Zimbabwe is the African country home to the ancient city of Great Zimbabwe.
Great Zimbabwe is a monumental stone settlement in the country’s southeastern highlands, near the modern town of Masvingo. Its name comes from a Shona expression commonly translated as “great houses of stone.” The ruins include massive dry-stone walls, enclosures, and the distinctive Great Enclosure.
Construction and occupation developed between about the 11th and 15th centuries, when Great Zimbabwe was an important political and trading center. Archaeological evidence links the settlement to regional gold production and long-distance trade extending toward the Indian Ocean coast.
The site gave its name to the modern country, which was known internationally as Rhodesia before independence in 1980. Great Zimbabwe is not in neighboring Zambia or Mozambique, although the wider region shared interconnected trade networks and cultural traditions.