Taking the name from the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, a fortified stone city situated in the south of the country, President Robert Mugabe changed the country's name from Rhodesia when, in 1980, the country moved to black majority rule. The capital city, Harare, is one of the major tourist 'gateways' into Africa; tourism is of increasing importance to the economy which otherwise relies on farming and mining for export earnings. Having suffered greatly during the droughts of the early 1990's, the country is still finding its way out of the economic doldrums with unemployment being high and the question of land ownership still being one of high emotional charge.
Victoria Falls or 'Mosi-oa-Tunya', the smoke that thunders one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and a World Heritage Site and probably Zimbabwe's most important tourist attraction. The Great Zimbabwe Ruins are a fortified medieval stone city south of Masvingo and the country's premier national monument. It is also where the country, formerly known as Rhodesia, got its name from. Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe's second World Heritage Site, is the only game park in Zimbabwe holding carnivores and the larger mammals in which visitors are allowed to walk unaccompanied. Another option is to explore it by canoe. Lake Kariba is an artificial inland sea covering 282 km2 of the Zambezi Valley; it is also the third largest dam in Africa. Besides its development into a very popular resort lake with all amenities, Lake Kariba is known for commercial fishing and game viewing, especially crocodile, hippo and elephant. Hwange National Park is situated between Botswana and Vic Falls where discovering the 'Big 5' can be done by walking, driving or on horse-back. Matobo (Matopos) National Park features gigantic rock boulders and ancient San paintings, proving that this area has been inhabited for over 40,000 years. Today, it is still a sacred site for the Ndebele and home to a large rhino population. Cecil Rhodes requested to be buried here after his death in 1902. You can visit his grave at a place called World's View as it looks out over Matobo Park.