Rusape
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rusape is a town in the province of Manicaland, Zimbabwe with a population of around 20,000 as of 2004, situated on the Harare-Mutare main road, approximately 170 km south east of Harare and 93 km north west of Mutare. Rusape is a large, sprawling town that has not quite reached city status.
As is typical of Zimbabwean towns, Rusape has areas of low and high density population. The main high density area close to the town is Vengere township. According to the 1982 Population Census, the town had a population of 8,216. This rose to 13,920 in 1992. Typically noticeable in the surrounding region are the kopjes, msasa trees, occasional tobacco farms and the sometimes densely crowded rural resettlement villages.
The settlement began in 1894 with the establishment of a British South Africa Company post on the Rusape River. A village grew around the post and during the First Chimurenga the village was attacked by Chief Mangwende.
