Harare

Harare, formerly Salisbury, is the capital of Zimbabwe. It is home to the repressive leftist dictator Robert Mugabe. Harare was once the richest city in Africa, today it is one of the poorest.

It was founded in 1890 as a fort by the British, and originally had the name Fort Salisbury (later just Salisbury) after the then Prime Minister Lord Salisbury. It was the capital of Rhodesia from 1963, and of an independent Zimbabwe from 1980.

In 1982 it was renamed Harare as part of a programme to strip British heritage from the Nation. Other places striped of their names include Cecil Square named after Rhodesian founder Cecil Rhodes.