Geography
The Republic of Zimbabwe is in Southern Africa. Neighbouring countries are the Republic of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Mozambique.

The capital city of Zimbabwe is Harare. Bulawayo is Zimbabwe's second largest city.

Zimbabwe's terrain consists of high plateau, with mountains in the east. It is separated from Zambia by the Zambezi River. The Limpopo River runs along the border with South Africa.

Zimbabwe has a tropical climate with temperatures varying according to altitude. (The Highveld is more than one thousand two hundred metres above sea level; the Middleveld is between six hundred and one thousand two hundred metres and Lowveld is below six hundred metres above sea level). The rainy season is from November to March.

Environment
Zimbabwe is between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. The Victoria Falls (Mosi-oa-Tunya) on the Zambezi are on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia.

At the end of the 1950s the Zambezi was dammed at Kariba to provide hydroelectric power to Zimbabwe and Zambia. Lake Kariba is one of the world's largest manmade lakes.

The area surrounding Lake Kariba is home to much wildlife such as the buffalo, crocodile, elephant, hippopotamus and rhinoceros.

Zimbabwe's National Parks include Chizarira National Park, Gonarezhou National Park, Kazuma Pan National Park, Matusadona National Park, Matobo National Park, Nyanga National Park and Zambezi National Park. Mana Pools National Park (Sapi and Chewore Safari Area) on the banks of the Zambezi is a World Heritage site.

Architecture
Great Zimbabwe, a National Monument on the World Heritage List, was a city built by a Bantu-speaking civilisation around the end of the first millennium (AD). Great Zimababwe consists of the Acropolis, the Great Enclosure and the Valley Enclosures.

The site of Khami, built after Great Zimbabwe, is also a World Heritage site.

The stone structures of Great Zimbabwe and Khami were built using the dry stone technique. The area would have also contained buildings made from daga, the traditional materials of mud and thatch.

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Colonial architecture was dominant in Zimbabwe. Since independence Colonial buildings in Harare (Salisbury) have made way for modern buildings and skyscrapers.

Population
The population of Zimbabwe was estimated at 16.5 million in 2016.

Languages
English is the official language. Shona and Ndebele (Matabele) are the two most important indigenous languages.

Religion
A significant number of the people practise a mixture of Christianity and indigenous beliefs. There are also Christians and followers of indigenous beliefs.

Food
People of European descent living in Zimbabwe have had some influence on the cuisine of the country. However staple foods for much of the population include corn and millet. Cassava, a root vegetable, is part of the Zimbabwean diet.

Soups and stews are supplemented with meat or eaten with sadza, a traditional dumpling.

Fruits grown include apples, bananas, citrus fruits, mangoes, peaches and pineapples. Groundnuts (peanuts), pecans and macadamias are also cultivated.

Beer is brewed locally.

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