Zimbabwe 🇿🇼
Zimbabwe is a country in Africa with a population of 16,320,537. Its capital is Harare. The official currency is ZWL, and the main languages are English, Shona, Ndebele.
Quick facts
- Capital: Harare
- Continent: Africa
- Population: 16,320,537
- Area: 390,757 km²
- Density: 41.8 people per km²
- Currency: ZWL
- Languages: English, Shona, Ndebele
- ISO code: ZW
Where Zimbabwe sits
Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 is one of 54 countries in Africa, with its capital at Harare. It covers 390,757 square kilometres — 60th in the world — and is home to about 16,320,537 people, 74th globally.
The countries it shares a continent with include Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.
How Zimbabwe compares
Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Zimbabwe sits closest to Cambodia and Senegal. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Norway and Japan.
At 41.8 people per square kilometre it is about 1.4 times below the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by area than by population, so it is more spacious than its population alone suggests.
English is an official language in 58 countries here, among them Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas and Barbados, and 53 others. The ZWL is used by Zimbabwe and no one else.
To see Zimbabwe next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.
How to remember Zimbabwe
Harare, nicknamed 'Sunshine City', was founded in 1890 as Fort Salisbury. The country's name comes from the Shona for 'houses of stones', and the bird on the flag is based on a soapstone bird statue found at the ruins of Great Zimbabwe.
The flag of Zimbabwe: green, yellow, red, black and white
🇿🇼 The flag is seven horizontal stripes of green, yellow, red, black, red, yellow and green, with a black-edged white triangle holding a yellow bird on a red star. Green stands for farming, yellow for mineral wealth, red for the blood shed for independence and black for the people. White stands for peace, and the bird for the country's long history.
Region and neighbours
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It shares land borders with 4 countries: South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique. Zimbabwe is landlocked, with no coast on the open ocean.
- South Africa 🇿🇦 — capital Pretoria
- Botswana 🇧🇼 — capital Gaborone
- Zambia 🇿🇲 — capital Lusaka
- Mozambique 🇲🇿 — capital Maputo
Three facts about Zimbabwe
- Victoria Falls, one of the world's largest and most spectacular waterfalls, is in the far northwest of Zimbabwe.
- Zimbabwe has 16 official languages.
- From the 11th century the Shona people built the stone city of Great Zimbabwe.
Sources: Wikipedia: Zimbabwe, Wikipedia: Flag of Zimbabwe, Wikipedia: Harare, CIA World Factbook.
Quiz yourself on Zimbabwe
- African capitals quiz — match Zimbabwe to Harare
- African flags quiz — spot the Zimbabwe flag among its neighbours
- Landlocked countries quiz — Zimbabwe has no sea coast
Quizzes that include Zimbabwe
Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Zimbabwe those are:
- Africa map quiz — place it on a blank map
- Africa flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
- Africa capitals quiz — match it to Harare
- Zimbabwe capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Zimbabwe
- Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day
Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.
Read more about Zimbabwe
- Capital of Zimbabwe: Harare — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
- All 54 countries of Africa
Nearby countries
- Algeria 🇩🇿 — capital Algiers
- Angola 🇦🇴 — capital Luanda
- Benin 🇧🇯 — capital Porto-Novo
- Botswana 🇧🇼 — capital Gaborone
- Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 — capital Ouagadougou
- Burundi 🇧🇮 — capital Gitega
- Cabo Verde 🇨🇻 — capital Praia
- Cameroon 🇨🇲 — capital Yaoundé
- Central African Republic 🇨🇫 — capital Bangui
- Chad 🇹🇩 — capital N'Djamena
- Comoros 🇰🇲 — capital Moroni
- Congo 🇨🇬 — capital Brazzaville
Frequently asked questions
What are the colours of the Zimbabwe flag?
The flag of Zimbabwe is seven horizontal stripes of green, yellow, red, black, red, yellow and green, with a black-edged white triangle holding a yellow bird on a red star. Green stands for farming, yellow for mineral wealth, red for the blood shed for independence and black for the people. White stands for peace, and the bird for the country's long history.
Which countries border Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe shares land borders with South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique.
How can I remember the capital of Zimbabwe?
Harare, nicknamed 'Sunshine City', was founded in 1890 as Fort Salisbury. The country's name comes from the Shona for 'houses of stones', and the bird on the flag is based on a soapstone bird statue found at the ruins of Great Zimbabwe.