Zimbabwe Provinces (original) (raw)

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Updates:

Sorin Cosoveanu sent me census data from source [10].

There is sufficient evidence that the capital of Matabeleland North province has moved from Bulawayo to Lupane. Source [6] says, "the administrative centre of Matabeleland North was recently moved from Bulawayo to Lupane." Source [7] mentions "Lupane, the Matabeleland North capital". Source [8] says "Lupane ... was declared the capital of Zimbabwe's Matabeleland North province four years ago." Similar evidence shows that the capital of Mashonaland East has moved from Harare to Marondera, but no date can be established for the move.

Source [5] had 1992 and 2002 census figures for the provinces and districts of Zimbabwe. There are two discrepancies between the figures given on that site for 1992 and the figures previously shown on this page. Mashonaland Central has 875,318 according to [5], 857,318 according to my former data; Midlands has 1,302,214 according to [5], 1,302,212 according to my former data. The total population, according to [5], is 10,401,767, which is compatible with only one combination of the putative populations. The total of the province populations comes out right using my figure for Mashonaland Central and [5]'s figure for Midlands. That is the combination shown below.

Change Notice 8 to FIPS PUB 10-4 is dated 2002-06-28. It lists codes for the new cities with provincial status, Bulawayo and Harare.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on December 15, 1998. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For Zimbabwe, the draft standard showed eight provinces. The final standard shows the same eight provinces, with the same codes, and two new divisions, which are cities with provincial status: Bulawayo and Harare.

Country overview:

Short name ZIMBABWE
ISO code ZW
FIPS code ZI
Language English (en)
Time zone +2
Capital Harare

Southern Rhodesia was a territory administered by the British South Africa Company at the start of the 20th century. It became a British colony in 1923. It joined in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland during that entity's term of existence (1953-1963), and then returned to colony status. In an attempt to retain a European-dominated government, it declared independence unilaterally. After some 14 years as a pariah state, it gave up the attempt and became fully independent as Zimbabwe.

Other names of country:

  1. Danish: Zimbabwe
  2. Dutch: Zimbabwe, Republiek Zimbabwe (formal)
  3. English: Republic of Zimbabwe (formal), Southern Rhodesia (obsolete)
  4. Finnish: Zimbabwe
  5. French: Zimbabwe m
  6. German: Simbabwe n
  7. Icelandic: Simbabve
  8. Italian: Zimbabwe
  9. Norwegian: Zimbabwe, Republikken Zimbabwe (formal)
  10. Portuguese: Zimbabwe, Zimb�bue (Brazil), Rep�blica f do Zimb�bue m (formal)
  11. Russian: Республика Зимбабве (formal), Родезия (obsolete)
  12. Spanish: Zimbabue, Rep�blica f de Zimbabue (formal), Rodesia (obsolete)
  13. Swedish: Zimbabwe
  14. Turkish: Zimbabve, Zimbabve Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name:

Named for ancient capital in ruins, whose name is Bantu zimba: palace, bwe: stone

Primary subdivisions:

Zimbabwe is divided into eight provinces and two cities with provincial status.

Province HASC FIPS Population Area(km.�) Area(mi.�) Capital Alt
Bulawayo ZW.BU ZI09 653,337 479 185 Bulawayo
Harare ZW.HA ZI10 2,123,132 872 337 Harare Salisbury
Manicaland ZW.MA ZI01 1,752,698 36,459 14,077 Mutare Umtali
Mashonaland Central ZW.MC ZI03 1,152,520 28,347 10,945 Bindura
Mashonaland East ZW.ME ZI04 1,344,955 32,230 12,444 Marondera Marandellas
Mashonaland West ZW.MW ZI05 1,501,656 57,441 22,178 Chinhoyi Sinoia
Masvingo ZW.MV ZI08 1,485,090 56,566 21,840 Masvingo Fort Victoria
Matabeleland North ZW.MN ZI06 749,017 75,025 28,967 Lupane
Matabeleland South ZW.MS ZI07 683,893 54,172 20,916 Gwanda
Midlands ZW.MI ZI02 1,614,941 49,166 18,983 Gweru Gwelo
10 divisions 13,061,239 390,757 150,872
Province: Bulawayo and Harare are cities with provincial status. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. If periods are replaced byhyphens, these are the same as the province codes from ISO standard 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4, a U.S. government standard. Population: 2012-08-18 census. Alt: Former or variant name for capital.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of Zimbabwe page.

Territorial extent:

The UN LOCODE page for Zimbabwe lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names:

Manica, Mashona, and Matabele are all ethnic names.

Change history:

  1. 1923-10-01: Southern Rhodesia became a British colony.
  2. ~1947: At about this time, the divisions of Southern Rhodesia were Mashonaland and Matabeleland, subdivided into 32 districts.
Division Population Area(km.�) Area(mi.�)
Mashonaland 944,634 207,731 80,236
Matabeleland 481,947 181,535 70,118
Total 1,426,581 389,266 150,354
Population: 1941 census (source [3]).
  1. 1953-07-14: British Parliament passed the Rhodesia and Nyasaland Federation Act, by which Northern Rhodesia protectorate, Nyasaland protectorate, and Southern Rhodesia colony were joined in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (capital Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia).
  2. ~1957: Sources [1] and [4] give the following provinces of Southern Rhodesia. Populations are from source [1], which says, "African population only, based on a sample census." Source [4] gives the total population from a 1954 estimate as 2,321,000.
Province Population Present-day
Bulawayo 312,900 Matabeleland
Gwelo 366,300 Midlands
Salisbury 408,600 Mashonaland
Umtali 247,600 Manicaland
Victoria 283,600 Masvingo
Total 1,619,000
Population: 1948-08-31 census. Present-day: Approximate area covered.
  1. 1963-12-31: Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland dissolved into its original components.
  2. 1965-11-11: Southern Rhodesia declared independence unilaterally, taking the name Rhodesia.
  3. ~1973: Matabeleland split into Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South.
Province Population Area(km.�) Area(mi.�) Capital
Manicaland 765,040 35,775 13,813 Umtali
Mashonaland North 730,650 63,535 24,531 Sinoia
Mashonaland South 1,129,550 42,418 16,378 Salisbury
Matabeleland North 600,420 89,619 34,602 Wankie
Matabeleland South 366,660 49,691 19,186 Bulawayo
Midlands 721,390 54,472 21,032 Gwelo
Victoria 723,400 53,786 20,767 Fort Victoria
Total 5,037,110 389,296 150,308
Population: 1969-04-21 census (source [9]).
  1. 1979: Rhodesia began to style itself "Zimbabwe Rhodesia" as it moved toward integration.
  2. 1979-12-12: Zimbabwe Rhodesia returned to the status of a British colony.
  3. 1980-04-18: The country attained independence and changed its name to Republic of Zimbabwe. Name of the capital changed from Salisbury to Harare. The names of Victoria province and its capital, Fort Victoria, began to fall out of favor and be replaced by the native name Masvingo.
  4. ~1981: Mashonaland North split into Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West (part); Mashonaland South split into Mashonaland East and Mashonaland West (part). Part of Matabeleland South around the city of Zvishavane annexed to Midlands.
  5. ~1997: Bulawayo city split from Matabeleland North province; Harare split from Mashonaland East.
  6. ~2000: Capital of Mashonaland East province moved from Harare to Marondera. Capital of Matabeleland North province moved from Bulawayo to Lupane.

Other names of subdivisions:

Masvingo: Victoria (obsolete)

Population history:

Province 1982-08-18 1992-08-18 2002-08-17 2012-08-18
Bulawayo 620,936 676,650 653,337
Harare 1,478,810 1,896,134 2,123,132
Manicaland 1,099,202 1,537,676 1,568,930 1,752,698
Mashonaland Central 563,407 857,318 995,427 1,152,520
Mashonaland East 1,495,984 1,033,336 1,127,413 1,344,955
Mashonaland West 858,962 1,116,928 1,224,670 1,501,656
Masvingo 1,031,697 1,221,845 1,320,438 1,485,090
Matabeleland North 885,339 640,957 704,948 749,017
Matabeleland South 519,606 591,747 653,054 683,893
Midlands 1,091,844 1,302,214 1,463,993 1,614,941
Total 7,546,041 10,401,767 11,631,657 13,061,239

Sources:

  1. [1] Demographic Yearbook , 7th Ed. Statistical Office of the United Nations, New York, 1955 (retrieved 2011-08-20).
  2. [2] Webster's Geographical Dictionary. G. & C. Merriam Co., Springfield, MA, 1957.
  3. [3] The Encyclop�dia Britannica World Atlas, 1951 edition.
  4. [4] The Encyclop�dia Britannica World Atlas, 1957 edition.
  5. [5] Zimbabwe Relief and Recovery page (retrieved from http://www.zimrelief.info/index.php?sectid=12&articleid=756, dead link, on 2004-04-21). It cites "Census 1992, Preliminary Report, Central Statistical Office" and "Census 2002, Preliminary Results Summary, Central Statistical Office".
  6. [6] Report on Zimbabwe, Permanent Committee on Geographical Names , London (dated 2002-03-01, retrieved 2005-10-16).
  7. [7] Zimbabwe Situation report (item dated 2002-05-24, retrieved 2005-10-16).
  8. [8] Inter Press Service report (apparently dated 2003-10-23, retrieved 2005-10-16).
  9. [9] Almanaque Abril 1979. Editora Abril, S�o Paulo, 1978.
  10. [10] Zimbabwe National Population Census 2012 . Zimstat (retrieved 2013-12-21).