Zimbabwe
Republic of Zimbabwe
- Capital: Harare
- Eastern Africa
- 4 neighbours in Travle
Zimbabwe overview
Zimbabwe is in Eastern Africa, Africa. Its capital is Harare. The World Bank counts about 17.0 million people for 2025 on 390,760 km² of surface area.
In the Travle map, Zimbabwe has 4 neighbours: Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia. From there, 125 countries can be reached by land.
Population, density and language
The World Bank counts 16,950,795 people in Zimbabwe for 2025, which is 73rd of 170 by population. Spread over 390,760 km² of surface area (2024), that is about 43 people per km², 116th of 169 by density.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (SP.POP.TOTL), data updated 2026-10-08; checked 2026-10-19.Rankings compare the entries in Travle's country list that have World Bank data (170 with population, 169 with surface area). Some list entries are territories, so a rank here is not a rank among sovereign states.
| Language | Share (est.) | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Shona | 81% | official |
| English | 42% | official |
| North Ndebele | 12% | official |
| mxc | 6.5% | — |
| ndc | 6.1% | — |
| kck | 5.3% | — |
CLDR shares are estimates of people who use each language, so they can add up to more than 100%.
How big is Zimbabwe, really?
With 390,760 km² (2024, land plus inland water), Zimbabwe is 62nd of 169 by surface area and covers 0.28% of the combined area of those entries.
In that ordering, Paraguay (406,752 km²) is just larger; Japan (377,975 km²) just smaller.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (AG.SRF.TOTL.K2), data updated 2026-10-08; checked 2026-10-19.Zimbabwe at a glance
- Capital
- Harare
- Region
- Eastern Africa, Africa
- Population
- 16,950,795 (2025)
- Surface area
- 390,760 km² (2024)
- Density
- 43 people per km²
- Official languages
- Shona, English and North Ndebele
- Currency
- Zimbabwe Gold (ZWG) and US Dollar (USD)
- Calling code
- +263
- Internet domain
- .zw
- Land neighbours
- 4 (Natural Earth) · 4 (Travle)
Each figure is sourced in its own section below. "Not available" means no source used on this page has the figure.
Zimbabwe within Eastern Africa
Natural Earth places Zimbabwe in Eastern Africa (UN subregion). Of the 15 entries from Travle's country list in that subregion, Zimbabwe is 10th by population and 9th by surface area, with 3.3% of the combined population of those entries.
| Country | Population (2025) | Area km² (2024) |
|---|---|---|
 Ethiopia | 135,472,051 | 1,129,819 |
 Tanzania | 70,545,865 | 945,500 |
 Kenya | 57,532,493 | 591,970 |
 Uganda | 51,384,894 | 241,551 |
 Mozambique | 35,631,653 | 799,380 |
 Madagascar | 32,740,678 | 591,896 |
 Malawi | 22,216,120 | 118,484 |
 Zambia | 21,913,874 | 752,612 |
 Somalia | 19,654,739 | 637,657 |
| Zimbabwe | 16,950,795 | 390,760 |
 Rwanda | 14,569,341 | 26,340 |
 Burundi | 14,390,003 | 27,834 |
 South Sudan | 12,188,788 | 646,883 |
 Eritrea | 3,607,003 | 121,630 |
 Djibouti | 1,184,076 | 23,200 |
Sources: World Bank WDI (SP.POP.TOTL, AG.SRF.TOTL.K2), data updated 2026-10-08; subregion from Natural Earth 1:110m. A dash means the World Bank has no figure.
Location, borders and position
Zimbabwe is in Eastern Africa, Africa. Its outline in Natural Earth lies in the southern hemisphere and the eastern hemisphere. Its capital, Harare, is at about 17.8° S and 31.0° E.
On land, Natural Earth's boundary data gives Zimbabwe 4 neighbours; the Travle game map gives it 4.
Sources: Natural Earth 1:110m (outline and capital) and 1:10m boundary lines (neighbours), public domain.
Where Zimbabwe is on the map
Countries bordering Zimbabwe
Natural Earth's boundary data and the Travle map agree on these 4 land neighbours.
| Country | Direction | Land boundary in Natural Earth | Border in Travle |
|---|---|---|---|
 Botswana | south-west | Yes | Yes |
| Mozambique | east | Yes | Yes |
 South Africa | south-west | Yes | Yes |
| Zambia | north | Yes | Yes |
Geographic column: Natural Earth 1:10m Admin-0 boundary lines (land) 5.1.0 (public domain), checked 2026-10-19; Natural Earth shows de facto boundaries and does not settle disputes. Travle column: the game's own border map.
Money and language in Zimbabwe
Currency
- Zimbabwe Gold: code ZWG, numeric 924. ISO 4217 lists it for this country only.
- US Dollar: code USD, numeric 840. ISO 4217 lists it for 19 entries in total, so it is shared with 18 others.
Official languages
- Shona: official only here, according to CLDR.
- English: official in 91 territories in CLDR, including Zimbabwe.
- North Ndebele: official only here, according to CLDR.
CLDR is a technical reference, not a legal text. Laws and constitutions can describe languages differently.
Currency, domain and dialling code
- Currency
- Zimbabwe Gold (ZWG) and US Dollar (USD)
Source: Unicode CLDR release-48-2 currencyData (region ZW); code, name and number from ISO 4217 list one (SIX), published 2026-09-17; checked 2026-10-19. - Internet domain
- .zw
Source: IANA Root Zone Database; checked 2026-10-19. - International dialling code
- +263
Source: ITU, List of ITU-T Recommendation E.164 assigned country codes (position on 15 December 2016); checked 2026-10-19. - Time
- UTC+02:00 all year (2026)
IANA zones: Africa/Harare
Source: IANA Time Zone Database 2026e (zone.tab); UTC offsets computed for 15 Jan and 15 Jul 2026 with Node.js ICU tz 2026a; checked 2026-10-19.
Zimbabwe codes and abbreviations
| Standard | Code |
|---|---|
| ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 | ZW |
| ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 | ZWE |
| ISO 3166-1 numeric | 716 |
| ISO 4217 currency (Zimbabwe Gold) | ZWG · 924 |
| ISO 4217 currency (US Dollar) | USD · 840 |
| Country-code top-level domain | .zw |
| ITU-T E.164 country code | +263 |
Sources: Natural Earth (ISO 3166-1), ISO 4217 list one (SIX), IANA Root Zone Database, ITU E.164 list; linked with dates in the sections above.
Fun facts about Zimbabwe
- English has official status in 91 territories in Unicode CLDR, Zimbabwe among them.
- The longest Travle trip from Zimbabwe takes 16 steps, to Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.
- The US Dollar is listed for 19 entries in ISO 4217.
- UNESCO lists 5 World Heritage properties in Zimbabwe; the earliest inscription dates from 1984.
Each fact is calculated from the sources cited on this page.
How far can you travel from Zimbabwe in Travle?
Starting from Zimbabwe and moving one border at a time, this is how many countries in the game's map you reach at each step. Countries that need a sea crossing never appear, because the game only follows land borders.
| Steps | Countries | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | |
| 2 | 7 | |
| 3 | 7 | |
| 4 | 6 | |
| 5 | 7 | |
| 6 | 7 | |
| 7 | 11 | |
| 8 | 8 | |
| 9 | 13 | |
| 10 | 13 | |
| 11 | 25 | |
| 12 | 10 | |
| 13 | 2 | |
| 14 | 1 | |
| 15 | 2 | |
| 16 | 2 |
In total 125 of the 171 other countries in the map can be reached by land. The longest trips take 16 steps and end in Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste. The other 46 cannot be reached without crossing the sea (18 in North America, 13 in South America, 6 in Oceania, 5 in Asia, 3 in Europe, 1 in Africa).
Nearby routes from Zimbabwe
Shortest land routes in the game's map to the countries up to 3 steps away. There can be several routes of the same length; this list shows one. The section above shows how many countries are reachable in total.
- Botswana: 1 step (Zimbabwe → Botswana)
- Mozambique: 1 step (Zimbabwe → Mozambique)
- South Africa: 1 step (Zimbabwe → South Africa)
- Zambia: 1 step (Zimbabwe → Zambia)
Angola: 2 steps (Zimbabwe → Zambia → Angola)
Democratic Republic of the Congo: 2 steps (Zimbabwe → Zambia → Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Eswatini: 2 steps (Zimbabwe → Mozambique → Eswatini)
Lesotho: 2 steps (Zimbabwe → South Africa → Lesotho)- Malawi: 2 steps (Zimbabwe → Mozambique → Malawi)
Namibia: 2 steps (Zimbabwe → Botswana → Namibia)- Tanzania: 2 steps (Zimbabwe → Mozambique → Tanzania)
- Burundi: 3 steps (Zimbabwe → Mozambique → Tanzania → Burundi)
Central African Republic: 3 steps (Zimbabwe → Zambia → Democratic Republic of the Congo → Central African Republic)- Kenya: 3 steps (Zimbabwe → Mozambique → Tanzania → Kenya)
Republic of the Congo: 3 steps (Zimbabwe → Zambia → Angola → Republic of the Congo)- Rwanda: 3 steps (Zimbabwe → Mozambique → Tanzania → Rwanda)
- South Sudan: 3 steps (Zimbabwe → Zambia → Democratic Republic of the Congo → South Sudan)
- Uganda: 3 steps (Zimbabwe → Mozambique → Tanzania → Uganda)
World Heritage in Zimbabwe
UNESCO lists 5 World Heritage properties in Zimbabwe: 3 cultural and 2 natural. The first, inscribed in 1984, was Mana Pools National Park, Sapi and Chewore Safari Areas.
- Mana Pools National Park, Sapi and Chewore Safari Areas (natural, inscribed 1984)
- Great Zimbabwe National Monument (cultural, inscribed 1986)
- Khami Ruins National Monument (cultural, inscribed 1986)
- Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls (natural, inscribed 1989, shared with other countries)
- Matobo Hills (cultural, inscribed 2003)
Source: UNESCO World Heritage List (XML feed); checked 2026-10-19. Names as listed by UNESCO; descriptions on this page are our own.
Zimbabwe — frequently asked questions
What is the capital of Zimbabwe?
Harare.
Which countries border Zimbabwe?
On land, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia, according to Natural Earth's boundary data. The Travle map uses the same neighbours.
What currency and language does Zimbabwe use?
The currency is the Zimbabwe Gold (ZWG) and US Dollar (USD). Unicode CLDR gives Shona, English and North Ndebele official status.
How far can you travel from Zimbabwe in Travle?
Following land borders only, 125 countries are reachable. The farthest need 16 steps: Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.
How many people live in Zimbabwe?
The World Bank counts 16,950,795 people for 2025.
How big is Zimbabwe?
390,760 km² of surface area (2024), according to the World Bank.
What is the dialling code and internet domain of Zimbabwe?
The international dialling code is +263 and the country-code domain is .zw.
What time zone does Zimbabwe use?
UTC+02:00 all year (2026).
Keep exploring
- Spin the country wheel to get a random country.
- Play Travle and try to cross the map border by border.
- Browse all countries of the world, countries by population, capitals, country codes or try the flag quiz.