zimbabweinfo.

Capital: Harare Latitude: -17.50 Longitude: 31.03 Population: 11,651,858 (rank=72) Area, sq. mi.: 150,872 (rank=60) Area, sq. km.: 390,757 Human Dev. Index rank: NA Adjusted for women: NA Real GDP per capita: $200 Adult literacy rate: 94% (male); 88% (female) Infant mortality rate: 32 per 1,000 births Life expectancy: 43 (male); 44 (female) Currency: Zimbabwean dollar
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The flag of Zimbabwe was most recently adopted on 18 April 1980. Green symbolizes the abundance of the land; yellow, the natural resources; red, the blood spilt for the country; and black, the people. The white triangle symbolizes peace, and the red star represents internationalism. The image of the bird stands for the empire of Great Zimbabwe.
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__//** Victoria Falls **//__ Z imbabwe's impressive Victoria Falls span more than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) and drop more than 360 feet (110 meters) to the river below, making it the largest waterfall in Africa. At the location of the falls, the Zambezi River runs along the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. The two countries share ownership of the falls. (Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, February 2009) **__ http://online.culturegrams.com/world/world_country.php?contid=1&wmn=Africa&cid=180&cn=Zimbabwe __**

English is the official language and is spoken by most educated Zimbabweans. However, people in rural areas converse in their native languages. Shona and Ndebele are most common. Zimbabweans often speak more than one language, and many mix parts of several languages in daily speech. Both Shona and Ndebele are written languages and are taught in school. They are used for instruction in primary school but are being replaced by English in secondary schools. Because learning in English is hard for many students, some rural secondary teachers use indigenous languages to help teach important concepts.
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Young Zimbabweans meet at school or social functions; dating is more common in cities. When a couple is ready to marry, a groom's representative visits the bride's family to negotiate gifts and a bride-price (//lobola// or //roora//). A traditional //lobola// involves cattle, but cash is now more common. Virginity in women is valued and brings a higher bride-price. As families demand higher prices, grooms are finding it difficult to pay the //lobola//. Traditional weddings can last more than a day and involve much feasting, dancing, and drinking. It is culturally acceptable for men to openly have extramarital affairs. Some men consider this necessary to prove virility. FOUND AT CULTURE GRAMS.COM!!!
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President Robert Mugabe is Zimbabwe's head of state. The presidential term is five years, and there are no term limits. The prime minister (currently Morgan Tsvangirai) is head of government. Parliament's upper house, the 93-seat Senate, consists of 60 directly elected members, 18 traditional chiefs, 10 provincial governors, and 5 presidential appointees. The lower house, the House of Assembly, has 210 members, all of whom are directly elected. Parliament's members serve five-year terms. The voting age is 18.



Amnesty International has reported that more than 1,000 people had died in Zimbabwe's prisons this year alone due to starvation and disease. The mass release is a welcome step, but it doesn't go far enough to address conditions in the prisons or the inconsistent system that puts some people behind bars in Zimbabwe for crimes they didn't commit, or even for years while they await a trial.

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Facts on housing in Zimbabwe Typical rural home is the //rondavel//, a circular, one-room hut constructed of earth with a thatched roof. The family compound, or //kraal//, contains several of these structures and is surrounded by a fence of tree branches. A rural compound rarely has electricity, and water is drawn from a communal borehole or collected from a river, often some distance away. An affluent urban family lives in a single-family detached home made of concrete with a tiled roof. It consists of two or more bedrooms, living and dining rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. The home has access to electricity and municipal water. In contrast, many urban poor live in single-room shanties made of wood or plastic (or any other available materials) and roofed with corrugated iron. Residents live in densely populated neighborhoods and typically share a communal water tap and toilet.

Housing in Zimbabwe

Education is a high priority for Zimbabweans, but poverty and language barriers keep many students from advancing. After four years of secondary school, students must pass national exams to qualify for two years of precollegiate schooling. They may otherwise pursue vocational training or end their studies. The University of Zimbabwe in Harare is the premier institution of higher learning. Other universities, teacher-training colleges, and technical schools are located in major cities. All schools charge fees and will not admit students who cannot pay. Private boarding schools offer the best and most expensive education. Mission schools are also good and less crowded than government-funded schools. Rural district schools, locally funded, are the most disadvantaged. With high inflation in recent years, schools have had to raise fees dramatically to pay teachers' salaries and operating expenses. School fees have become unaffordable for many families, even in the middle class. Families who can manage to pay the fees often cannot pay for school uniforms, which are still required in most Zimbabwean schools. As a result, a high percentage of school-age children are now idle or working in the agricultural or informal sectors of the economy.

Schools/Education in Zimbabwe 

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Religion In Zimbabwe
Most Zimbabweans have a mixed belief structure. Various forms of Christianity predominate, but worship is combined with traditional practices and beliefs. These include consulting spiritual mediums or witch doctors (//n'anga//) and a strong belief in witchcraft, ancestor veneration, and clan affiliation with totems. A year or two after a family member dies, people of the Shona ethnic group hold a //kurova guva//, a weeklong party through which the departed spirit is united with the living. Forgetting a //kurova guva// invites bad luck. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian church, but various Protestant and other denominations also have members. Attendance is high at church services, which are important social events for most rural people. Some Zimbabweans exclusively practice traditional beliefs. Muslims comprise less than 1 percent of the population.

Traditional dancing in Zimbabwe 

The country’s national parks are rife with the creatures that visitors come to see: elephants, buffaloes, lions, cheetahs, hyenas, jackals, monkeys, and a wide range of antelopes and smaller animals. For sheer numbers, Hwange National Park is the best park to visit, but Mana Pools, Chizarira, Matusadona, Gonarezhou and Zambezi National Parks also offer rewarding wildlife viewing.

Species that are unique to Zimbabwe, or found in only limited ranges elsewhere, include the rare nyala, which is found only in Gonarezhou and Mana Pools National Parks, the king cheetah in Gonarezhou, and the samango monkey in the Eastern Highlands.

Zimbabwe is also one of the last rhinoceros ranges, and both white and black rhinos are present, albeit in small numbers. The best and most accessible viewing is in, Matobo national park but you also have a chance of seeing rhinos in Hwange and Matusadona National Parks, as well as in some privately owned conservancies.