ZIMSEC Grade 7 Social Science key terms

The period when people in Zimbabwe began making iron tools and weapons, growing crops, keeping livestock and living in settled villages instead of moving about as hunter-gatherers.

The large stone-walled city built by the Shona people between about 1100 and 1450 CE, whose walls and towers show a powerful state that traded gold and ivory with the coast.

A period of widespread raiding, migration and displacement in southern Africa in the early 1800s that pushed groups such as the Ndebele northwards into the area that became Zimbabwe.

A party of about 500 white settlers, police and soldiers organised by Cecil Rhodes that entered Mashonaland in 1890 and began British colonial occupation of the territory.

A company chartered in 1889 under Cecil Rhodes that was given rights to govern, mine and settle land north of the Limpopo, ruling Zimbabwe until 1923.

A 1930 law that divided land in Southern Rhodesia by race, giving white settlers the best farming areas and forcing African families onto crowded reserves.

The Shona word for revolutionary struggle, used for the uprisings against company rule in 1896-97 and again for the armed liberation war of the 1960s and 1970s.

The 1979 talks in London that ended the liberation war and set out a ceasefire, a new constitution and elections, leading to independence in 1980.

The shape and height of the land surface, including its hills, valleys, plateaus and plains, shown on maps by contours, spot heights and colour shading.

A long, narrow belt of hills and mineral-rich rock running about 550 kilometres from north to south through Zimbabwe, holding gold, platinum, chrome and other ores.

The high ground that separates one river system from another, so that rain falling on one side flows in a different direction from rain falling on the other side.

The whole area of land whose streams and rivers all flow into one main river, which then carries the water away to a lake or to the sea.

The dry side of a mountain or plateau that gets little rain because moist air has already dropped most of its water on the slopes facing the wind.

Grassland with scattered trees, the most widespread natural vegetation in Zimbabwe, typical of warm areas with a clear dry season and a rainy season.

A set of numbers that names a square on a map by counting eastwards along the bottom and then northwards up the side from the map's grid lines.

The link between distance on a map and real distance on the ground, written as a ratio, a word statement or a line marked in kilometres.

A line on a map joining all points at the same height above sea level, so lines drawn close together show a steep slope and wide spacing shows gentle ground.

A direction measured in degrees clockwise from north, so that east is 090 degrees, south is 180 degrees and west is 270 degrees.

The panel on a map that explains what each symbol and colour stands for, such as rivers, roads, schools, clinics and boundaries.

An official count of all the people in a country on a set date, recording details such as age, sex, education and occupation so that services can be planned.

The average number of people living in each square kilometre of an area, worked out by dividing the total population by the size of the area.

The movement of people from villages and farming areas into towns and cities, usually in search of paid work, education, health care and other services.

The number of live births in a year for every 1 000 people in a population, used together with the death rate to show how fast a population is growing.

A bar graph showing the number of males and females in each age group of a population, revealing whether a country has many children or an ageing population.

Growing crops and keeping animals mainly to feed one's own family, with only small surpluses sold and with family labour and simple tools doing most of the work.

A crop grown mainly to be sold for money rather than eaten by the farmer, such as tobacco, cotton, sugar cane or coffee.

Processing a raw product, for example turning cotton into cloth or maize into mealie meal, so that it sells for a higher price and creates jobs locally.

Economic activity that is not registered or taxed, such as street vending, tuck-shops and roadside repairs, and which employs many people in Zimbabwean towns.

The clearing of forests and woodland, often for farming, fuelwood and settlement, which leads to soil erosion, loss of habitats and poorer rainfall.

The wearing away of fertile topsoil by wind or running water, made worse when land is overgrazed, overcultivated or stripped of its natural plant cover.

The variety of living things, including plants, animals and micro-organisms, found in a place, which keeps ecosystems healthy and supports tourism and farming.

Using natural resources at a rate that allows them to renew themselves, so that people living in the future can still meet their own needs.

The set of supreme rules that creates a country's government, limits its powers and guarantees citizens' rights; Zimbabwe's current constitution was adopted in 2013.

The principle that everyone, including government leaders, must obey the law and answer to the courts, and that no one may be punished without a fair hearing.

The basic freedoms and protections every person is entitled to simply by being human, such as life, dignity, education, fair treatment and freedom of expression.

The transfer of some government powers and funds from central government to provincial and local councils, so that decisions are made closer to the people affected.

The duties of a citizen, such as obeying the law, paying taxes, voting, caring for public property and taking part in the affairs of the community.

The buildings, monuments, objects, traditions and stories passed down from earlier generations, which a community values and works to protect for the future.

A Shona and Ndebele idea that a person becomes fully human through good relationships with others, showing respect, hospitality, honesty and concern for the community.

The system of chiefs, headmen and village heads who settle local disputes, allocate communal land and lead cultural ceremonies, recognised under Zimbabwean law.