Bulawayo is the second-largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with a population of 653,337 as of the 2012 census. It is in Matabeleland, 439 km (273 mi) southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland. The capital of Matabeleland North is now Lupane, as Bulawayo is a metropolitan province.
Colloquially Bulawayo is known by other names: "City of Kings", "Skies", "Bluez", or "Ntuthu ziyathunqa" — a Ndebele phrase for "smoke arising". This name arose from the city's historically large industrial base and specifically draws from the large cooling towers of the coal powered electricity generating plant situated in the city centre that once used to billow steam and smoke over the city. The majority of Bulawayo's population belongs to the Ndebele ethnic and language group (otherwise known as Northern Ndebele).
For a long time, Bulawayo was regarded as the industrial centre of Zimbabwe, and it served as the hub to the country's rail network with the National Railways of Zimbabwe headquartered there because of its strategic position near Botswana and South Africa. It is the nearest large city to Hwange National Park, Matobo National Park and Victoria Falls.