Rusape

Rusape Rusapi
Town
Rusape Central, Chipwanya Images
Rusape
Coordinates: 18°32′12″S 32°07′29″E / 18.53667°S 32.12472°E / -18.53667; 32.12472Coordinates: 18°32′12″S 32°07′29″E / 18.53667°S 32.12472°E / -18.53667; 32.12472
Country	Zimbabwe
Province	Manicaland Province Ashanti
District	Makoni District
City	Rusape Municipality
Elevation	1,410 m (4,610 ft)
Population (2004 Estimate)
• Total	29,292
Time zone	CAT (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CAT (UTC+1)
Climate	Cwb

Rusape is a town in Zimbabwe.

It is located in Makoni District in Manicaland Province, in northeastern Zimbabwe. It lies approximately 170 kilometres (110 mi), by road, southeast of Harare, the capital and the largest city in Zimbabwe. Rusape is situated on the main road (Highway A-3), between Harare and Mutare, approximately 94 kilometres (58 mi), further southeast of Rusape. Rusape sits at an altitude of 4,610 feet (1,410 m), above sea level.

Rusape is a large, sprawling town that has not quite reached city status. As is typical of Zimbabwean towns, Rusape has areas of low and high density population. The main high density area close to the town is Vengere township. Other suburbs have also been built since Independence in 1980. Mabvazuva to the east of town, and Tsanzaguru further out by the lakeside. Mabvazuva literally translates to "where the sun rises" (the East). There is also a new fast growing medium density suburb far east sprawling into the farmlands which is called Magamba Township. Its name stemmed from the nearby Makoni District Heroes Acre. Tsanzaguru is home to much of Rusape's golden history. The name Tsanzaguru is derived from the Rozvi meaning of a big, rocky and tall hill from which the Rozvi were known to have wanted to build to the moon from there. They are said to have wanted to bring the moon to the King's Zunde Ramambo as a gift. It is from this background that all Chiefs countrywide have their badges designed in a circular form resembling the circular dream moon that the Rozvi wanted to bring their King. Typically noticeable in the surrounding region are the kopjes, msasa trees, occasional tobacco farms and the sometimes densely crowded rural resettlement villages.

Rusape's main piped water supply is from the purpose-built Rusape Dam, which was built on the Rusape River. The river runs in a northwest to southeast direction on the town outskirts. It is such a big river that the dam was planned with the eastern lowveld sugar-growing areas in mind. Ideally, Rusape dam was to be a reservoir for irrigation in areas deep down around Triangle and Chiredzi since it pours out into the Save River to the semi-arid regions.