Zim @ 36

Viola Mzungwana
ZIMBABWE turns 36 years old on Monday a�� long live the motherland a�� as such, B-Metro gives you a few interestingA� facts about the country.

1 The highest point in Zimbabwe is Mount Nyangani (2,592m).

2 A number of natural shelters, occupied since early times, can be found in the Matobo Hills. The area also has a high concentration of rock art which provides a view of life in the Stone Age.

3 During the fourteenth and fifteen centuries Great Zimbabwe controlled much of the ivory and gold trade in the region.

4 Artefacts from Europe and China have been found at Khami. Khami, like Great Zimbabwe, became a World Heritage site in 1986.

5 Portuguese traders visited Zimbabwe in the sixteenth century and were the first Europeans to make contact with the region.

6 In 1888 the British South African Company gained mineral rights for the area.

7 African nationalist organisations that campaigned for democracy were banned in Rhodesia (ANC a�� banned 1959, Zapu a�� banned 1962, Zanu a�� banned 1964).

8 One of President Mugabea��s biggest achievements has been education. Zimbabwe has the highest literacy rate in Africa at 90 percent of the population.

9 Under colonial laws, much of the countrya��s best land was reserved for white farmers and anger at this was a key factor in the 1970s war of independence.

10 You are reading this article as a person living in free Zimbabwe a�� the land of hopes and dreams, ways and means.