Zvishavane, Zimbabwe
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Zvishavane is a mining town in Midlands Province, Zimbabwe. Formerly called Shabani. Its name is derived from shavani, a Ndebele word meaning "finger millet", or "trading together". Surrounded by low hills, it lies 97km west of Masvingo on the main Bulawayo-Masvingo road. Other roads lead from Zvishavane to Gweru (121km north) and Mberengwa (27km south-west). It is also on direct rail links to Gweru and Beit Bridge which then link up with Harare and Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and to Maputo in Mozambique, and Pretoria in South Africa. According to the 1982 Population Census, the town had a population of 26,758, by 1992 this had risen to 32,984. The population was estimated at 35,000 in 2002.
The town developed as a residential centre for an asbestos mine which started operations in 1916 but growth was slow until the railway reached the town in 1928. The town was granted municipal status in 1968. Although the asbestos mine is the biggest producer of the mineral in Zvishavane, platinum, gold, beryl, chrome iron ore at Buchwa and recently discovered huge deposits of diamond at Murowa are also mined in the area.
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