Before the advent of modern construction and tarred roads, Zimbabwean villages we connected by man-made paths or animal-made paths and dusty roads as they moved animals around for grazing and watering.

Industrialization and motorized transportation brought with it the need for surfaced roads, highways and bridges across the country. 

Being surrounded by multiple states around Zimbabwe, any of the four borders are within driving distance. Its 608km (377miles) from the capital Harare to the South African border of Beitbrige, a day's trip of about 8 hours.

It takes about 3 1/2 hours to the Mozambiquean Forbes border post, a distance of about 272km (169miles) from the capital.

Another popular border post is Chirundu for transit to neighboring Zambia in the Northwest, a distance of 553 km (344miles) taking about 5 hours on the road.

Zimbabwe covers an area of 390,757 square km or 150,872 square miles and has a multitude of road networks connecting all of the country’s major destinations. Excluding urban roads, the road network reaches a total of 76, 241km where 12.1% or 9.2km are tarred. State highways make up 18, 460km of the country’s total road network.

Classified roads are grouped into three categories, Regional Trunk Road Network or RTRN which are roads linking countries within Southern Africa, Secondary roads which connect regional, primary, tertiary/urban roads, industrial and mining centers, tourist attractions and minor border posts and Tertiary roads which provide access to schools, health centers and other service facilities within a rural district and give access to primary, secondary or regional roads. In Zimbabwe primary roads are denoted by the letter ‘P’ which is then followed by a number that indicates the specific route. Primary roads which are regional road corridors are showed by the letter ‘R’ which is then followed by a number indicating the internal regional road corridor. Zimbabwe has 6% of regional trunk roads. 

Zimbabwe’s major destinations include cities and towns such as Harare, the capital city, Bulawayo which is the country’s second largest city and Gweru, the administrative capital of Zimbabwe. Other major destinations are Victoria Falls which was recently awarded city status and is a major tourist attraction because of the majestic Falls it boasts and the city of Masvingo which has the Great Zimbabwe ruins, another tourist attraction.

 The town of Beitbridge which has the busiest border in Southern Africa shared between Zimbabwe and South Africa is also another major destination with notable highways connecting it to other areas in Zimbabwe. Mutare, the city located in the Manicaland province in the East of Zimbabwe is another major destination because of its mountainous terrain which gives the area cool weather, great mountainous views and an abundance of fresh produce throughout the year.

Highway P4 or A9 connects the city of Mutare with the historic town of Masvingo with the A9 being a combination of P4 and P7 to form the Mutare-Mbalabala Highway. The A5 or R2 links the country’s top cities of Harare and Bulawayo. The P12 or the M15 Highway is an international road that crosses the Zambezi River over the Kariba Dam and is commonly known as the Makuti-Kariba Highway. The P14 or Victoria Falls-Kazungula Road is the shortest route from Zambia to Botswana. The R1 or A4 is commonly known as the Harare-Beitbridge road which connects the capital city with the busiest border town of the country. The R5 or A3 or the Harare-Mutare Highway links the capital city and the city of Mutare which is an industrial and tourist hub. 

The Victoria Falls-Beitbridge Highway or the R9 combines two routes together, the A6 and A8 which merge into 1. This Highway is vital as it connects the tourist city of Victoria Falls with the border town of Beitbridge. Another busy highway is the R7 or A17 which is commonly known as the Gweru-Mvuma Highway, as is the P13 or Chegutu-Chinhoyi Highway which links the A1 and the A5 to shortcut the Chirundu-Bulawayo route, the latter being Zimbabwe’s second largest city. 

Zimbabwe’s is therefore a well-connected country in terms of its roads and ZINARA, the parastatal responsible for enhancing and maintain the country’s road network system is on a mission to meet its mandate with the use of funding systems such as tollgates installed along the highways which connect major destinations.