Republic of Zimbabwe

Wealth and National Well-Being

Country Comparisons: chart

World Factbook: "Zimbabwe's economy is growing despite continuing political uncertainty. Following a decade of contraction from 1998 to 2008, Zimbabwe's economy recorded real growth of 6% in 2011. However, the government of Zimbabwe still faces a number of difficult economic problems, including infrastructure and regulatory deficiencies, ongoing indigenization pressure, policy uncertainty, a large external debt burden, and insufficient formal employment."

Economic growth rate
2011: 6%
2010: 9%
2009: 6%

Labor force in agriculture
1996: 66%

Unemployment rate
2009: 95%

Public debt
2011: 230.8%

Agriculture products
Corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, coffee, sugarcane, peanuts; sheep, goats, pigs

Export commodities
platinum, cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles/clothing

Export partners
2010: Democratic Republic of the Congo 14.8%, South Africa 13.4%, Botswana 13.2%, China 12.7%, Netherlands 5.9%, Italy 4.6%

Export/import ratio
2011: exports $2.731 billion, imports $4.223 billion

People

Living in an urban area
2010: 38%

Ethnic groups
African 98% (Shona 82%, Ndebele 14%, other 2%), mixed and Asian 1%, white less than 1%

Religions
Syncretic (part Christian, part indigenous beliefs) 50%, Christian 25%, indigenous beliefs 24%, Muslim and other 1%

Net migration rate
2012: Net loss of 23.77 persons per 1,000 population per year. World Factbook: "There is an increasing flow ofZimabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities."

Literacy, Age 15 and Older
2003: males 94.2%, females 87.2%

Religion
Christian and part indigenous, 50%. Christian, 25%. Indigenous beliefs, 24%. Other, 1percent.

Geography

Between Zambia and South Africa north and south, Botswana and Mozambique east and west. Landlocked. Slightly larger than Montana. Tropical.

Government

Chief of state: Robert Mugabe (president) since 31 December 1987, Roman Catholic, Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front, accused of maintaining power through intimidation and vote-rigging. Head of government: Morgan Tsvangirai (prime minister, but little power) since 11 February 2009, Christian, Movement for Democratic Change.

Presidents elected by popular vote to six-years terms. Unicameral legislature: 150 seats. Members elected by popular vote to five-year terms. Capital: Harare, before 1982 called Salisbury.

Recent History

Independence in 1980. The only ruler since: the leader of the independence movement, Robert Mugabe, first as Prime Minister then in 1987 as President.

According to the World Factbook, Mugabe rigged the elections for the year 2002. The Commonwealth responded by suspending Zimbabwe, and later Mugabe removed Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth.

Mugabe has announced that he will step down when his "revolution" is complete. He claims this to mean the redistribution of white-owned lands and choosing his successor.

March 2009: The terrible inflation has ended, but people still have a hard time buying food and there is starvation. President Mugabee, a Marxist leader of Zimbabwe's independence movement three decades ago, and his cronies, have given their country disastrous leadership. Mugabee leads as one of the world's foremost clowns.