Victoria Falls, popularly known as Vic Falls, is a resort town and city in the province of Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe. It lies on the southern bank of the Zambezi River at the western end of Victoria Falls themselves. According to the 2022 Population Census, the town had a population of 35,199. History The settlement began in 1901 when the possibility of using the waterfall for hydro-electric power was explored, and expanded when the railway from Bulawayo reached the town shortly before the Victoria Falls Bridge was opened in April 1905, connecting Southern Rhodesia (later Rhodesia; now Zimbabwe) to Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia). It became the principal tourism centre for the Falls, experiencing economic booms from the 1930s to the 1960s and in the 1980s and early 1990s. Victoria Falls gained city status on 9 December 2020. Geography The town is located in the northwest of its province, along the border with Zambia, separated from it by the Zambezi River and the binational Victoria Falls in Southern Africa. It lies a few kilometers from Livingstone, and is surrounded by the Zambezi, Mosi-oa-Tunya and Victoria Falls national parks. Education Victoria Falls has a number of primary schools with the number having increased since 2009. These include Chamabondo Primary School, Baobab Primary School, Chinotimba Primary School, Kings Primary School, Victoria Falls Primary School, Mkhosana Primary School, St Josephine Bakita Primary School, Mkhosana Adventist Primary School, Education Centre and Jacaranda Primary School. Mosi-oa-Tunya High School is the largest school in the town, and Mkhosana Adventist Secondary School (MASS) is the second largest secondary school. In addition there are private colleges registered under the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education that provide secondary and high school education. These include Elite Independent College, Dadani Vocational Technical College, Lulu Academy (popularly known as College of charity), Herentals College and Oasis Christian Academy. Economy Victoria Falls' main industry is tourism, driven primarily by the waterfalls Growth and affordability The cost of residential housing in the Victoria Falls area is much higher than surrounding towns due to the town's reputation a tourist destination, its lack of industry and its desirability to travelers and investors. Victoria Falls is rated the second least affordable place in Zimbabwe to buy a property, behind Harare at the start of 2017. Employment The area's growth rate is one of the fastest in the country with the population growing 7.1% from 2018 to 2019 in