GEOGRAPHY

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country, surrounded by South África to the south, Botswana to the west. Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east and northeast. Inyangani is the highest mountain in Zimbabwe at 2592 meters. The north-western border is defined by the Zambezi River. Victoria Falls is a popular tourist destination on the Zambezi. To the South, Zimbabwe is separated from South Africa by the Limpopo River. Zimbabwe also shares a border with Nabilia to the west via a narrow land corridor.

THE WEATHER

The weather in Zimbabwe is tropical an dry with moderate temperatures thanks to the altitude of the country although it freezer at might in some villages.

The half temperature is about 15´6º C in July and 21´1ºC in January. The dry season goes from May to October, and the wet season starts in November and it finishes in April.

THE ENVIRONMENT

The arboreal savanna,the wet forest and the larges rivers and lakes predominates in Zimbabwe.

Among the fauna we can see babuinos, crocodiles, hippopotamus, elephants, zebras, girafes, lions, hyenas...

ECONOMY

The government of Zimbabwe faces a wide variety of difficult economic problems.

Mineral export, agriculture and tourism are the main foreign currency earners of Zimbabwe. It is the biggest trading partner of South Africa south of the equator. Since land redistribution began, agricultural exports, especially tobacco, have declined sharply.

DEMOGRAPHICS AND ETHNICITY

According to the United Nations World Health Organization, the life expectancy for men is 37 years and the life expectancy for women is 34 years of age. Zimbabwe has a population about 12 millions of people.

The black ethnic groups total 98% of the population.

· Shona is the majority ethnic group.

· Ndebele. Up to million Ndebele may have left the country over the last five years, mainly for South Africa.

POLITICS

Zimbabwe is a republic, with an executive president and a bicameral Parliament. Under constitutional changes in 2005, an upper chamber, the Senate, was reinstated. The House of Assembly is the lower chamber of Parliament.

Zanu PF party leader Robert Mugabe, elected Prime Minister in 1980, revised the constitution in 1987 to make himself President. President Mugabe´s affiliated party has won every since independence on April 18, 1980. In some quarters corruption and rigging of elections have been alleged. In particular, the elections of 1990 were nationally and internationally condemned as being rigged, with the second-placed party, Edgar Tekere´s Zimbabwe Unity Movement, winning only 20% of the vote. Presidential elections were last held in 2002 amid allegations of vote-rigging, intimidation and fraud. The next Presidential elections are to be held in 2008, although Mugabe is currently trying to amend the constitution in a attempt to stay in power until 2010.

The major opposition party at the moment is the Movement for Democratic Change, or MCD, led by Morgan Tsvangirai.

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:

Zimbabwe is divided into eight provinces:

- Bulawayo

- Harare

- Manicaland

- Mashonaland

- Mashonaland Central

- Mashonaland East

- Mashonaland West

- Masvingo

- Matabeland North

- Matabeland South

- Midlands

CULTURE

Zimbabwe is one of the African countries where the European culture is more outstanding. However, the African traditions, like the poligamy, are still important.

Footbal is the most popular sport in Zimbabwe, although rugby and cricket also have following, traditionally among the white minority.

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ARTS.

Tradicional arts in Zimbabwe incluye pottery, basketry, jewelery, and carving. Among the distinctive qualities are symmetrically patterned woven baskets and stools carved of single piece of wood. Shona sculpture in essence has been a fusion of African folklore with European influences. Also, a recurring theme in Zimbabwean art is the matamorphosis of man into beast.

RELIGION.

There are various forms of spiritual practice in Zimbabwe. Forty to fifty percent of Zimbabweans attend Christian churches. However like most former European colonies, Christianity is often mixed with enduring traditional beliefs. Besides Christianity, Ancestral worship in the most practiced non-Christian religion which involves ancestor worship and spiritual intercession; the Mbira Dza Vadzimu, which means “Voice of the Ancestors”, an instrument related to many lamellophones ubiquitous throughout Africa, is central to many ceremonial proceedings. Mwari simply means God the creator, musika vanhu. Around 1% of population is Muslim.

EDUCATION.

Zimbabwe had a literacy rate of 95.2% in 2000, thehighest in Africa, although that had slipped to an estimated 90.7% in 2003.

For males, the country`s adult literacy rate(he percentage of persons aged 15 and over who can read and write) is 97%.