partners

South Africa, UK

Monetary conversion rate

1.70 Zimbabwean dollars=US$1 (November 1986)

Natural resources

coal, chrome, asbestos, gold, nickel, copper, iron ore, vanadium, lithium

Airfields

530 total, 472 usable; 22 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m, 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 89 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

13 major transport aircraft

Highways

85,237 km total; 12,243 km paved, 28,090 km crushed stone, gravel, stabilized soil: 23,097 km improved earth; 21,807 km unimproved earth

Inland waterways

Lake Kariba is a potential line of communication

Pipelines

8 km refined products

Railroads

3,394 km 1.067-meter gauge; 42 km double track; 335 km electrified

Telecommunications

system was one of the best in Africa but now suffers from poor maintenance; consists of radio-relay links, open-wire lines, and radio communications stations; principal center Harare, secondary center Bulawayo; 247,000 telephones (2.7 per 100 popl.),; 8 AM, 15 FM, 8 TV stations; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT station

Branches

Zimbabwe National Army, Air Force of Zimbabwe, Police Support Unit, People’s Militia

Military manpower

males 15-49, 1,876,000; 1,157,000 fit for military service