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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 It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard).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, Zimbábue (Brazil), República f do Zimbábue m (formal)
11. Russian: Республика Зимбабве (formal), Родезия (obsolete)
12. Spanish: Zimbabue, República 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.²)	Area(mi.²)	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 by hyphens, 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.²)	Area(mi.²)
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.²)	Area(mi.²)	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 Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas, 1951 edition.
4. [4] The Encyclopædia 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, Säo Paulo, 1978.
10. [10] Zimbabwe National Population Census 2012 . Zimstat (retrieved 2013-12-21).