Zimbabwe (pronounced /zɪmˈbɑːbweɪ/), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, and formerly Southern Rhodesia, the Republic of Rhodesia and Zimbabwe Rhodesia, is a landlocked country in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It borders South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest, and Mozambique to the east. The official language of Zimbabwe is English, however the majority of the population speaks Shona which is the native language of the Shona people, it is one of the native languages of Zimbabwe along with Sindebele which is spoken by the Matabele people.From circa 1250–1629, the area that is known as Zimbabwe today was ruled under the Mutapa Empire, also known as Mwene Mutapa, Monomotapa or the Empire of Great Zimbabwe, which was renowned for its gold trade routes with Arabs. However, Portuguese settlers destroyed the trade and began a series of wars which left the empire near collapse in the early 17th century. In 1834, the Matabele people arrived while fleeing from the Zulu leader Shaka, making the area their new empire, Matabeleland. In the 1880s, the British arrived with Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company. In 1898, the name Southern Rhodesia was adopted.As colonial rule was ending throughout the continent, and as African-majority governments assumed control in neighboring Northern Rhodesia and in Nyasaland, the white-minority Rhodesia government led by Ian Smith declared unilateral independence on November 11, 1965. The United Kingdom deemed this an act of rebellion, but did not reestablish control by force. The white-minority regime declared itself a "republic" in 1970. It was not recognised by the UK or any other state, other than white minority-led South Africa.A civil war ensued, led by Robert Mugabe and assisted by African National Congress forces from South Africa.On 18 April 1980, the country attained independence and along with it a new name, Zimbabwe, new flag, and government led by Robert Mugabe of ZANU. Canaan Banana served as the first president with Mugabe as Prime Minister. In 1987, the government amended the Constitution to provide for an Executive President and abolished the office of Prime Minister. The constitutional changes went into effect on 1 January 1988, establishing Robert Mugabe as President.Under the leadership of President Mugabe, land issues, which the liberation movement promised to solve, reemerged as the vital issue in the 1990s. Despite majority-rule, whites made up less than one percent of the population but held 70% of the country's commercially viable arable land because of the colour line arising from British colonialism. Mugabe began to redistribute land to blacks in 2000 with a compulsory land redistribution.Zimbabwe is currently experiencing a hard currency shortage, which has led to hyperinflation and chronic shortages in imported fuel and consumer goods. Mugabe's critics blame his programme of land reform. Zimbabwe's current economic and food crisis, described by some observers as the country's worst humanitarian crisis since independence, has been attributed, in varying degrees, to a drought affecting the entire region, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the government's price controls and land reforms.