Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city 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 ...

, and the largest city in the country's

Matabeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi ...

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 1.2 million. Bulawayo covers an area of in the western part of the country, along the Matsheumhlope River. Along with the capital

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

, Bulawayo is one of two cities in Zimbabwe that are also

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

. Bulawayo was founded by a group led by

Gundwane Ndiweni Gundwane "Mkhaliphi" Ndiweni (also known as Khondwane Ndiweni) was a military leader and the first Paramount Chief of Matabeleland. He is credited for founding modern day Matabeleand and Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. He set up the first of the four capitals ...

around 1840 as the

kraal Kraal (also spelled ''craal'' or ''kraul'') is an Afrikaans and Dutch language, Dutch word, also used in South African English, for an pen (enclosure), enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within a Southern African Human settlement ...

Mzilikazi Mzilikazi Moselekatse, Khumalo ( 1790 – 9 September 1868) was a Southern African king who founded the Ndebele Kingdom now called Matebeleland which is now part of Zimbabwe. His name means "the great river of blood". He was born the son of M ...

, the Ndebele king and was known as Gibixhegu. His son,

Lobengula Lobengula Khumalo ( 1835 – 1894) was the second and last official king of the Northern Ndebele people (historically called Matabele in English). Both names in the Zimbabwean Ndebele language, Ndebele language mean "the men of the long shields ...

, succeeded him in the 1860s, and changed the name to koBulawayo and ruled from Bulawayo until 1893, when the settlement was captured by

British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...

soldiers during the

First Matabele War The First Matabele War was fought between 1893 and 1894 in modern-day Zimbabwe. It pitted the British South Africa Company against the Ndebele (Matabele) Kingdom. Lobengula, king of the Ndebele, had tried to avoid outright war with the compa ...

. That year, the first white settlers arrived and rebuilt the town. The town was besieged by Ndebele warriors during the

Second Matabele War The Second Matabele War, also known as the First Chimurenga, was fought between 1896 and 1897 in the region that later became Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The conflict was initially between the British South Africa Company and the Mata ...

. Bulawayo attained municipality status in 1897, and city status in 1943. Historically, Bulawayo has been the principal industrial centre of Zimbabwe; its factories produce cars and car products, building materials, electronic products, textiles, furniture, and food products. Bulawayo is also the hub of Zimbabwe's rail network and the headquarters of the

National Railways of Zimbabwe The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), formerly Rhodesia Railways (RR), is a Bulawayo headquartered state-owned enterprise that operates the country's national railway system. It was established in 1893 and is governed by an Act of Parliament ...

. Bulawayo's central business district (CBD) covers in the heart of the city and is surrounded by numerous suburbs. The majority of the city's population belongs to the Ndebele people, with minorities of Shona and other groups. Bulawayo is home to over a dozen colleges and universities, most notably the National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo Polytechnic College,

Zimbabwe School of Mines The 'Zimbabwe School of Mines'' is an institution whose mandate is pivotal to the socio-economic development of Zimbabwe. From its inception in 1926 the school has produced competent mining practitioners who are in demand in the SADC region and ...

, Hillside Teachers College, and the United College of Education. The

Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe The Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe is located in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, on Leopold Takawira Avenue. Designed by architect James Whalley, the museum officially opened in 1964, the museum contains exhibits illustrating the history, mineral wea ...

, formerly the National Museum, is located in Bulawayo. The city is close to tourist sites such as

Matobo National Park The Matobo National Park forms the core of the Matobo or Matopos Hills, an area of granite kopjes and wooded valleys commencing some south of Bulawayo, southern Zimbabwe. The hills were formed over 2 billion years ago with granite being forced ...

and the

Khami Khami (also written as ''Khame'', ''Kame'', or ''Kami'') is a ruined city located west of Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. It was once the capital of the Kingdom of Butua of the Torwa dynasty. It is now a national monument and became a UNESCO World Heri ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

History

PSM V68 D156 The principal street in bulawayo

The city was founded by the Ndebele king

, the son of King Mzilikazi, born of Matshobana, who settled in modern-day Zimbabwe around the 1840s. This followed the Ndebele people's great trek from northern

Kwazulu KwaZulu was a semi-independent Bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government as a homeland for the Zulu people. The capital was moved from Nongoma to Ulundi in 1980. It was led until its abolition in 1994 by Chief Mangos ...

. The name ''Bulawayo'' comes from the

Ndebele Ndebele may refer to: *Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa *Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe * Sumayela Ndebele (Northern Transvaal Ndebele), located in South Africa Languages *Southern Ndebele language, the language of ...

word ''bulala'' and it translates to "the one to be killed". It is thought that at the time of the formation of the city there was a civil war. Mbiko ka Madlenya Masuku, a trusted confidant of King Mzilikazi and leader of the Zwangendaba regiment, fought Prince Lobhengula as he did not believe that he was the legitimate heir to the throne. This was because Lobhengula was born to a Swazi mother, and Masuku felt that she was of a lesser class. At the time Lobengula was a prince fighting to ascend his father's throne. It was common at the time for people to refer to Bulawayo as ''Bulawayo UmntwaneNkosi'', "a place where they are fighting or rising against the prince". The city of Bulawayo coincidentally has a similar name to the capital of the great Zulu warrior king

Shaka Shaka kaSenzangakhona (–24 September 1828), also known as Shaka (the) Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reform ...

ka Senzangakhona in

, where Mzilikazi and his

Khumalo clan The Khumalo are an African clan that originated in northern KwaZulu, South Africa. The Khumalos are part of a group of Zulus and Ngunis known as the Mntungwa. Others include the Blose and Mabaso and Zikode, located between the Ndwandwe and th ...

and other

Nguni people The Nguni people are an ethnolinguistic group of Bantu peoples, Bantu ethnic groups native to Southern Africa where they form the single largest ethnolinguistic community. Predecessors of Nguni people migrated from Central Africa into Southern A ...

came from. In the 1860s, the city was influenced by European intrigue. Many colonial powers cast covetous eyes on Bulawayo and the land surrounding it because of its strategic location. Britain made skilful use of private initiative in the shape of

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded th ...

and the Chartered Company to disarm the suspicion of her rivals. Lobengula once described Britain as a chameleon and himself as the fly. During the 1893

(BSAC) troops invaded and forced King Lobengula to evacuate his followers, after first detonating munitions and setting fire to the town. BSAC troops and white settlers occupied the ruins. On 4 November 1893,

Leander Starr Jameson Sir Leander Starr Jameson, 1st Baronet, (9 February 1853 – 26 November 1917), also known as Starr Jameson, was a British colonial politician, who was best known for his involvement in the ill-fated Jameson Raid. Early life and family He w ...

declared Bulawayo a settlement under the rule of the BSAC. Cecil Rhodes ordered the new settlement to be founded on the ruins of Lobengula's royal kraal, a typical action by a conquering power. This is where the

State House State House or statehouse may refer to: Buildings *Aso Villa or State House, the official residence of the President of Nigeria *Government House, Dominica or The State House, the official residence of the President of Dominica * State House, Bar ...

stands today. In 1897, the new town of Bulawayo acquired the status of municipality in the British colonial system, and Lt. Col. Harry White was appointed as one of the first mayors.

Siege

At the outbreak of the

, in March 1896, Bulawayo was besieged by Ndebele forces. The settlers established a

laager A wagon fort, wagon fortress, wagenburg or corral, often referred to as circling the wagons, is a temporary fortification made of wagons arranged into a rectangle, circle, or other shape and possibly joined with each other to produce an improvis ...

here for defensive purposes. The Ndebele had experienced the brutal effectiveness of the

Maxim gun The Maxim gun is a Recoil operation, recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Maxim, Hiram Stevens Maxim. It was the first automatic firearm, fully automatic machine gun in the world. The Maxim gun has been called "the weapon most ...

s employed by BSAC troops in the First Matabele War, so they never mounted a significant attack against Bulawayo, although over 10,000 Ndebele warriors gathered to surround the town. Rather than wait passively for attack, the settlers mounted patrols, called the Bulawayo Field Force, under

Frederick Selous Frederick Courteney Selous, Distinguished Service Order, DSO (; 31 December 1851 – 4 January 1917) was a British people, British explorer, army British Army, officer, professional hunter, and conservation movement, conservationist, famous for ...

and

Frederick Russell Burnham Major (rank), Major Frederick Russell Burnham Distinguished Service Order, DSO (May 11, 1861 – September 1, 1947) was an American scout and world-traveling adventurer. He is known for his service to the British South Africa Company and to t ...

. These patrols rode out to rescue any surviving settlers in the countryside and attacked the Ndebele. In the first week of fighting, 20 men of the Bulawayo Field Force were killed and 50 were wounded. An unknown number of Ndebele were killed and wounded. During the siege, conditions in Bulawayo quickly deteriorated. By day, settlers could go to homes and buildings in the town, but at night they were forced to seek shelter in the much smaller laager. Nearly 1,000 women and children were crowded into the small area and false alarms of attacks were common. The Ndebele neglected to cut the telegraph lines connecting Bulawayo to

Mafikeng Mahikeng ( Tswana for "Place of Rocks"), formerly known as Mafikeng and alternatively known as Mafeking (, ), is the capital city of the North West province of South Africa. Close to South Africa's border with Botswana, Mafikeng is northeast ...

. The settlers and forces appealed for relief, and the BSAC sent additional troops from

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

and Fort Victoria (now Harare and Masvingo respectively) to the north, and from

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

and Mafeking to the south. Once the relief forces arrived in late May 1896, the siege was broken. An estimated 50,000 Ndebele retreated into their stronghold of the

Matobo Hills The Matobo National Park forms the core of the Matobo or Matopos Hills, an area of granite kopjes and wooded valleys commencing some south of Bulawayo, southern Zimbabwe. The hills were formed over 2 billion years ago with granite being forced t ...

near Bulawayo. Not until October 1896 did the Ndebele finally surrender their arms to the invaders.

Modern era

By the late 1930s, Bulawayo was no longer the country's biggest city. Influence and activity moved eastwards to the other cities, especially Salisbury, a trend which continues up to the present day. Despite this, after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, prosperity and population growth revived, as the city became an industrial powerhouse, peaking during the Federal years as new markets opened in

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

and

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. However, Bulawayo trailed the development of other cities notably,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

and

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

during the same period. In 1943, Bulawayo received city status. Bulawayo City Hall

By 1992,

population decline Population decline, also known as depopulation, is a reduction in a human population size. Throughout history, Earth's total world population, human population has estimates of historical world population, continued to grow but projections sugg ...

and slow growth were beginning to occur which disproportionately affected heavy industry. In response, Bulawayo sought to re-invent itself as a 'heritage city', with its wide main streets refurbished and its

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the st ...

and industrial heritage preserved. Institutions such as the Bulawayo Railway Museum and Nesbitt Castle were restored. The city was also recognised as a centre of excellence in tertiary education and research, as the

National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe The National University of Science and Technology (NUST) is the second largest public research university in Zimbabwe, located in Bulawayo. It was established in 1991. On 8 April 1991, NUST opened for the first time with 270 students in three f ...

was formed and expanded and other colleges growth also accelerated. Since the late 20th century, Bulawayo has suffered a sharp fall in living standards coinciding with the protracted

economic crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and ma ...

affecting the country. The main challenges the city faces include underinvestment, declining

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

, de-industrialisation and the effects of corruption and nepotism. Much of the city's educated workers have migrated south to neighbouring South Africa or further afield to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Public service concerns have become steadily more acute, with particular concern in the health sector from a growing shortage of experienced doctors and nurses. As a result, the city faced an avoidable

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

outbreak in 2008. Though the city is the centre of the southern population generally categorized as the Matebele, the population includes various ethnicities, as well as a small number of expats, mostly from neighbouring countries. The Central Business District has the widest roads. These were designed to accommodate the ox-drawn carts, and to allow them to make a turn in the street, that were used as a primary means of transport when the town was planned and erected. Bulawayo is nicknamed the "City of Kings" or "kontuthu ziyathunqa"—a

phrase for "smoke arising". This name arose from the city's historically large industrial base. The large cooling towers of the coal-powered electricity generating plant situated in the city centre once used to exhaust steam and smoke over the city.

Suburbs

:Retained the old estate name.

Demographics

Population census controversy

The population of Bulawayo, according to the 2012 national census, stood at 653,337; however, this figure has been rejected by the Bulawayo City Council authority with Councillor Martin Moyo claiming an anti-Bulawayo conspiracy to under-fund projects in the city.

Ethnic groups

The vast majority of Bulawayo City residents were

Black African Black is a racial classification of people, usually a Politics, political and Human skin color, skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and ofte ...

with 97.96%. Other ethnic groups in the city were

Coloured Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...

(0.9%),

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

(0.75%), Asian (0.22%). Members of other ethnic groups comprised 0.02%, and 0.14% of the city did not state their ethnic group. There were 4,926

White Zimbabweans White Zimbabweans (formerly White Rhodesians) are a Southern African people of Europeans, European descent. In Natural language, linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, these people of European ethnic groups, European ethnic origin are mos ...

living in Bulawayo in 2012.

Economy

Bulawayo was known as the industrial hub of Zimbabwe, leading to the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair being hosted in Bulawayo. It had a large manufacturing presence with large industries based here before Zimbabwe's economic decline. However, some of these companies have either moved operations to

or have closed down – which has crippled Bulawayo's economy. Most factories are deserted and the infrastructure has since been left to deteriorate. The reason for the de-industrialization has largely been political, with some factories like Goldstar Sugars removing machinery to open new factories in Harare. When the Zimbabwean government passed indigenisation laws, some successful businesses were taken over by

ZANU–PF The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) is a political organisation which has been the ruling party of Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The party was led for many years by Robert Mugabe, first as prime minister wi ...

supporters, only to close down a few years later. Many locals argue that it is because of marginalisation they experience against the government due to political tensions with the ZANU-PF government in

and the MDC-run Bulawayo council. For instance, the National Railways of Zimbabwe (headquarters in Bulawayo) is a government-owned entity and, as such, should have been thriving had it not been for embezzlement of funds by company executives who are believed to be Shona. The water issue is not new and had brought about the "help a thirsty Matabele" initiative of the 1970s and the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project which would put an end to the water issue in

was drafted; however, this project was put on hold soon after independence. These allegations have all been refuted by national authorities. The city still contains the bulk of Zimbabwe's heavy industry and food processing capability. Like many parts of the country, Bulawayo has for the past ten years seen a huge drop in service delivery and an increase in unemployment, with many who can opting to seek better prospects abroad. Many people resorted to farming, mining, and the black market for sustenance, while others depended on the little foreign currency that would be sent by family in other countries. However, with inauguration of the Mnangagwa government, a new approach is seen by investors in the city who admire the already-available infrastructure; the huge workforce; and Bulawayo as a potential business hub. It is set to once again contribute greatly to the economy of Zimbabwe. Bulawayo Centre

Landmarks and institutions

These include: *Ascot Centre *

Barbourfields Stadium Barbourfields Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located iBarbourfields Suburbin Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The stadium is currently used mostly for association football, football matches. It is owned by Bulawayo, Bulawayo City Council and it is the ...

*White City Stadium *Egodini *Bulawayo Centre *Bulawayo Polytechnic College *Bulawayo Golf Club *Fidelity Life Centre *Luveve Stadium *Mhlahlandlela Government Complex * Nesbitt Castle *NRZ building * National University of Science and Technology *Zimbabwe International Trade Fair *Bulawayo Airport (formal name: Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport) *Zimbabwe School of Mines Bulawayo Airport-70s

Government

Bulawayo is governed by the Bulawayo City Council, which is headed by the

Mayor of Bulawayo The Executive Mayor of Bulawayo is the executive of the government of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The Mayor is a member of the Bulawayo City Council, and is assisted by a deputy mayor. The Mayor uses the style "His Worship". The current mayor is David Col ...

Culture

Bulawayo has museums of national importance, including the

, National Gallery, Bulawayo and the Bulawayo Railway Museum. Bulawayo also hosts an arts and culture festival annually in September, the Intwasa Arts Festival. There are a number of parks in Bulawayo, including: * Centenary Park (which includes an amphitheatre, lawns and a large fountain) * City hall (with artists selling sculptures) * Mthwakazi Arts Center * Barham Green * Hillside Dams Conservancy (which has a number of dams within it) * Mabukweni * Waterfront (which also has activities like zip line) * Umguza Dam * Matobo Sailing Club (which has activities including canoeing and Luna Park)

Geography

Bulawayo is located in the south west of Zimbabwe. It is in the middle of the savanna country. It has four seasons, with rains starting in late October to about March. Coldest months being May and June with July being cold and windy.

Topography

The city sits on a plain that marks the Highveld of Zimbabwe and is close to the watershed between the

Zambezi The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

and

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

drainage basins. The land slopes gently downwards to the north and northwest. The southern side is hillier, and the land becomes more broken in the direction of the

to the south.

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Bulawayo features a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

(''BSh''). Due to its relatively high altitude, the city has fairly moderate temperatures despite lying in the tropics. The mean annual temperature is , similar to

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

at a similar altitude but almost further south. As with much of southern and eastern Zimbabwe, Bulawayo is cooled by a prevailing southeasterly airflow most of the year and experiences three broad seasons: a dry, cool winter season from May to August; a hot dry period in early summer from late August to early November; and a warm wet period in the rest of the summer, early November to April. The hottest month is October, which is usually the height of the dry season. The average maximum temperature ranges from in July to in October. During the rainy season, daytime maxima are around . Nights are always cool, ranging from in July to in January. The city's average annual rainfall is , which supports a natural vegetation of open woodland, dominated by ''

Combretum ''Combretum'', the bushwillows or combretums, make up the type genus of the family Combretaceae. The genus comprises about 272 species of trees and shrubs, most of which are native to Tropics, tropical and southern Africa, about 5 to Madagascar ...

'' and ''

Terminalia Terminalia may refer to: * Terminalia (festival) Terminalia () was an ancient Roman festival in honour of the god Terminus, who presided over boundaries. His statue was merely a stone or post stuck in the ground to distinguish between propert ...

'' trees. Most rain falls in the December to February period, while June to August is usually rainless. Being close to the

Kalahari Desert The Kalahari Desert is a large semiarid climate, semiarid sandy savanna in Southern Africa covering including much of Botswana as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African ...

, Bulawayo is vulnerable to droughts and rainfall tends to vary sharply from one year to another. In 1978, of rain fell in the three months up to February (February 1944 is the wettest month on record with ) while in the three months ending in February 1983, only fell.

Water supply

Bulawayo has good-quality tap water owing to the management of the water authorities, meeting international standards. Bulawayo does not recycle waste water but uses treated waste water for irrigation. Bulawayo experiences water shortages in drought seasons due to the overwhelming increase in population versus the static and sometimes decreasing capacity of the reserve dams. The geographical factors causing

water scarcity Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity. One is ''physical.'' The other is ''economic water scarcity''. Physic ...

are rising temperatures, the area's high elevation and the arid environment of

. Environmental and sanitation circumstances have detrimental effects on water quality. Sources such as groundwater and tap water are subject to pollution due to waste from burst sewers contaminating them. Samples taken from well water from the Pumula and Robert Sinyoka suburbs show that well water maintain levels of

coliform Coliform bacteria are defined as either motile or non-motile Gram-negative non- spore forming bacilli that possess β-galactosidase to produce acids and gases under their optimal growth temperature of 35–37 °C. They can be aerobes or f ...

higher than the Standards Association of Zimbabwe and

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

give.

Sports

Opening ceremony of the African Olympic Hockey Qualifiers 2011

Bulawayo is home to the

Queens Sports Club Queens Sports Club Ground is a stadium in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. It is used primarily used for cricket matches. The stadium has a capacity of up to 13,000. The stadium is the home ground for the Matabeleland Tuskers, who are the current Logan ...

and Bulawayo Athletic Club, two of the three grounds in Zimbabwe where test match

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

has been played. Bulawayo Golf Club, the first golf club in the city and country, was established in 1895. The Matsheumhlope Stream cuts through the 18 hole course in the suburbs. It is home to Hartsfield Rugby grounds where many international Test matches have been played. Hartsfield was developed by Reg Hart, after whom the grounds were named and on which field many of southern Africa's greatest rugby players have competed. It is home to two large football teams: Highlanders and Zimbabwe Saints. Other football teams include Bantu Rovers, Chicken Inn, How Mine, Quelaton, and Bulawayo City (R). Natural History Museum Zimbabwe Bulawayo

Natural History Museum Zimbabwe Bulawayo

Other important sporting and recreational facilities include: *

*Zimbabwe International Trade Fair Grounds *Kumalo Hockey Stadium *Ascot

Racecourse A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

* Khami Ruins *White City Stadium *Karate centres

Transport

The city has a total road network of about 2,100 kilometres; 70 percent was declared in 2017 in a poor condition. The R2 road links Bulawayo with the Capital Harare, and the

Cape to Cairo Road A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

links with the

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

and

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

. The Bulawayo railway station is the central point of the railway line that connects the cities of

and

(part of the

Cape to Cairo Railway The Cape to Cairo Railway is an unfinished project to create a railway line crossing from southern to northern Africa. It would have been the largest, and most important, railway of the continent. It was planned as a link between Cape Town i ...

), as well as being the terminal of the

Beira–Bulawayo railway Beira-Bulawayo railway, also called Machipanda railway, Beira-Harare-Bulawayo railway and Beira railway, is a railway that connects the city of Beira, Mozambique, Beira, Mozambique, to the city of Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. It is 850 km long, in a 3 ...

, which connects with the cities of

Gweru Gweru, originally known as Gwelo, is a city in central Zimbabwe. It is on the centre of Midlands Province. Originally an area known to the Ndebele as "The Steep Place" because of the Gweru River's high banks, in 1894 it became the site of a m ...

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 ...

and Beira. Through the station in the outskirts of Umzingwane, the city of Bulawayo is connected to the

Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway The Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway (BBR) is a privately owned railway company that provides a rail link in Zimbabwe between Beitbridge at the South African border and Zimbabwe's second city Bulawayo. The BBR is a build-operate-transfer project th ...

. On 1 November 2013, a new terminal of Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport, formerly known as Bulawayo Airport, was opened.

Healthcare

Bulawayo is home to many hospitals and other medical facilities. The United Bulawayo Hospitals, a public

hospital network A hospital network is a public, non-profit or for-profit company or organization that provides two or more hospitals and other broad healthcare facilities and services. A hospital network may include hospitals in one or more regions within one or ...

, operates Bulawayo Central Hospital, Richard Morris Hospital, Lady Rodwell Maternity Hospital, and Robbie Gibson Infectious Diseases Hospital. Mpilo Central Hospital, is the largest hospital in Bulawayo, and the second-largest in Zimbabwe, and features a

nursing school Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

and

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...

school on its campus. Bulawayo is also home to Ingutsheni Hospital, which at 700 beds is the largest

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

in Zimbabwe. Other hospitals in Bulawayo include All Saints Children's Hospital, Hillside Hospital,

Mater Dei Hospital Mater Dei Hospital (MDH; ), also known simply as '' Mater Dei'', is an acute general and teaching hospital in Msida, Malta. It was opened in 2007, replacing St. Luke's Hospital. It is a public hospital affiliated to the University of Malta, offer ...

, the Nervous Disorders Hospital, St Francis Hospital and Thorngrove Isolation Hospital.

Education

In Bulawayo, there are 128 primary and 48 secondary schools.

Primary schools

Secondary and high schools

Schools outside Bulawayo

* Falcon College – Esigodini * Plumtree School – Plumtree * Mzingwane High School – Esigodini * St. James Girls High School – Nyamandlovu * Rhodes Estate Preparatory School – Matopo * George Silundika High School – Nyamandlovu

Higher education

Bulawayo is home to a number of

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

s and

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. The National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe, ( NUST), the second largest university in Zimbabwe, was established in Bulawayo in 1991. Solusi University, a

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

institution established in Bulawayo in 1894, gained university status in 1994. The Bulawayo Polytechnic College offers tertiary training for students who have completed GCE O Level and A Level education. It issues national certificates NC, diplomas and higher national diplomas HND certificates. Bulawayo has two specialist teacher training colleges: Hillside Teachers College for secondary education and the United College of Education for primary education. Bulawayo is home to a number of

institutes of technology An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

and vocational colleges, including

, Westgate Industrial Training College, and the Zimbabwe Theological College. In addition, companies such as the National Railways of Zimbabwe ( NRZ) and Zimbabwe Electricity and Supply Authority ( ZESA) offer apprenticeship training for qualifying students who then become certified tradesworkers upon completion.

Media

Newspapers

''The Chronicle'', a

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

daily newspaper, and its Sunday edition, ''The Sunday News'', are published in Bulawayo. ''The Chronicle'' is the second-oldest newspaper in Zimbabwe, and along with ''The Herald'', published in Harare, it is one of two major state-owned newspapers in the country. ''UMthunywa'', a state-owned

-language newspaper, is also published in Bulawayo, where the majority of the population belongs to the Ndebele people. Private online publications like Bulawayo24 News and B-Metro are also based in Bulawayo.

Radio

The two radio stations, Skyz Metro FM, which is the first dedicated commercial radio station for the city and Khulumani FM, owned by the

Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) is the state-owned broadcaster in Zimbabwe. It was established as the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation (RBC), taking its current name in 1980. Like the RBC before it, the ZBC has been accused of bein ...

are based in the city and offer their programming mainly in English and

and other languages spoken in the

region. The other six radio stations, only two of which are privately owned, are also accessible in the city via FM transmission.

Television

The state owned ZBC TV is the only free to air TV channel in the city. The majority of the households rely on the South African-based satellite television distributor, DStv and

OVHD OpenView is a free-to-view direct broadcast satellite television provider in South Africa which is run by Platco Digital (part of the eMedia Group which includes free-to-air channel e.tv). It launched on 15 October 2013. In addition to the "e" ...

for entertainment, news and sport across Africa and the world.

Internet

There are a number of internet service providers in the city. Most people in the city access the internet through their mobile phones mainly for news, entertainment and communication.

Notable people

International relations

Bulawayo has six

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

: *

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, Scotland (1986) *

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, South Africa *

Polokwane Polokwane (, meaning "Sanctuary" in Northern SothoPolokwane - The Heart of the Limpopo Provin ...

, South Africa (2012) *

Katima Mulilo Katima Mulilo or simply Katima is the capital of the Zambezi Region in Namibia. It had 46,401 inhabitants in 2023, and comprises two electoral constituencies, Katima Mulilo Rural and Katima Mulilo Urban. It is located on the B8 national roa ...

, Namibia *

Francistown Francistown is the second-largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 103,417 inhabitants and 147,122 inhabitants in its agglomeration at the 2022 census. It is located in eastern Botswana, about north-northeast from the capital, Gabo ...

, Botswana *

Livingstone, Zambia Livingstone is a city in Southern Province, Zambia, Southern Province, Zambia. Lying 10 km (6 mi) to the north of the Zambezi River, it is a tourism, tourist attraction due to its proximity to the Victoria Falls and its road and rail conn ...

References

Bibliography

{{Authority control Populated places established in the 1840s Populated places in Zimbabwe Provinces of Zimbabwe 1840s establishments in Africa