Zimbabwe

Discover Zimbabwe

Fun Foods

Sadza, Nyama (Grilled Meat), Dovi, Mealie Bread, Chimodho, Maputi, Mazoe

Zimbabwe is one of the only countries on Earth named after an ancient ruin. That ruin is Great Zimbabwe, a huge stone city built around 900 years ago.

Its builders stacked millions of granite blocks into towering walls, some as tall as a three-story building, without using any cement to hold them together. At its peak, as many as 18,000 people lived there.

The name "Zimbabwe" comes from a Shona phrase meaning "houses of stone."

For a long time, the world refused to give its builders credit. When European colonizers arrived in the 1800s, many flat-out refused to believe Africans could have built something so impressive.

They made up stories crediting ancient foreigners instead. They were completely wrong. The city was built by the ancestors of the Shona people, and today no serious expert doubts it.

In 1890, a British businessman named Cecil Rhodes took over the region, and it was renamed Rhodesia after him. A small number of white settlers grabbed the best land and ran everything, while the Black majority had little say.

For decades, Black Zimbabweans fought for the right to rule their own country. After a long and bloody war, they finally won. In 1980, the country became independent and took the name Zimbabwe. A man named Robert Mugabe became its leader.

At first there was great hope. But Mugabe held onto power for 37 years and grew more and more harsh. Under his rule, the economy fell apart in spectacular fashion.

This led to one of the strangest money disasters in history. Prices rose so fast that the government printed bills worth 100 trillion dollars each. Yet a single one of those giant notes couldn't even buy a loaf of bread.

Eventually the country gave up on its own money entirely.

Things are calmer now, and Zimbabwe is home to some of Africa's greatest natural wonders. The most famous is Victoria Falls, a thundering wall of water more than a kilometer wide on the Zambezi River.

Local people call it Mosi-oa-Tunya, "the smoke that thunders," because its mist rises high into the sky.

At Hwange National Park, huge herds of wild elephants roam free, along with lions, buffalo, and rhinos.

For food, the heart of every meal is sadza, a thick porridge made from white corn. You scoop it up with your hands and dip it into tasty stews of meat and vegetables.