The Republic of Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in southern Africa, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the west and southwest, Zambia to the northwest, and Mozambique to the east and northeast.  A country of roughly 16 million people, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, with English, Shona, and Ndebele the most commonly used.

Since the 11th century, present-day Zimbabwe has been the site of several organised states and kingdoms as well as a major route for migration and trade. In 1923, it became the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia; in 1965, the conservative white minority government unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia. The state endured international isolation and a 15-year guerrilla war with black nationalist forces; in 1980 Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party won the elections following the end of white minority rule.

In 1987 Mugabe established an authoritarian regime responsible for widespread human rights violations. Burnished by his anti-imperialist credentials, contemporary African political leaders have been reluctant to criticise Mugabe, though Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called him "a cartoon figure of an archetypal African dictator".

Zimbabwean music includes folk and pop styles. Much of the folk music incorporates instruments which are also popular in many other African countries: mbira, drums and hosho.

There are some interesting instruments that have their roots in Zimbabwe as well.