Chipinge, formerly known as Chipinga, is a town in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, located in

Chipinge District Chipinge District is a district in Manicaland Province of eastern Zimbabwe. The administrative headquarters is Chipinge. Geography Chipinge District is the southernmost district in Manicaland province. It is bounded on the north by Chimanimani ...

, in

Manicaland Province Manicaland is a Provinces of Zimbabwe, province in eastern Zimbabwe. After Harare Province, it is the country's second-most populous province, with a population of 2.037 million, as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census. Making it the third mo ...

, in southeastern

, close to the border with

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Location

The town lies approximately , by road, south of

Mutare Mutare, formerly known as Umtali until 1982, is the capital and largest city in the province of Manicaland. It is the third most populated in Zimbabwe. Having surpassed Gweru in the 2012 census, with an urban area, urban population of 224,802 ...

, the nearest large city. This location lies about , by road, east of

Masvingo Masvingo, known as Fort Victoria during the colonial period, is a city in southeastern Zimbabwe and the capital of Masvingo Province. The city lies close to Great Zimbabwe, the national monument from which the country takes its name and clos ...

, on the road (Highway A-9) to

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

, Zimbabwe's second-largest city, approximately , further west of Masvingo. The coordinates of the town are: 20° 12' 0.00"S, 32° 37' 12.00"E (Latitude:20.2000; Longitude:32.6200). Chipinge sits at an elevation of , above sea level.

Overview

The average annual rainfall in Chipinge is about . The warm climate and high rainfall are well suited to agriculture. The local farmers grow tea, coffee,

macadamia nut ''Macadamia'' is a genus of four species of trees in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. They are indigenous to Australia—specifically, northeastern New South Wales and central and southeastern Queensland. Two species of the genus are comm ...

s and rear dairy cattle. The surrounding mountain slopes are covered with

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

and

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

plantations. One of Zimbabwe's most famous landmarks, the

Birchenough Bridge Birchenough Bridge is the name for both a bridge across the Save River (pronounced Sa've) and a village next to the bridge. Birchenough Bridge is called after Sir Henry Birchenough. Birchenough Bridge is located 62 km from Chipinge in the M ...

is located on the Sabi River about , northwest of Chipinge. The town is the headquarters of Chipinge District and contain the main offices of Chipinge District Administration and the offices of ''Chipinge Town Council''. Royal Bank Zimbabwe, a

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...

, maintains a branch in the town. Chipinge is also served by

Chipinge Airport Chipinge Airport is an airport serving Chipinge, Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe. See also * Transport in Zimbabwe *List of airports in Zimbabwe This is a list of airports in Zimbabwe, sorted by location. Zimbabwe, officially the Republic o ...

, Telone Exchange telecommunications. Chipinge is divided into five constituencies for election purposes: Chipinge Central, Chipinge North, Chipinge South, Chipinge East and Musikavanhu.

History

The town was formerly known as ''Chipinga''. A white settlement began here with the arrival of Thomas Moodie's trek in 1893 and was called ''South Melsetter''.

Melsetter Chimanimani, originally known as Melsetter, is a town in Zimbabwe. Location Chimanimani is a village located in Manicaland Province, in south-eastern Zimbabwe, close to the border with Mozambique. The village lies about , by road, south of Mu ...

was his family home in

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

, Scotland. In 1903 a police outpost was built here and in 1909 a school was built. The settlement was renamed Chipinga after a local chief in 1907 and in 1946 Chipinga received town status. Dairy farming was established early in the 1900s and by 1931 there were two cheese factories in operation. In 1945 a third cheese factory was open in the town but the same year saw the three factories being amalgamated to form one large factory. Cheese production at this facility continued until 1976. In 1983 Dairibord Zimbabwe under Dairibord Holdings opened a dairy factory making sterilized milk "steri" at 323 Ferreira Street. The area around Chipinge was the first place to grow tea in Zimbabwe, when Grafton and Florence Phillips smuggled seeds from

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

in 1924, while coffee was introduced on a small scale but was not successful until 1950 when a coffee experimental station was established.

Population

According to the 1992 Population Census, the town has a population of 11,582. In 2004, the town's population was estimated at 18,860.Estimated Town Population In 2004
/ref> The results of the 2012 census indicate 25,675 residents in Chipinge Town.

Climate

Notable people

Ndabaningi Sithole Ndabaningi Sithole (21 July 1920 – 12 December 2000) was a Zimbabwean politician and statesman who was the founder of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant, nationalist organisation that opposed the government of Rhodesia, in ...

, ZANU – Ndonga political leader *

Guy Whittall Guy James Whittall (born 5 September 1972) is a former Zimbabwean international cricketer who played 46 Test matches and 147 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and captained Zimbabwe in four ODIs. He played as an all-rounder and was known as an agg ...

, Zimbabwean cricketer *

Arthur Mutambara Arthur G.O. Mutambara is a multifaceted leader, academic, and technology expert currently serving as the director and full professor of the Institute for the Future of Knowledge (IFK) at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in South Africa. Ren ...

, politician * Lovemore Madhuku, politician * Jason Sparrow, cricketer

References

{{authority control Populated places in Manicaland Province Populated places established in 1893