HISTORY OF ZINBABWE

The remains of early humans, dating back 500,000 years, have been discovered in present-day Zimbabwe. The land's earliest settlers, the Khoisan, date back to 200 B.C. After a period of Bantu domination, the Shona people ruled, followed by the Nguni and Zulu peoples. By the mid-19th century the descendants of the Nguni and Zulu, the Ndebele, had established a powerful warrior kingdom.

The first British explorers, colonists, and missionaries arrived in the 1850s, and the massive influx of foreigners led to the establishment of the territory Rhodesia, named after Cecil Rhodes of the British South Africa Company. In 1923, European settlers voted to become the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia. After a brief federation with Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and Nyasaland (now Malawi) in the post–World War II period, Southern Rhodesia (also known as Rhodesia) chose to remain a colony when its two partners voted for independence in 1963.

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At the end of the Zimbabwe Liberation War there was a transition to majority rule in 1980. The United Kingdom ceremonially grantedZimbabwe independence on April 18, 1980 in accordance with the Lancaster House Agreement. In the 2000s Zimbabwe's economy began to deteriorate due to various factors, including mismanagement and corruption, the imposition of sanctions, such as among others the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, following the switch from Willing Buyer, Willing Seller to Fast Track land reform. Economic instability led several members of the military to try to overthrow the government in a coup d'état in 2007. Prior to independence as Zimbabwe, the nation had been known by several names: Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, and Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.