Name of Zimbabwe
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Published : October 13, 2016
| Last modified on July 4th, 2017 at 2:27 pm
During the colonial era Zimbabwe was called Rhodesia.
Country Name
Conventional long form:
Republic of Zimbabwe
Conventional short form:
Zimbabwe
Former:
Southern Rhodesia and Rhodesia
Background:
During the colonial period the country was called Southern Rhodesia and Rhodesia after Ian Smith’s governments Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965. These names where in commemoration of Cecil J Rhodes.
The country takes its name from the ancient Great Zimbabwe ruins located 26km south east of Masvingo in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe. The ruins in the shona chikaranga dialect spoken by the locals of the area are called ” Dzimba dze Mabwe” which translates to “place of stones” or “house of stones”.
