Categories: Stories

Ten things you never knew about Zimbabwe

Picture- Hellotravel.com

As Zimbabwe celebrates its 36th birthday tomorrow, the Sunday Express of London has come up with a list of 10 things it says you never knew about Zimbabwe. Well this could apply to its United Kingdom audience. How about you? If you have your own 10, nine, eight, seven, six or five things that you think we might not know, why don’t you drop us a line and we will publish the list. Send your contributions to: charlesrukuni@insiderzim.com.

Here is the Sunday Express list:

  1. Zimbabwe is thought to be the location of Ophir, the Biblical land from which King Solomon got ivory, gold, peacocks and other precious items.
  2. Zimbabwe means “great house of stones” in the local Chishona language.
  3. The Zimbabwe dollar was abandoned as its national currency in 2009 after hyperinflation had led to an inflation rate of 79.6 billion per cent.
  4. At its peak in 2008, Zimbabwe issued 100trillion dollar banknotes.
  5. Zimbabwe has won eight Olympic medals, one by the field hockey team and the other seven by swimmer Kirsty Coventry.
  6. There is a strong belief in mermaids in Zimbabwe but they often have a bad reputation including kidnapping, torture and murder.
  7. More than half the people in Zimbabwe are below the age of 21.
  8. To Zimbabweans, a big stomach among men is a sign of wealth. It implies that they can afford meat daily.
  9. The local name for Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe is “Mosi-oa-Tunya” (the smoke that thunders).
  10. Zimbabweans call every toothpaste “Colgate” and every washing powder “Surf”.

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Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

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