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History of Zimbabwe
Ancient history
Leopard's Kopje
c. 900 – c. 1075
Mapungubwe Kingdom
c. 1075 – c. 1220
Zimbabwe Kingdom
c. 1220 – c. 1450
Butua Kingdom
c. 1450–1683
Mutapa Kingdom
c. 1450–1760
White settlement pre-1923
Rozvi Empire
c. 1684–1834
Mthwakazi
1823-1894
Rudd Concession
1888
BSA Company rule
1890–1923
First Matabele War
1893–1894
Second Matabele War
1896–1897
World War I involvement
1914–1918
Colony of Southern Rhodesia
1923–1965
World War II involvement
1939–1945
Malayan Emergency involvement
1948–1960
Federation with Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland
1953–1963
Rhodesian Bush War
1964–1979
Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI)
1965
Rhodesia
1965–1979
Zimbabwe-Rhodesia
June–December 1979
Lancaster House Agreement
December 1979
British Dependency
1979–1980
Zimbabwe
1980–present
Gukurahundi
1982–1987
Second Congo War
1998–2003
Coup d'état
2017
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Until roughly 2,000 years ago, what would become Zimbabwe was populated by ancestors of the San people. Bantu inhabitants of the region arrived and developed ceramic production in the area. A series of trading empires emerged, including the Kingdom of Mapungubwe and Kingdom of Zimbabwe. In the 1880s, the British South Africa Company began its activities in the region, leading to the colonial era in Southern Rhodesia.
In 1965, the colonial government declared itself independent as Rhodesia, but largely failed to secure international recognition and faced sustained internal opposition in the Rhodesian Bush War.
After fifteen years of war, following the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979 there was a transition to internationally recognised majority rule in 1980. The United Kingdom, which had never recognised Rhodesian independence, briefly imposed direct rule in order to grant independence on 18 April that year as the new country of Zimbabwe. In the 2000s Zimbabwe's economy began to deteriorate due to various factors, including the imposition of economic sanctions by western countries led by the United Kingdom and widespread corruption in government. Economic instability caused many Zimbabweans to emigrate. Prior to its recognized independence as Zimbabwe in 1980, the nation had been known by several names: Rhodesia, Southern Rhodesia, and Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
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