Zimbabwe

Where the name comes from

Zimbabwe comes from Shona dzimba dza mabwe, “houses of stone”, recalling Great Zimbabwe.

First people

Shona peoples built Great Zimbabwe, a major stone city and trading centre, between the 1000s and 1400s.^1,2,3

Known for

Zimbabwe is known for Victoria Falls, called Mosi-oa-Tunya, “the smoke that thunders”, and Great Zimbabwe linked inland gold with Indian Ocean trade.^4,5

Outside contact

British company occupation began in 1890, and Southern Rhodesia gained self-government in 1923.⁵

The modern country

At independence in 1980, the country swapped the colonial name Rhodesia for Zimbabwe and took a carved bird from the ruins as its emblem.¹