Where is Zimbabwe located?

Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in southern Africa. It shares a border with the Republic of South Africa to the south and is bounded by Botswana to the southwest and west, Zambia to the north, and Mozambique to the northeast and east. The capital of Zimbabwe is Harare, located in the northeastern part of the country. Zimbabwe lies almost entirely over 1,000 feet (300 meters) above sea level.

What is the capital city of Zimbabwe?

Harare is the capital city of Zimbabwe, located in the northeastern part of the country. The city was founded in 1890 and was named for Lord Salisbury, a British prime minister at the time. Harare is derived from the name of Chief Neharawe. Harare is a modern city with multistoried buildings and tree-lined avenues. It is the center of Zimbabwe's industry and commerce and a hub for rail, road, and air transport. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is located in Harare. For administrative purposes, Zimbabwe is divided into eight provinces and two cities with provincial status—Bulawayo and the capital, Harare.

Which languages are spoken in Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe recognizes 16 official languages in its 2013 constitution. Shona is spoken by over two-thirds of the population, while about one in six Zimbabweans speak Ndebele. Both Shona and Ndebele are Bantu languages. The remaining official languages are Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Khoisan, Nambya, Ndau, Shangaan, Sign language, Sotho, Tonga, Tswana, Venda, and Xhosa. Speakers of Ndebele are concentrated around Bulawayo, while Shona speakers reside beyond them. Intermarriage has blurred linguistic divisions between the Shona and Ndebele.

What is the historical significance of Great Zimbabwe?

Great Zimbabwe's historical significance lies in its role as the heart of a thriving trading empire from the 11th to 15th centuries. Located in southeastern Zimbabwe, the city supported a Shona population of 10,000 to 20,000, with an economy based on cattle, crops, and gold trade. The site is divided into three main areas: the Hill Complex, the Great Enclosure, and the Valley Ruins. Great Zimbabwe was abandoned in the 15th century, and its techniques in stoneworking and pottery transferred to Khami. The Zimbabwe Bird, found in the ruins, became a national symbol. Today, Great Zimbabwe is a national monument and a World Heritage site .

What are some important natural resources found in Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe is rich in natural resources, significantly contributing to its economy. The country's diverse geology contains various valuable minerals. Zimbabwe's major exports include gold , chromium , nickel , and platinum . The Great Dyke area is known to have substantial reserves of chromium, nickel, and platinum. Additionally, Zimbabwe has vast coal reserves, estimated at approximately 30 billion tons. Besides minerals, agriculture is also a vital sector, with tobacco being the primary cash crop.

How did Zimbabwe gain its independence, and from whom?

On April 18, 1980, Zimbabwe achieved internationally recognized independence from Britain. This followed a period of struggle against the white minority rule in Southern Rhodesia, marked by the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965 by Ian Smith. The fight for liberation involved multiple attempts at negotiation and armed conflict between the Rhodesian government and liberation organizations such as the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) under Robert Mugabe and the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) under Joshua Nkomo.

Zimbabwe

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Map of Zimbabwe showing its national boundaries, major cities, and neighboring countries including Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Malawi. The capital city, Harare, is marked near the northeast, with other cities such as Bulawayo, Mutare, and Gweru labeled. An inset locator map in the top left corner shows Zimbabwe's position within southern Africa.

Map of southern Africa highlighting Zimbabwe in tan, with its capital Harare marked by a star. Surrounding countries including Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Malawi, Eswatini, Lesotho, and Madagascar are labeled, along with the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Map of Zimbabwe highlighting its physical features, including major rivers such as the Zambezi, Lake Kariba, mountain ranges like the Eastern Highlands, and landmarks such as Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park, and Great Zimbabwe National Monument. Neighboring countries-Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia-are shown, with a small locator map in the upper left corner indicating Zimbabwe's position in southern Africa.

Map of the Zambezi River basin in southern Africa, showing the river's course, major tributaries, dams, waterfalls, and rapids. The map highlights physical features such as elevation, major cities, and country boundaries, with a locator inset indicating the basin's position on the African continent. Areas subject to flooding and key bridges are also marked.

Map showing the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park spanning the borders of Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The core area of the park is outlined in red and includes Kruger National Park in South Africa, Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, and Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe. Additional national parks and monuments in the region are also marked, with a locator map of Africa in the bottom right corner for geographic context.

At a Glance

Zimbabwe summary

Zimbabwe

country, Africa

Also known as: Republic of Zimbabwe, Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, Zimbabwe Rhodesia(Show More)

Written by

Kenneth BradleyAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 12, 2026 •History

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Zimbabwe, landlocked country of southern Africa. It shares a 125-mile (200-kilometre) border on the south with the Republic of South Africa and is bounded on the southwest and west by Botswana, on the north by Zambia, and on the northeast and east by Mozambique. The capital is Harare (formerly called Salisbury). Zimbabwe achieved majority rule and internationally recognized independence in April 1980 following a long period of colonial rule and a 15-year period of white-dominated minority rule, instituted after the minority regime’s so-called Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965.

Land

Relief

Zimbabwe lies almost entirely over 1,000 feet (300 metres) above sea level. Its principal physical feature is the broad ridge running 400 miles from southwest to northeast across the entire country, from Plumtree near the Botswana frontier through Gweru (formerly Gwelo) and Marondera (formerly Marandellas) to the Inyanga Mountains, which separate Zimbabwe from Mozambique. About 50 miles wide, this ridge ranges in altitude from 4,000 to 5,000 feet, until it eventually rises to 8,504 feet (2,592 metres) at Mount Inyangani, the highest point in Zimbabwe, in the eastern highlands. This ridge is known as the Highveld and comprises about 25 percent of the country’s total area. On each side of this central spine, sloping down northward to the Zambezi River and southward to the Limpopo River, lies the wider plateau of the Middleveld, which, at an altitude between about 3,000 and 4,000 feet, makes up roughly 40 percent of Zimbabwe’s area. Beyond this again and mostly in the south, where the Sabi, Lundi, and Nuanetsi rivers drain from the plateau into the Limpopo, lies the Lowveld, which constitutes approximately 23 percent of the country’s total area. The lowest point in Zimbabwe lies at an altitude of 660 feet near Dumela, where the Limpopo flows into Mozambique. There are no parts of Zimbabwe that can properly be called desert, although a sector northwest of Plumtree and a lengthy belt across the Lowveld in the south are severely arid.

Quick Facts

See article: flag of Zimbabwe

Head Of State And Government:: President: Emmerson Mnangagwa

Capital:: Harare

Population:: (2026 est.) 16,176,000

Form Of Government:: unitary republic with two legislative houses (Senate [80¹]; National Assembly [280²])

Official Languages:: See footnote 3.

Matopo HillsAncient granite formations mark the landscape of the Matopo Hills of southwestern Zimbabwe.

The landscape is characterized by extensive outcroppings of Precambrian rock, which is between about570 million and 4 billion years old. The most ancient part of this rock formation, known as the basement complex, covers the greater part of the country. About four-fifths of the basement complex consists of granite; the Matopo (Matopos) Hills south of the city of Bulawayo are formed from prolonged erosion of an exposed granite batholith. Some of the hills are surmounted by formations, known as balancing rocks, that have been eroded by wind and water along regular fault lines, leaving some blocks precariously balanced upon others. Elsewhere are found innumerable small rounded granite hillocks known locally as kopjes. Belts of schist in the basement complex contain the veins and lodes of most of the country’s gold, silver, and other commercial minerals.

The Great Dyke, which is up to 8 miles wide and about 330 miles long, is another notable landscape feature. The longest linear mass of mafic and ultramafic rocks in the world, the Great Dyke bisects the country from north to south and contains enormous reserves of chromium, nickel, and platinum. The Alkali Ring complexes near Beitbridge in the Sabi valley are distinctive igneous intrusions. The Karoo (Karroo) System—a thick layer of sedimentary rocks consisting of shale, sandstone, and grit of Permian and Triassic age (about 200 to 300 million years old)—covers the Zambezi valley and the valleys of its tributaries from Hwange (formerly Wankie) southward to Bulawayo and spreads across parts of the southern Lowveld from Tuli, near the southern border, to the Sabi River.

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Drainage and soils

Major faulting from southwest to northeast formed the middle Zambezi trough, which is now partially flooded by the Lake Kariba reservoir. Other faulting episodes affected the depressions of the Sabi (Save) and Limpopo rivers. Except for a small area of internal drainage in the dry southwest, these three rivers carry the entire runoff of the country to the Indian Ocean via Mozambique. The central ridgeline of the Highveld is the major divide separating Zambezi from Limpopo-Sabi drainage.

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The light, sandy soils found in most parts of Zimbabwe are residual soils developed largely from the granite parent material. They are highly weathered and leached, even in the areas of lower rainfall, and do not easily retain water because of their coarse texture. Outcrops of basement schists give rise to rich red clays and loams—some of the country’s best soils—but their extent is limited. Since most rain occurs in heavy showers during a few months of the year, rapid runoff and high rates of erosion are common. The meagre mineral reserves in most soils imply an inherently low fertility; under cultivation, productivity drops rapidly after a few years. The difficulty of cultivating these lighter soils is greatest in the Black farming areas, where population pressure no longer allows land to be temporarily abandoned to rejuvenate after cultivation; Black farmers, because of a lack of capital, are also less able than white farmers to maintain the mineral fertility with manure and chemical fertilizers.

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Drainage and soils