Matabeleland South Province

Matabeleland South is a province in southwestern Zimbabwe, with 683,893 people at the 2012 census, which makes it the country's least populated province after Matabeleland North. The two Matabeleland provinces were established in 1974, when the original Matabeleland Province was divided. It has an area of 54,172 square kilometres, 13.86 percent of the country and the fourth largest of the ten provinces, and it is divided into six districts. Gwanda is the capital and Beitbridge is the largest town. The province sits on the edge of the Kalahari Desert, which gives it an arid climate not hospitable to agriculture.