Manicaland Province

Manicaland
Province

Manicaland, Province of Zimbabwe
Country Zimbabwe
Capital Mutare
Area
 • Total 36,459 km2 (14,077 sq mi)
Population (2012)
 • Total 1,752,698[1]

Manicaland is a province of Zimbabwe.

Location

The province is bordered by Mashonaland East Province to the north, the Republic of Mozambique to the east, Masvingo Province to the south and southwest and Midlands Province to the west.[2] The provincial capital, Mutare (pop:184,205),[3] lies approximately 265 kilometres (165 mi), by road, southeast of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe and the largest city in that country.[4]

Overview

It has an area of 36,459 square kilometres (14,077 sq mi),[5] and a population of approximately 1.57 million, as of 2004.[6] The city of Mutare is the provincial capital.

Background

Manicaland Province division for the 2008 elections

The name derives from the fact that the area has been occupied in recent history by the Manyika people. The Manyika are a Shona sub-tribal grouping with their own language variant, the Manyika language.

Districts

Districts of Manicaland

The province is subdivided into seven rural districts and three town/councils:

The people

Manicaland is the second most populated province in Zimbabwe. It has a population of about 1,755,000 which constitutes about 13.5% of the country's total population.

The people of Manicaland speak Shona, but different districts have own sub-dialects. For example, Mutasa District uses the Manyika sub-dialect. In Makoni District, the people use the Maungwe dialect, Chipinge, the Ndau and Mutare, the Bocha and Jindwi dialects.

The majority of people practise their own traditional way of worshiping, but also practice Christianity about 65%. The majority falling under the traditional churches: Methodist Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Pentecostal churches are have big followings in the urban areas of Mutare and a few growth points. Some fall under the Apostolic Churches. A higher proportion of the Apostolic followers in Mutare and Buhera district and polygamy is quite prevalent among church members.

Schools in Manicaland

Manicaland boasts of some of the best performing schools in the country. Schools such as St Augastines (Tsambe), St Faith's School, Rusape (Fisco-'Madetere') (Currently the best performing school 2012 at 'O' level and 'A' level in Zimbabwe), Marist Brothers (Nyanga High), St Marys, Bonda High, Emmanuel High, Kriste Mambo, Mutare Boys' High School, Mutare Girls High (The Shumbas), St Dominics Mutare, Marange High, Hartzell High, Lydia Chimonyo, Sakubva High, Dangamvura High. These have produced exceptional results over the years and a great number of academics renowned internationally.

The privately run Africa University provides some relief albeit to a lesser extent it simply cannot absorb the huge numbers of school leavers with good passes.

In general, in Manicaland, there is a school within a 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) radius. There are numerous primary and secondary schools scattered across the province. The distribution of schools by district is shown in the table below.

District Primary Secondary
Buhera 140 55
Chimanimani 68 24
Chipinge 125 40
Makoni 170 60
Mutare 172 67
Mutasa 72 27
Nyanga 75 25
Total 822 298

[7]

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1992 1,537,676—    
2002 1,568,930+2.0%
2012 1,752,698+11.7%
Source: Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT)

Places of interest

See also

References

Coordinates: 19°00′S 32°30′E / 19.000°S 32.500°E / -19.000; 32.500

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