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The country, which used to be one of Africa's richest, became one of its poorest. Many observers now view the country as a ' failed state '. [ 63 ] [ 64 ] The settlement of the Second Congo War brought back Zimbabwe's substantial military commitment, although some troops remain to secure the mining assets under their control.
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").
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.
To confuse matters, Southern Rhodesia, which became a self-governing colony of the United Kingdom in 1923, referred to itself simply as "Rhodesia" from 1964 to 1979, and in 1965 unilaterally declared independence under that name. It thereafter briefly renamed itself "Zimbabwe Rhodesia" in 1979.
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.
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]
In 1923, company rule in Rhodesia ended and what is now Zimbabwe became the Colony of Southern Rhodesia. After a decade and a half of the Rhodesian Bush War, the Lancaster House Agreement agreed that Zimbabwe would become an independent country as from 18 April 1980, when Zimbabwe became a republic in the Commonwealth of Nations
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia (/ z ɪ m ˈ b ɑː b w eɪ r oʊ ˈ d iː ʒ ə, z ɪ m ˈ b ɑː b w i r oʊ ˈ d iː ʒ ə /), alternatively known as Zimbabwe Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, was a short-lived sovereign state that existed from 1 June 1979 to 18 April 1980, [1] though it lacked international recognition.