University of Zimbabwe - International Relations

The former colonial Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, attained independence from British colonial rule on 18 April 1980.

Languages:	Shona and Ndebele are the two major indigenous languages while English is the commercial language.
Population:	The last census held in 1992 indicated a population of 10.4 million. With an annual growth rate of 3.14 percent, the population is estimated at around 15 million people.
Location:	Zimbabwe is situated in South Central Africa between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers. It is bounded by Zambia to the north and north-west, by South Africa to the South, the east and north-east by Mozambique and Botswana lies to the south-west. It lies entirely to the north of the Tropic of Capricorn.

Physical Features

Area:

390 245 sq. km, about three times the size of England, or nearly as big as California.

Altitude:

Almost the whole country lies more than 300 m above sea level.

Climate:

The climate is generally warm. Daily average sunshine ranges from about four to ten hours all year round. The days are usually bright and sunny and the nights are clear and cool. The summer months (main rain season) are December to April, while the period May to August makes up the winter. The period September to November (hot season) is generally very hot and dry.

Average day temperature:

	Maximum	Minimum
Summer	27.7ºC/81.9ºF	16.3ºC/61.3ºF
Winter	23.8ºC/74.8ºF	8.2ºC/46.8ºF
Hot season	29.2ºC/84.6ºF	14.9ºC/58.8ºF

Average rainfall:

600 mm