ABSTRACT
Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) is located in southern Africa and became an independent sovereign state in April 1980. It had previously been a British colony since 1890, not withstanding the fact that the colony unilaterally declared independence from Britain in 1965. According to the most recent census (Zimbabwe 1992), Zimbabwe has a total population of 10.4 million of which 98.77 per cent are Africans, 0.80 per cent are European, with the remainder being Asians and persons of mixed races. The statistics also show that females constitute approximately 51 per cent of the total population. It is also noted from the same census report that 69 per cent of the population is classified as rural with 31 per cent classified as urban population. The annual population growth rate is 3.1 per cent and on average the population growth rate is higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
