Southern Rhodesia

Southern Rhodesia
1923–1965 1979–1980
Flag (1924–1964) Coat of arms (1924–1981)
Anthem: "God Save the King/Queen"
Status	Self-governing British colony (1923–1965, 1979–1980)
Capital	Salisbury
Common languages	English (official) Shona and Sindebele widely spoken, some Afrikaans
Government	Constitutional monarchy
Monarch
• 1923–1936	George V
• 1936	Edward VIII
• 1936–1952	George VI
• 1952–1964[a]	Elizabeth II
• 1979–1980	Elizabeth II
Governor
• 1923–1928 (first)	John Chancellor
• 1959[b]–1965[c]	Humphrey Gibbs
• 1979–1980 (last)	Christopher Soames
Prime Minister
• 1923–1927 (first)	Charles Coghlan
• 1964[d] (last)	Ian Smith
Legislature	Legislative Assembly
History
• BSAC administration	1890–1923
• Annexed by the UK	12 September 1923 (1923)
• Responsible Government	1 October 1923
• Federation	1953–1963
• UDI	11 November 1965
• Republic declared	3 March 1970
• Zimbabwe Rhodesia	1 June 1979
• Independence	18 April 1980
Area
1904[1]	372,518 km2 (143,830 sq mi)
Population
• 1904[1]	605,764
Currency	Southern Rhodesian pound Rhodesian pound Rhodesian dollar
Preceded by Succeeded by 1923: Company rule in Rhodesia 1963: Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland 1979: Zimbabwe Rhodesia 1953: Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland 1964: Rhodesia 1980: Zimbabwe
Today part of	Zimbabwe
^ The unrecognized government purported to have Elizabeth II continue to reign under the unrecognized title, Queen of Rhodesia, after 1964 and until the abolition of the unrecognized Rhodesian monarchy in 1970. ^ Gibbs' governorship of Southern Rhodesia began during the Federation period. For a brief time, Gibbs was also the Acting Governor-General of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. ^ Gibbs' de facto governorship ended with the internationally unrecognized declaration of independence on 11 November 1965, as the attached 1965 Constitution abolished the post and created the positions of Governor-General and Officer Administering the Government (for when a Governor-General was not appointed by the Queen of Rhodesia). On 17 November 1965, his responsibilities were bestowed by the unrecognized government upon Clifford Dupont as Acting Officer Administering the Government. Gibbs remained the de jure legal Governor until 24 June 1969. ^ Smith continued to lead the unrecognized government as Prime Minister of Rhodesia until 1 June 1979.

Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked, self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River.^[2][3] The region was informally known as South Zambesia until annexation by Britain, at the behest of Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company (for whom the colony was named). The bounding territories were Bechuanaland (Botswana), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Portuguese Mozambique (Mozambique) and the Transvaal Republic (for two brief periods known as the British Transvaal Colony; from 1910, the Union of South Africa and, from 1961, the Republic of South Africa).

This southern region, known for its extensive gold reserves, was first purchased by the BSAC's Pioneer Column on the strength of a Mineral Concession extracted from its Matabele king, Lobengula, and various majority Mashona vassal chiefs in 1890. Though parts of the territory were laid-claim-to by the Bechuana and Portugal, its first people, the "Bushmen" (or Sān or Khoisan), had possessed it for countless centuries beforehand and had continued to inhabit the region.^[4] Following the colony's unilateral dissolution in 1970 by the Republic of Rhodesia government, the Colony of Southern Rhodesia was re-established in 1979 as the predecessor state to the Republic of Zimbabwe Rhodesia which, in-turn, was the predecessor state of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Its only true geographical borders were the rivers Zambezi and Limpopo, its other boundaries being (more or less) arbitrary, and merging imperceptibly with the peoples and domains of earlier chiefdoms of pre-colonial times.

The British colony was established de jure in 1923, having earlier been occupied, constructed and administered by the British South Africa Company and its sub-concessionaires who were mostly British subjects. In 1953, it was merged into the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which lasted until 1963. Southern Rhodesia was renamed Rhodesia and remained a de jure British colony until 1980. However, the Rhodesian government issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965 and established a fully independent Rhodesia, which immediately became an unrecognised state. In 1979, it reconstituted itself under majority rule as Zimbabwe Rhodesia, which also failed to win international recognition. After a period of interim British control following the Lancaster House Agreement in December 1979, the country achieved internationally recognised independence as Zimbabwe in April 1980.