Chipinge

Chipinge, formerly Chipinga, is a town in Manicaland Province in southeastern Zimbabwe, close to the border with Mozambique, and the headquarters of Chipinge District. It lies about 170 kilometres south of Mutare on Highway A-9, at 1,132 metres above sea level, with average annual rainfall of about 1,105 millimetres. A white settlement began there in 1893 with Thomas Moodie's trek and was first called South Melsetter; a police outpost followed in 1903 and a school in 1909. Farmers grow tea, coffee and macadamia nuts and raise dairy cattle, and Birchenough Bridge, a famous landmark, is about 50 kilometres northwest. The 2022 census counted 34,959 people.