SOME KEY EVENTS IN ZIM’S HISTORY:

1889 – Cecil Rhodes and his British South Africa Company use British mandate to colonise what becomes Southern Rhodesia.

1965 – Prime Minister Ian Smith unilaterally declares independence from Britain under white-minority rule, leading to international isolation.

1980 – Independence following lengthy guerrilla war. Zanu party wins elections and Robert Mugabe becomes prime minister.

1983-87 – Gukurahundi campaign, in which 20 000 are thought to have been killed in Matabeleland by Mugabe’s Fifth Brigade. The violence ends following a unity accord, when the Zapu party is absorbed into the renamed governing Zanu-PF party.

1998-2002 – Zimbabwe intervenes in civil war in DR Congo.

2000s – Land redistribution: White farmers forced off land.

2002 – Commonwealth suspends Zimbabwe after disputed presidential election.

2008 – Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beats Mugabe in the presidential election but is forced to withdraw from a run-off after his supporters become the target of increased violence.

2009 – Mugabe’s Zanu-PF loses parliamentary majority, forcing power-sharing deal with Tsvangirai’s MDC which lasts until 2013.

2017 November – Mugabe resigns after 37 years in power.