Line #34 UsefulNotes/Zimbabwe


1	[[quoteright:344:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zimbabwe-map_8155.gif]]
2	[[caption-width-right:344:Our money is no good here.]]
3
4	->''"Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny\
5	And in this judgment there is no partiality\
6	So arm in arms, with arms\
7	We'll fight this little struggle\
8	'Cause that's the only way\
9	We can overcome our little trouble"''
10	-->--'''Music/BobMarley''', "Zimbabwe"
11
12	The '''Republic of Zimbabwe''' is a landlocked southern UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}n country. Famous recently for tension between its former President Robert Mugabe and the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom over land issues. Was formerly the British colony of Southern Rhodesia; in 1965, under the leadership of UsefulNotes/IanSmith it declared unilateral independence and spent 14 years under a conservative white government likened to UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra. This led to an armed struggle with several partisan groups, most notably the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and its offshoot, the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU).
13
14	The white government was dismantled in 1979 and the country was renamed "Zimbabwe-Rhodesia" and then just to "Zimbabwe" in 1980, when the world recognized its independence. Robert Mugabe, then chairman of ZANU, became the nation's first black prime minister. This continued until 1987, when the office of the prime minister was abolished by a constitutional amendment, and he assumed the presidency.
15
16	At first, there was some progress during the early years of Mugabe's rule, with programs that provided better healthcare and education to the population, greatly reducing illiteracy and disease (Zimbabwe actually has one of the highest literacy rates in Africa, with a literacy rate of over 90%). But good times were not to last: in 1982 Mugabe launched the Gukurahundi [[note]] which in Shona translates to "[[UnusualEuphemism the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains]]"[[/note]], a persecution campaign against the Ndebele people, who were staunch supporters of [=ZAPU=], the guerilla organization headed by Mugabe's political opponent Joshua Nkomo. Up to 20,000 people were killed, and some have classified this crime as genocide.
17
18	By the mid-90s, now-President Robert Mugabe (upon becoming president, he abolished the PM post but kept all its powers) had gone AxCrazy and turned the country into a totalitarian dictatorship — [[FromBadToWorse hyper-inflation, economic ruin and mass poverty ensued]], as well as persecution of ethnic minorities and of all opposing political organizations (including the Movement for Democratic Change, who formed in response to Mugabe's crazy dictatorial actions). Future United Nations ambassador Samantha Power reported just how bad the situation had become in her now-memorable 2003 article ''[[https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/12/how-to-kill-a-country/302845/ How To Kill A Country in Ten Steps]]'' for ''The Atlantic''. A botched election in 2008, which Mugabe secured via massive electoral fraud (with a healthy dose of intimidation by his militants), threatened to escalate into an all-out bloodbath.
19
20	Eventually, the MDC managed to negotiate a power sharing arrangement with Mugabe; Morgan Tsvangirai took the reconstituted post of Prime Minister, while Mugabe remained as President with reduced powers. Several years on, times are still very tough, with rampant poverty, famine, undevelopment, and a devastating exodus of skilled nationals to other countries, namely South Africa.
21
22	Used to be the "bread basket of Africa" before its current economic woes. The reason for the nickname was because Zimbabwe traditionally had a lively agricultural sector and was a net food ''exporter'' to neighboring African states. Most of this food was produced on commercial farms managed by white landowners. In 1998, Mugabe introduced a chaotic redistribution campaign which saw war veterans attacking the farms and forcibly evicting their occupants. [[ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime Unfortunately,]] these veterans (and Mugabe) [[DidntThinkThisThrough failed to realize that productive farming is actually pretty damn complicated.]] With little knowledge of how to use modern farm equipment and NO knowledge of effective commercial agriculture — since they'd, y'know, gotten rid of the people who knew what they were doing — [[GoneHorriblyRight the expropriated farms quickly went to seed]]. Food shortages followed, helped along by the worst drought in decades. To deal with the slump, Mugabe decided that the best way out would be printing more money, which led to Zimbabwe's [[RidiculousFutureInflation infamous hyperinflation]]. This also led the neighbouring nation of Zambia to claim the title “breadbasket of Africa” by welcoming the evicted farmers in their country and receiving a huge boost to their agricultural sector as a result.
23
24	On November 14, 2017, the Zimbabwe National Army staged a [[MilitaryCoup coup]] by blocking the streets of the capital with tanks and armored vehicles. They placed Mugabe and his wife Grace under house arrest and both were expelled from the ruling ZANU-PF party. Mugabe formally resigned the presidency (under threat of impeachment) on November 21, 2017; his former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa was designated as successor. Mnangagwa subsequently won the next presidential election eight months later, beginning his own five-year tenure.
25
26	It ''must'' be pointed out that, like the rest of Africa, Zimbabwe had a history before being conquered by Europe; and it's a very impressive one. In medieval times, (about 1220-1450), it was the heart of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, perhaps best remembered these days for its stone cities, the biggest of which, Great Zimbabwe, served as their capital and is the largest manmade stone structure in all Sub-Saharan Africa. They controlled the gold and ivory trade on the southeastern African coast, and enjoyed commerce with Arabic and Asian traders. From the 15th to 17th centuries, the land was controlled by the the Kingdom of Mutapa. Contact with the Portuguese led to trade, but eventually brought about the kingdom's downfall; but the lands would not fall entirely under European control until the arrival of the British in the 19th century. Information about the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Zimbabwe Zimbabwe]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Mutapa Mutapa]] kingdoms, and the stone city of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Zimbabwe Great Zimbabwe]] is available on Website/TheOtherWiki. There is also a very good chapter on the Zimbabwean ruins in Henry Louis Gates's ''Wonders of the African World.''
27	----
28	!!Famous Zimbabweans:
29	* Music/JohnnyClegg had a Rhodesian Jewish mother and lived in Zimbabwe until he was six before moving to South Africa, where he famously became an anti-apartheid singer.
30	* Music/MFDoom was born in the UK to a Zimbabwean father.
31	* Creator/ThandiweNewton was born in the UK to a Shona mother from Zimbabwe.
32	* Charlene, the current [[UsefulNotes/TheMonegasqueRoyalFamily Princess of Monaco]] (formerly Charlene Lynette Wittstock), was born and raised in Zimbabwe before moving to South Africa at the age of 11.
33	* Olympic gold medalist swimmer Kristy Coventry.
34	* Liverpool FC goalkeeper [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Grobbelaar Bruce Grobbelaar]], who had fought in the Rhodesian army as a conscript defending white rule in the civil war, was committed to Zimbabwe after independence. He opted to play internationally for the Zimbabwe national side, symbolising his commtment to a new Zimbabwe where black and white people were equal partners.
35	* Creator/DanaiGurira's parents immigrated to the US from Zimbabwe in TheSixties.
36	* Creator/TobyKebbell's father is a white Zimbabwean immigrant to the UK.
37	* Creator/RickCosnett was born and raised in the country until he was 17, when he moved to Australia.
38	* Music/{{Tinashe}} was born to a white American mother and a black Zimbabwean father. "Tinashe" means "God is with us" in the Shona language.
39
40
41	!!Zimbabwe in Fiction
42
43	* ''Nervous Conditions'' and ''This Mournable Body'' by Tsitsi Dangarembga
44	* ''The Hairdresser of Harare'' by Tendai Huchu
45	* ''Literature/TheEarTheEyeAndTheArm'' by Nancy Farmer
46	* The [[LostWorld lost civilization]] in ''Literature/KingSolomonsMines'' by H. Rider Haggard was inspired largely by the stone ruins of Zimbabwe.
47	* Zimbabwe plays a small but significant part in the science fiction novel ''Literature/AlienInASmallTown,'' as the site of Earth's capital city and the home of one of the main characters.
48	* Its ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' alternate, set in the equivalent of pre-1980 Rhodesia, is visited in the [[Fanfic/GapYearAdventures fan work]] ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12321109/27/Gap-Year-Adventures Gap Year Adventures]]''. [[note]]This draws heavily on unsympathetically frank reporting by correspondents like Max Hastings, who was deported by the Smith regime for "sedition"[[/note]]
49	* One of the protagonists of ''Film/BloodDiamond'', Danny Archer, is a white Zimbabwean, though he adamantly refers to the country as [[InsistentTerminology Rhodesia]] even though the film is set in 1999.
50
51	A list of books set in Zimbabwe is available on goodreads.com, [[https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8943.Books_Set_in_Zimbabwe here.]]
52	----
53	[[AC:The Zimbabwean flag]]
54	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flag_of_zimbabwe_4.png]]
55	%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
56	->The twin green, yellow and red stripes symbolize the peasants and agriculture, mineral wealth, and the blood of the fallen during Zimbabwe's struggles for independence, respectively; the black central stripe stands for the people; the white triangle symbolizes peace, containing the red star of the revolution, upon which is superimposed the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe_Bird Zimbabwe Bird]], a soapstone sculpture of an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Fish_Eagle African Fish Eagle]] found in the ruins of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Zimbabwe Great Zimbabwe.]]
57
58	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zimbabwe_bird.png]]
59	[[caption-width-right:300:The Zimbabwe Bird]]
60	->Note that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Zimbabwe#Specifications_and_the_correct_rendering_of_the_Great_Zimbabwe_Bird the rendering of the Zimbabwean Bird]] outside of the country has had issues since just before the country's independence in 1980. The flag depicted here is the correct rendering, with a longer, more upright neck (the incorrect version is somewhat short with the head somewhat slouched), a rounded beak (instead of the incorrect version's pointed beak), and a more evenly balanced soapstone perch (the incorrect version slightly curves towards the right of the bird's render). Furthermore, the incorrect version's star behind the bird is irregular and somewhat flattened, whereas the correct version uses a regular star.
61	----
62	[[AC:The Zimbabwean national anthem]]
63
64	->Simudzai mureza wedu weZimbabwe
65	->Yakazvarwa nemoto wechimurenga,
66	->Neropa zhinji ramagamba
67	->Tiidzivirire kumhandu dzose;
68	->Ngaikomborerwe nyika yeZimbabwe.
69
70	->Tarisai Zimbabwe nyika yakashongedzwa
71	->Namakomo, nehova, zvinoyeveedza
72	->Mvura ngainaye, minda ipe mbesa
73	->Vashandi vatuswe, ruzhinji rugutswe;
74	->Ngaikomborerwe nyika yeZimbabwe.
75
76	->Mwari ropafadzai nyika yeZimbabwe
77	->Nyika yamadzitateguru edu tose;
78	->Kubva Zambezi kusvika Limpopo,
79	->Navatungamiri vave nenduramo;
80	->Ngaikomborerwe nyika yeZimbabwe.
81
82	--
83
84	->Phakamisan' if'legi yethu yeZimbabwe
85	->Eyazalwa yimpi yenkululeko;
86	->Legaz' elinengi lamaqhawe ethu
87	->Silivikele ezithen' izonke;
88	->Kalibusisiwe ilizwe leZimbabwe.
89
90	->Khangelan' iZimbabwe yon' ihlotshisiwe
91	->Ngezintaba lange' miful' ebukekayo,
92	->Izulu kaline, izilimo zande;
93	->Iz' sebenzi zenam', abantu basuthe;
94	->Kalibusisiwe ilizwe leZimbabwe.
95
96	->Nkosi busis' ilizwe lethu leZimbabwe
97	->Ilizwe labokhokho bethu thina sonke;
98	->Kusuk' eZambezi kusiy' eLimpopo
99	->Abakhokheli babe lobuqotho;
100	->Kalibusisiwe ilizwe leZimbabwe.
101
102	--
103
104	->O lift high the banner, the flag of Zimbabwe,
105	->The symbol of freedom proclaiming victory;
106	->We praise our heroes’ sacrifice,
107	->And vow to keep our land from foes;
108	->And may the Almighty protect and bless our land.
109
110	->O lovely Zimbabwe, so wondrously adorned
111	->With mountains, and rivers cascading, flowing free;
112	->May rain abound, and fertile fields;
113	->May we be fed, our labour blessed;
114	->And may the Almighty protect and bless our land.
115
116	->O God, we beseech Thee to bless our native land;
117	->The land of our fathers bestowed upon us all;
118	->From Zambezi to Limpopo
119	->May leaders be exemplary;
120	->And may the Almighty protect and bless our land.
121	----
122	[[AC:Government]]
123	* Unitary dominant-party presidential constitutional republic
124	** President: Emmerson Mnangagwa
125	** Vice-President: Constantino Chiwenga
126	----
127	[[AC:Miscellaneous]]
128	* '''Capital and largest city:''' Harare
129	* '''Population:''' 15,092,171
130	* '''Area:''' 390,757 km
131	(150,872 sq mi) (60th)
132	* '''ISO-3166-1 Code:''' ZW
133	* '''Country calling code:''' 263
134	* '''Highest point:''' Mount Nyangani (2592 m/8,504 ft) (89th)

Context UsefulNotes / Zimbabwe