 Zimbabwe - national flag
Zimbabwe - National Flag, The flag was officially introduced in 1980. The
colors originate from the Zimbabwe African National Unions, ZANU 's,
flags and are also the Pan African. Black stands for the people, red symbolizes
the blood sacrificed in the freedom struggle, yellow stands for the country's
riches, green for vegetation and agriculture. The Zimbabwean bird, which is the
national emblem of the country, together with the red star represents Zimbabwe's
quest for better times and its place in the community of nations. The white
triangle symbolizes peace and the country's desire for progress.
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see the image in PNG format and flag meaning description about this country.
Zimbabwe - history
Zimbabwe - history, approximately 500,000 year old traces of people have been found in
the country. San is considered to be a descendant of early
residents; they were displaced by Bantu people who immigrated from the north
from about 400-t. and began to exploit gold and other minerals in the area
between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. The Shonas ancestors erected monumental
stone structures with a technique that culminated in Great Zimbabwe near the
present. Masvingo; the city was the center of a commercial kingdom
that flourished from approximately 1100 and dominated large parts of the area that makes
up modern Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The kingdom remained in 1400-t. split in the
northern kingdom, Monomotapa, and the south, Changamire. Monomotapa was defeated
by the Portuguese in the 1600's, while Changamire survived until the 1800's, when
the kingdom was destroyed by, among other things. ndebele, another
bantu who immigrated from the south in the 1830's.
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AbbreviationFinder: Check three-letter abbreviation for each country in
the world, such as ZI which represents the official name of Zimbabwe.
Lobengula, ruler of the Ndebele Empire from 1870, tried in vain to resist
the British South Africa Company, led by British politician and
imperialist Cecil Rhodes; the company was commissioned by the British
Government in 1889 to govern the area, which in 1895 was formally
named Rhodesia. In 1911 the territory was divided into Northern Rhodesia
(Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). With the abolition of the charter of
the company in 1923, white residents chose to form an autonomous colony within
the British Empire, and Southern Rhodesia was formally annexed by Britain.
The number of white colonies grew rapidly, from 34,000 in 1922 to 157,000 in
1953. From 1934, a number of land laws were passed, giving white farmers 75% of
the highland's best land. The development was met by growing African resistance,
especially after the 1953 merger of Southern and Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland
(now Malawi) in the Central African Federation, whose constitution
conferred all power to the whites. In 1961, J. Nkomo founded
the nationalist movement ZAPU, from which the more radical ZANU under N.
Sithole and R. Mugabewas split in 1963. In response to the growing protests of
the blacks, the white population in 1962 elected a government led by the newly
formed, racist party Rhodesian Front. Britain dissolved the Central African
Federation at the turn of the year 1963-64; Zambia and Malawi became independent
while Southern Rhodesia remained a colony. In 1964, Ian Smith was elected leader
of the Rhodesian Front and prime minister. He banned ZANU and ZAPU, imprisoned
the leaders of the organizations, and in November 1965 he issued a unilateral
declaration of independence for the country under the name of Rhodesia.
Independence was not recognized abroad, and at the British request, the
United Nations adopted financial sanctions against the country, which in 1970
broke completely with the Commonwealth and declared itself a republic. However,
the international sanctions were greatly undermined by South Africa and the
Portuguese neighboring colonies. ZANU and ZAPU began armed struggle against the
Smith regime in 1966. The struggle for freedom increased in intensity in the
1970's as the independence movement in Mozambique, Frelimo, gained power and in
1974 gained power. In 1976, ZANU and ZAPU joined the Patriotic Front (PF), and
the increasingly pressured government had to declare itself ready for change. In
April 1979, a non-racial election was held, which excluded the freedom
movements. Bishop Abel Muzorewas UANCwon and formed government, but only later
in the year at the so-called Lancaster House negotiations came a peace deal in
place. In the following free elections in February 1980, ZANU won big, and
Mugabe became prime minister of the country whose independence under the name
Zimbabwe was internationally recognized in April.
Mugabe initially pursued a conciliatory reconstruction policy, but it became
clear that his intention was to monopolize power through a declared one-party
socialist state. ZAPU received several ministerial posts, but Nkomo was excluded
from the government in 1982. In 1987, Mugabe and Nkomo agreed on a merger of
their parties to ZANU-PF. A simultaneous constitutional change made Mugabe
president while Nkomo became minister and after the 1990 elections, when ZANU-PF
won 116 out of 120 seats in parliament, vice president.
The Lancaster House agreement had prevented radical redistribution of
agricultural land, but in 1992 a law was passed that allowed redistribution of
part of the land owned by whites. However, Zimbabwe did not receive the promised
financial support from Britain for land acquisition, and the redistribution
projects proved to be both poorly planned and unprofitable. In the 1990's, Mugabe
was also met by growing opposition from the trade union movement and new
political parties as well as by increased international skepticism. Zimbabwe's
economic crisis led to increasingly social unrest from 1997. The government
sought to curb the unrest by allowing the displeased, organized as so-called war
veterans, to occupy white-owned farms that received no compensation. The
campaign accelerated in 1999 and 2000 as part of the fight against the newly
formed opposition party MDC (Movement for Democratic Changes), which, based on
the trade union movement, had quickly gained considerable strength. However, the
proposal for a constitutional amendment to strengthen Mugabe was rejected by a
referendum in February 2000. By contrast, the ruling party won the parliamentary
elections in June. Zimbabwe has been involved in the war since 1998The
Democratic Republic of Congo on the Kabila regime. The resulting financial
strain has contributed to the greatly increased instability that continues to
affect Zimbabwe. The political crisis in Zimbabwe intensified against the
presidential elections in 2002 and as war veterans occupied the farms of white
farmers and foreign companies. After the election, Mugabe was declared the
winner with 56% of the vote. This resulted in international condemnation and
several donor countries announced that they would reduce or halt aid
altogether. As a result, the Danish government announced that the Danish embassy
in the country would be closed and all assistance stopped. Internally, Mugabe
tightened power, among other things by limiting the freedom of the press and
making it impossible for white grandfather's terms.
At the March 2006 parliamentary elections, ZANU-PF won by 59.6% of the
vote; MDC got 39.5% of the vote. The MDC won the major cities and southern
Zimbabwe, while the ZANU-PF won the central and northern regions, which are also
the most densely populated areas. The opposition also complained about election
fraud in this election, but a commission of election observers from the South
African government did not support the charges. The political turmoil continued
after the election and the repression of the opposition continued. At the end of
2006, ZANU-PF postponed the presidential election to 2008. At the March 2008
elections, ZANU-PF lost its absolute majority in parliament for the first time
and the MDC became the largest party. At the same time, MDC's Morgan
Tsvangirai struck Mugabe in the first round of the presidential
election. However, Tsvangirai resigned a few days before the second round,
following a series of deadly attacks on his supporters. Instead, Mugabe could
now win the election without counter-candidates. It sparked fierce international
criticism, accompanied by demands for Mugabe's resignation, and the Mugabe
regime's previous partial understanding of some of its neighbors in southern
Africa, not least the South African ANC government, was significantly
strained. After several months of international pressure, in September Mugabe
had to accept an agreement to share power with Tsvangirai and the MDC, so that
Tsvangirai was given the post of Zimbabwe's prime minister, while Mugabe's
powers as president were curtailed. After the 2013 elections, ZANU-PF again won
the majority in parliament.
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