Harare Province a number of leading professional sports teams, and many historical sites and tourist attractions. Harare Province is named after the city of Harare, which in turn took its name from a black township in the city now known as Mbare. Originally, the name "Harare" applied to a village near the Harare Kopje led by the Shona chief Neharawa, whose name meant "he who does not sleep." The city of Harare, previously named Salisbury, was renamed on 18 April 1982, the second anniversary of Zimbabwean independence. When Harare and two nearby towns separated from Mashonaland Province in 1983, the new province
Second round of voting in the 2008 Zimbabwean presidential election political violence were detained at a roadblock in the town of Bindura, from Harare, by police and military officers. It was claimed by those in the convoy that they were forced off the road at gunpoint after refusing to go to a police station. They reported that tyres on the vehicles were slashed and a Zimbabwean driver was attacked. None of the diplomats was harmed. A police spokesman claimed the officials were being rescued from a dangerous mob. The US government said the attack was "absolutely outrageous" and, along with the UK government, asked for an explanation of the incident.