Umzingwane District Explained

Official Name:Umzingwane District
Other Name:Essexvale District
Settlement Type:administrative district
Coordinates:-20.3469°N 28.9497°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Zimbabwe
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Matabeleland South
Area Footnotes:[1]
Area Total Km2:2797
Elevation Footnotes:[2]
Elevation M:1176
Population Footnotes:[3]
Population Total:71,860
Population As Of:2022
Timezone:CAT
Utc Offset:+2

Umzingwane is a district in the northern part of Matabeleland South province in Zimbabwe. It was formerly known as Esigodini and before 1982 as Essexvale.[4]

Its governing seat is located in the village of Umzingwane.

Geography

Umzingwane District is located in the province of Matabeleland South with its main administrative council offices at Esigodini.

Umzingwane District lies just south-east of Bulawayo City, the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and to the south of Umguza District of Matabeleland North. Within Matabeleland South, Umzingwane district borders the following districts: Insiza, Gwanda and Matopo.

The district lies almost entirely in the watershed of the Umzingwane River, a left tributary of the Limpopo, but also, in its western regions, includes portions of the Mtshabezi watershed.[5] The district has several recreational parks, including the twelve square kilometers of Umzingwane Recreational Park (aka Umzingwane Dam Reserve),[6] the forty-two square kilometers of Lake Cunningham Recreational Park, and including parts of Matobo National Park.

The terrain in Umzingwane District is varied from the granite inselbergs and koppies (kojies) of the Motobo Hills[7] to flat alluvial plains along the lower drainages.[8] [9]

History

In the early 19th century, the Northern Ndebele invaded and settled in the Esigodini area which was at the time inhabited by the Rozi and Moyo Karanga people,[10] who themselves had migrated north from the territory around Gwanda and Belingwe.[11]

A township of some 200,000 acres was founded in 1894 as Essexvale, by Frederick C. Selous[12] In 1896 the buildings at Essexvale were burned down by Inxnozan (Inxnogan), during the Matabele Rebellion.[13]

Places in Umzingwane

Administration and politics

Umzingwane District has government headquarters located in the village of Umzingwane, and by the Umzingwane Rural District Council, which has its offices in Esigodini. The district is divided into twenty administrative wards. Traditionally the district is divided into four parts, each ruled by a local chieftain.

Economy

In 2012, Umzingwane District had 48 percent of the economically active population employed in agriculture (primarily farming and livestock production), 17 percent employed in services occupations, 17 percent employed in mining and construction and 2 percent employed in educational institutions.[15]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About . Umzingwane Rural District Council . https://web.archive.org/web/20171015224504/http://umzingwanerdc.co.zw/about/ . 15 October 2017 . dead.
  2. Web site: Umzingwane District . GeoView .
  3. Web site: Zimbabwe: Administrative Division (Provinces and Districts) - Population Statistics, Charts and Map . 2024-02-17 . www.citypopulation.de.
  4. Encyclopedia: Banana, Canaan Sodindo . 2012 . Akyeampong . Emmanuel Kwaku . Gates . Henry Louis Jr. . Henry Louis Gates Jr. . Dictionary of African Biography . 1 . Oxford, England . Oxford University Press . 365 . 978-0-19-538207-5.
  5. Umzingwane OCHA District Atlas Admin A3 100-104 . 12 June 2008 . United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs . https://web.archive.org/web/20180729081542/https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/A3_districts_Umzingwane.pdf . 29 July 2018 . live .
  6. Heath . Robin A. . 1986 . The National Survey of Outdoor Recreation in Zimbabwe . Zambezia . 13 . 1 . 25–42 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160306054520/http://pdfproc.lib.msu.edu/?file=/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/Journal%20of%20the%20University%20of%20Zimbabwe/vol13n1/juz013001004.pdf . 6 March 2016 . live.
  7. Web site: Motobo Hills, Zimbabwe . Key Biodiversity Areas Partnership . https://web.archive.org/web/20231118195116/https://www.keybiodiversityareas.org/site/factsheet/7223 . 18 November 2023 . live .
  8. Book: Owen . Richard . Dahlin . Torleif . 2005 . Alluvial aquifers at geological boundaries: Geophysical investigations and groundwater resources . Bocanegra . Emilia . Hernandez . Mario . Usunoff . Eduardo . Groundwater and Human Development . IAH Selected Papers on Hydrogeology 6 . London . CRC Press . 229–242 . 978-0-367-80336-0 . 10.1201/9781439833599.ch19 .
  9. Moyce . William . Mangeya . Pride . Owen . Richard . Love . David . 2006 . Alluvial aquifers in the Mzingwane catchment: Their distribution, properties, current usage and potential expansion . Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C . 31 . 15/16 . 988–994 . 10.1016/j.pce.2006.08.013 .
  10. Mazarire . Gerald Chikozho . 2013 . The gadzingo: towards a Karanga expansion matrix in 18th-and 19th-century southern Zimbabwe . Critical African Studies . 5 . 1 . 4–16 . 10.1080/21681392.2013.775623 .
  11. Web site: Rhodesian Place Names: Essexvale . 2008 . Rhodesiana . https://web.archive.org/web/20110715180836/https://www.rhodesiana.com/rsr/rsr2-007.html . 15 July 2011 . live .
  12. Book: Millais, John Guille . 1918 . Life of Frederick Courtenay Selous . London . Longmans, Green and Company . 153313675 .
  13. Book: Selous, Frederick Courteney . 1896 . Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia: Being a Narrative of Events in Matabeleland Both Before and During the Recent Native Insurrection Up to the Date of the Disbandment of the Bulawayo Field Force . second . London . R. Ward and Company . 69 . 3810815 .
  14. Web site: Lumene Falls . Zimbabwe: A World of Wonders . Zimbabwe Tourism Authority . https://web.archive.org/web/20221129181642/https://zimbabwetourism.net/portfolios/lumene-falls/ . 29 November 2022 . live .
  15. Web site: Zimbabwe 2012 Census: Provincial Report Matabeleland South . ZimStat . https://web.archive.org/web/20170329004505/http://www.zimstat.co.zw/sites/default/files/img/publications/Census/CensusResults2012/Mat_South.pdf . 29 March 2017 . live.

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