Celebration: National Day of Zimbabwe.

Today (April 18) is the National Day of Zimbabwe which commemorates its independence from the United Kingdom in 1980. Public celebrations are usually held at National Sports Stadium or at the Rufaro Sports Stadium in Harare, the country's capital and largest city. During the holiday, releasing white doves is the usual tradition symbolizing peace across the nation while singing Zimbabwe's national anthem 'Blessed Be the Land of Zimbabwe' ('Kalibusiswe Ilizwe leZimbabwe'). Speeches, military parades and public air exhibition of fighter planes are also being held during this momentous event.

Formerly known as Southern Rhodesia or Republic of Rhodesia, Zimbabwe is a landlocked country bordered to the south by South Africa, to the southwest by Botswana, to the northwest by Zambia, and to the east by Mozambique. There are three official languages widely spoken in the country: English, Shona, and Ndebele.

During the first millennium, various Bantu tribes settled in the area. In the 1880s, European colonizers occupied the place which later became the self-governing British colony of Rhodesia. From 1953 to 1963, the country was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (present day Malawi). In 1965, Rhodesia proclaimed independence without the United Kingdom (UK) formally granting it. On April 18, 1980, the UK officially recognized the republic's full independence with Robert Mugabe as its first head of state.

Agriculture, mineral exports and tourism are the economic mainstays of Zimbabwe. The mining sector remains profitable which made the platinum reserves of Zimbabwe one of the largest in the world. Discovered in 2006, the biggest diamond find was located in Zimbabwe - the Marange diamond fields.

We congratulate the people and government of Zimbabwe led by President Robert Mugabe, on the occasion of its National Day.