About Rhodesia

Rhodesia was a land-locked nation in southern Africa, bordered by Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa and Botswana. Since 1980, the country has been known as Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was situated in the southern limits of Africa's inter-tropical zone, between latitudes 150 30'S and 220 30'S. Some 725km (450 mi) long from north to south and 835km (520 mi) wide, its area is 390,759 sq km (150,873 sq mi) (slightly larger than Germany or Montana, USA).

Its economy was based on primary industries — exports of chromium and to a lesser extent gold, nickel, asbestos, copper, silver, emeralds, lithium, tin, iron ore, cobalt, coal, diamonds, kyanite, platinum, zinc, lead. Rhodesia was also a leading producer of tobacco, cotton, maize, sugarcane, coffee, cassava, wheat and sorghum.

The capital of Rhodesia was Salisbury (now Harare), and the second largest city was Bulawayo.

National Symbols

The pick-axe in the Rhodesian coat of arms (right) represented the country's mining basis, while the green background represented the agricultural sectors of the economy. The lion and thistles in the shield come from the Rhodes family coat of arms, and represent the nation's founder, Sir Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902). The bird atop the arms represents the culture and contributions of the nation's indigenous people, the Shona and Matebele. The original bird is carved in soapstone at the Great Zimbabwe ruins, near present day Fort Victoria (Masvingo). The motto, "Sit nomine digna" ("May She Be Worthy of the Name"), referred to Cecil Rhodes, who brought "peace, commerce and civilisation" to our land. The armorial bearers — two sable antelopes — represented Rhodesia's native fauna. The Coat of Arms was granted by Royal Warrant on 11 August 1924.

The Rhodesian flag (left) was a vertical green-white-green tricolour, with the coat of arms in the centre. The green represented hope, the white represented peace. The flag was officially adopted on 11 November 1968. The Rhodesian National Anthem was composed and adopted in 1974, and was sung to the tune of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy".

Rhodesia's population may be divided into five main groups — the Shona, the Matabele (the country's indigenous inhabitants), the Asians (persons of Indian descent), the whites (Europeans) and the coloureds (people of mixed black and white race). The Shona inhabit the north-eastern corner of Rhodesia, while the Matabele (referred to as 'Ndebele' in Botswana and South Africa) inhabit the western areas of Rhodesia.

Although whites made up only 4% of the population, they owned almost half of Rhodesia's arable land and contributed well in excess of half of Rhodesia's Gross National Product. Most white Rhodesians are of Scottish and English descent, although there was also a significant Afrikaner community, and smaller Portuguese ¹ , Greek and Jewish communities (8.000 Jews in 1980 [2,96% of the white population]; most Jews lived in Salisbury and Bulawayo).

Most whites were urban (263.000 urban dwellers in 1977, which fell to 63.000 urban dwellers in 2000), although a portion lived on the commercial farms which made up the backbone of the Rhodesian (and later Zimbabwean) economy (7.000 rural dwellers in 1977 [2,6%], 4.000 rural dwellers in 2000 [5,7%]). The white population peaked in 1975 at 275.000 (4,5%), and has now (March 2009) declined to only about 30.000.

Rhodesia's official language was English, which was taught in all schools (usually as a second language) and was used by the government as a lingua franca. Shona and Matebele were the two most commonly spoken languages, spoken by about 95% percent of the population. English was the dominant language amongst whites, although there are significant numbers of Afrikaans and Portuguese speakers. The Afrikaans language (1.750 rural Afrikaans speakers in 1977, 1.000 rural Afrikaans speakers in 2000) was concentrated in the centre and south of the country, especially around Enkeldoorn (now Chivhu), Midlands Province.

1. With the independence of Angola and Mozambique in November 1975, 350.000 Portuguese fled Angola and 250.000 Portuguese fled Mozambique. Most fled to metropolitan Portugal and South Africa, although some fled to Rhodesia. In February 1978, South Africa's population stood at 4,3 million whites [19,28%], 18 million blacks [80,72%]. In Rhodesia, there where 270.000 whites [4,3%] and 6 million blacks [95,7%]. For further information, see the white Africans page.

Government and Administration

Currently, Rhodesia is ruled by the evil dictatorship of Mr Robert Mugabe. For more information on Mugabe's regime, go to another website!

Rhodesia declared itself independent of the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965, in what became known simply as "UDI" (Unilateral Declaration of Independence). Rhodesia became a republic in 1970.

Rhodesia was a bicameral republic, with the President being the head of state. Non-racial, universal suffrage had been guaranteed by the Rhodesian Constitution since 1923, and electoral rolls were divided into a predominantly urban 'A Roll', and a predominantly rural 'B Roll'. Both A Roll and B Roll voters elected local representatives to sit in the House of Assembly and community representatives to represent them in the Senate. Each electoral district (called a 'seat') elected one representative, with each seat representing an equal number of voters. African seats were allocated according to tribe and district, giving local chiefs and their constituents a voice in the parliament.

The House of Assembly (lower house) had 66 members elected members — 50 members elected by the predominantly white (94%) A Roll voters, 8 directly elected African members, and 8 African chiefs elected by tribal voters.

The The Senate (upper house), contained 23 members: 10 elected by whites, 10 elected by Africans, and 3 appointed by the President. The Senate acted as a house of review, passing or blocking laws drafted by the lower house. The Senate could also draft laws for consideration by the lower house.

The constitution provided for the political party with the greatest number of seats in the House of Assembly to form a government. The leader of the party was elected by the parliament as prime minister. The head of state was the president, who was elected by a two-thirds majority of both the upper and lower houses (the Senate and House of Representatives).

Administratively, Rhodesia was divided into 8 provinces — Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Victoria (Masvingo), Midlands, Manicaland, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East.

The official currency was the Rhodesian Dollar (abbreviated Rh$ or RHD), divided into 100 cents. The Rhodesian Dollar was usually comparable in value to the British Pound Sterling. The last official valuation was taken during the political crisis of April 1980, when the exchange rate was Rh$1,45 = £1,00. For images of Rhodesian banknotes see the Rhodesian and South African Currency Page.

Police and Armed Forces

Rhodesia's police service was established by the British in the 1890s, and was known as the British South Africa Police (BSAP). Rhodesia's police force was still known by this colonial era name. The police carried out 'normal' civic and law enforcement duties such as crime prevention and traffic duties, but as the Bush War dragged on, were increasingly called upon to perform counter insurgency (COIN) duties. To this end, the BSAP deployed a paramilitary support unit, and small anti-terrorist units (known as PATU [Police Anti-Terrorist Units]). The Police Reserve was made up of civilian volunteers, and performed mainly non- and low-combat roles, aiding regular police forces.

The armed forces consisted of the Rhodesian Army and the Rhodesian Air Force (RhAF). There was also a special operations service, the Rhodesian SAS. The army and air force were also responsible for Rhodesia's water borders on Lake Kariba, and for operations on nearby Lake Cabora Bassa (there was no navy, as Rhodesia is land-locked). All white, coloured and Asian males were required to perform compulsory national military service for a period of 24 months. Blacks were allowed to enlist voluntarily and roughly three-quarters to 80% of the armed forces and police were black.

Rhodesia's standing forces, composed of regulars, conscripts (whites who have attained the age of 18) and active Territorial Reserves (white males aged 20 to 54), totalled fewer than 25.000 men. The security forces fielded on average only 1.400 men per day. The country's elite special forces were made up of the Selous Scouts (a reconnaissance unit), "C" Squadron of the Special Air Service (Rhodesia) Regiment, and the four Commandos of the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI). Fully mobilised, the Rhodesian security forces numbered 100.000 men. The security forces were only fully mobilised once however, during the 1980 elections.

All former conscripts were liable for call-up as part of the Territorial Reserves. In rural areas, the police forces could also mobilise reservists.

Geography

Rhodesia's principal city and capital, Salisbury, was located in the north-east of the country, in Mashonaland East province. Other principal cities included Bulawayo, Chitungwiza (a southern satellite of Salisbury whose population exploded after 1980), Gwelo (Gweru), Umtali (Mutari) and Fort Victoria (Masvingo).

Rhodesian game reserves throughout the countryside and along Lake Kariba provided the country much needed tourism dollars, while the spectacular Victoria Falls (on the border with Zambia in Matebeleland North province) were also popular with European and North American tourists.