The British annexed Cecil Rhodes' privately conquered "Rhodesia" in 1923 and held onto it until 1962. But shortly before indepedence was delivered, the white population which at the time was about 6% of the population, rebelled and took over the country. Ian Smith governed the rogue nation for 18 years until Britain and the United States brokered an agreement that delivered independence. The elected president was Robert Mugabe, and he remains the power behind the state, today.

The country is about the size of Montana, 149,000 sq. miles and has a population of 11.4 million. A country rich with agriculture and mining has suffered considerably in the last decade because of political turmoil.