Chipinge District is a district in

Manicaland Province Manicaland is a province in eastern Zimbabwe. After Harare Province, it is the country's second-most populous province, with a population of 2.037 million, as of the 2022 census. After Harare and Bulawayo provinces, it is Zimbabwe's third-most de ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. The administrative headquarters is Chipinge.

Geography

Chipinge District is the southernmost district in Manicaland province. It is bounded on the north by

Chimanimani District Chimanimani District (part of which was known as Melsetter 1895–1982) is a mountainous district in Manicaland Province of eastern Zimbabwe. The district headquarters is the town of Chimanimani. Geography The district has an area of 3,450. ...

, on the west by

Masvingo Province Masvingo is a province in southeastern Zimbabwe. It has a population of 1.485 million as of the 2012 census, ranking fifth out of Zimbabwe's ten provinces. Established as Victoria Province by the British South Africa Company, it was one of the ...

, and on the east by

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. The Save River forms the western boundary of the District, and drains the western and southern portions of district. The northeastern portion of the district is drained by the Buzi River and its headwater tributaries. The southern end of the

Eastern Highlands :''"Eastern Highlands" also refers to Eastern Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea, and part of the Great Dividing Range, Australia.'' The Eastern Highlands, also known as the Manica Highlands, is a mountain range on the border of Zimbabwe ...

reach into the northern portion of the district. Mount Selinda (1,230 meters) lies near the Mozambican border.

Townships and villages

* Craigmore * Chibuwe * Chipinge * Chisumbanje * Checheche * Junction Gate * Mkasa * Rupisi

People

The rural portion of Chipinge District has a population of 324,133. The rural population is 298,841, and the urban population, which consists of Chipinge town, is 25,292 (2012 census).

Ndau people The Ndau are an ethnic Shona subethnic group which inhabits the areas in south-eastern Zimbabwe in the districts of Chipinge and Chimanimani in which they are natives. They are also found in parts of Bikita, in the Zambezi valley, in central Mozam ...

, a sub group of the

Shona people The Shona people () are part of the Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily living in Zimbabwe where they form the majority of the population, as well as Mozambique, South Africa, and a worldwide diaspora including global celebriti ...

, inhabit the north and central portions of the district. Tswa people live in the south.

Transport

The A10 road runs through the district, running southwards from Chimanimani District, then jogging west to the Save River. Here it meets the A16 road, which runs south along the Save from Birchenough Bridge. From the A16 junction the A10 follows the Save southwards, crossing westwards over the Save River at Rupangwana via the Jack Quinton Bridge. Where the A10 turns west, a road branches south to Chipinge, and continues southeast to cross the Mozambican border between Mount Selinda and Espungabera in Mozambique. Chipinge Airport is near the town of Chipinge.

Administration

The District has 31 rural administrative wards, and eight urban wards in Chipinge town. The district is divided into five

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

parliamentary constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

: Chipinge Central, Chipinge East, Chipinge South,

Chipinge West Chipinge is a town in Zimbabwe, located in Chipinge District, in Manicaland, Manicaland Province, in southeastern Zimbabwe, close to the border with Mozambique. Location The town lies approximately , by road, south of Mutare, the nearest larg ...

, and Musikavanhu. The district is a single

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

constituency.

Ecology

Miombo woodland The Miombo woodland is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome (in the World Wide Fund for Nature scheme) located primarily in Central Africa. It includes four woodland savanna ecoregions (listed below) characterized b ...

is the predominant vegetation in the northern, central, and northeastern portions of the district. Mopane woodland occurs in the Save River lowlands in the west and south of the district. Pockets of mid-elevation evergreen forest occur on a few eastward-facing mountain slopes in the district, where the mountains create

orographic precipitation Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discip ...

from winds coming from the Indian Ocean.

Protected areas

Chipinge Safari Area Chipinge Safari Area is a protected area in Chipinge District of Zimbabwe, west of the town of Chipinge. Geography The safari area covers 261km2. It lies at the southwestern edge of the Eastern Highlands, and slopes generally westwards towards ...

(261 km²) is located in the highlands west of Chipinge, overlooking the Save River Valley. It includes both miombo and mopane woodland.Gobiye Felix (2015). "Proposal for Additional Game Species in Chipinge Safari Area". Zimbabwe Parks and Management Authority, January 2015.

Chirinda Forest Botanical Reserve The Chirinda Forest Botanical Reserve is situated on the slopes of Mount Selinda, south of Chipinge, in the Chipinge Highlands of Manicaland, Zimbabwe, and is administered by the Forestry Commission. The reserve is situated at between in al ...

protects an enclave of evergreen forest on the slopes of Mount Selinda.

References

{{Authority control Districts of Manicaland Province