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Fighting did not cease until Mugabe and Nkomo reached an agreement in December 1987 whereby ZAPU became part of ZANU-PF and the government changed the constitution to make Mugabe the country's first executive president and Nkomo one of two vice-presidents.
The name "Zimbabwe" stems from a Shona term for Great Zimbabwe, a medieval city in the country's south-east.Two different theories address the origin of the word. Many sources hold that "Zimbabwe" derives from dzimba-dza-mabwe, translated from the Karanga dialect of Shona as "houses of stones" (dzimba = plural of imba, "house"; mabwe = plural of ibwe, "stone").
The Zimbabwe state was composed of over 150 smaller zimbabwes and likely covered 50,000 km² (19,000 square miles). It is unknown what caused Great Zimbabwe's decline from the 15th century, however land depletion or a depletion of critical resources, a decline in global trade, and increased regional competition likely played a role.
Zimbabwe Rhodesia came under the temporary control of Britain, and a Commonwealth monitoring force was convened to supervise fresh elections, in which ZANU and ZAPU would take part for the first time. ZANU won, and, with Mugabe as Prime Minister, formed the first government of Zimbabwe following its recognised independence on 18 April 1980. [73]
Zimbabwe was the British colony of Southern Rhodesia, gaining responsible government in 1923. Southern Rhodesia became one of the most prosperous, and heavily settled, of the UK's African colonies, with a system of white minority rule. Southern Rhodesia was integrated into the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
The territory to the north of the Zambezi was officially designated Northern Rhodesia by the company, and has been Zambia since 1964; that to the south, which the company dubbed Southern Rhodesia, became Zimbabwe in 1980. Northern and Southern Rhodesia were sometimes informally called "the Rhodesias".
In 1895 the BSAC adopted the name 'Rhodesia' for Zambesia and in 1898 'Southern Rhodesia' was officially adopted for the part south of the Zambezi River, [4] which later became Zimbabwe. The Rudd Concession was a first step towards occupation of good land, but Lobengula's Ndebele were too strong for a direct invasion.
Economic inequality within the population decreased and provision of education and healthcare became more widespread. During the 1980s GDP per capita increased by 11.5%. During the same time period the US had a 38% increase in GDP per capita. Thus the relative poverty of the country rose in relation to the United States during this period.