[5][6] Commonwealth countries often use the terms nationality and citizenship as synonyms, despite their legal distinction and the fact that they are regulated by different governmental administrative bodies.

[12] Those who are eligible for nationality by birth include: Registration can be granted to persons who have resided in Zimbabwe for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand the customs and traditions of the country.

[20][Notes 3] Registered persons can be denaturalised for any type of support of an enemy nation with whom Zimbabwe is at war; for committing serious crimes that carry a sentence of one year or more; disloyal acts or crimes against the state or state security; for residing outside of the country for more than five years; or for committing fraud, misrepresentation, or concealment in a naturalisation or registration application.

[27][28][Notes 4] Anthropologists have dated remains in the area 100,000 years ago and attributed those inhabitants to be ancestors of Khoekhoe people who reside in the territory today.

[32] The Mutapa Kingdom became the dominant political force in the northern part of the territory, developing extensive trade networks with the coastal Muslim peoples.

[30] The Portuguese explorer António Fernandes first visited the territory of the Manyika people around 1511 in search of finding the source of gold traded with Sofala.

[29][34] In 1854, British missionary Robert Moffat was accompanied by the traders Samuel H. Edwards and James Chapman into the area.

[40] By 1896, the subjects of the declining Ndebele Kingdom revolted and were joined by the Shona people residing in the northeastern and central regions of Southern Rhodesia.

[42] In Britain, allegiance, in which subjects pledged to support a monarch, was the precursor to the modern concept of nationality.

[45] Marriage did not affect the status of a subject of the realm,[46] but under common law, single women, including divorcées, were not allowed to be parents thus their children could not derive nationality maternally and were stateless unless legitimated by their father.

Thus, a person who was naturalised in Canada, for example, would be considered a foreigner, rather than a British national, in Australia or South Africa.

[52] Under its terms, common law provisions were reiterated for natural-born persons born within the realm on or after the effective date.

[53] For those born abroad on or after the effective date, legitimacy was still required, and nationality could only be derived by a child from a British father (one generation), who was natural-born or naturalised.

Though not granted in fact Dominion status, the country was allowed broad powers to govern, but Britain retained the right to supervise affairs and the local legislature was forbidden to regulate on matters dealing with the indigenous population.

[62] Because of a rise in statelessness, a woman who did not automatically acquire her husband's nationality upon marriage or upon his naturalisation in another country, did not lose their British status after 1933.

[63] The 1943 revision allowed a child born abroad at any time to be a British national by descent if the Secretary of State agreed to register the birth.

[70] The 1951 Amendment (Act 49), besides making procedural changes,[64] provided that children of enemy alien fathers or mothers confined to a camp because of marriage to an enemy alien, or born to parents in polygamous marriages were not entitled to be Southern Rhodesian citizens (nor British subjects).

[73] It also disallowed a wife or minor children to register based upon having a South Rhodesian husband or father, if they were a party to or product of a polygamous marriage.

[74] A subsequent amendment passed as Act 63 of 1953, which made minor changes to acquisition by birth and descent.

It further provided that after 1 January 1964, persons could obtain the status of British subject and citizen of Southern Rhodesia by birth, descent, registration, or naturalisation under the same standards as previously acquired.

[91] On 11 November 1965, Rhodesia claimed independence, but the United Nations General Assembly condemned the action on the same day because it was an illegal seizing of authority of a small, white, settler, minority over the majority-African population, and a threat to international security and world peace.

[96][Notes 9] The General Division of the Rhodesian Court deemed the 1965 constitution and the legislature to be invalid, but did not revoke the Emergency Orders as having done so would have created a state of anarchy.

[110] In 1966, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 232 making economic sanctions against Rhodesia mandatory for all member states.

Diplomatic and internal conflict eventually led the government to begin negotiations in 1978 with African leaders.

In April, the Rhodesian Parliament was dissolved[115] and later that month a new constitution extending voting rights to Africans was enacted.

[117] Zimbabwe gained its independence after a four-month period of direct rule by Britain on 18 April 1980 and was admitted to the Commonwealth.

The amendment also changed the basis of acquisition of nationality to birth in Zimbabwe to a Zimbabwean removing jus soli provisions for foreigners and protections for foundlings and against statelessness.

[118] In 2001, the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act was amended allowing women an equal right to pass on their nationality to adopted children.

The court ruled that under the 2013 constitution, Madzimbamuto was a Zimbabwean by birth, entitled to dual nationality, and the immigration department could not restrict his right to free movement or unconditional residence in Zimbabwe.

[125] As of 2018, legislation had not been introduced to amend the Citizenship of Zimbabwe Act to conform with changes in the constitution enacted since it was last modified in 2003.