Northern Rhodesia

Northern Rhodesia[1][a]
1911–1964
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: God Save the King/Queen
Status	Territory of the British South Africa Company (1911–1924) Protectorate of the United Kingdom (1924–1953, 1963–1964) Division of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (1953–1963)
Capital	Livingstone (until 1935) Lusaka (from 1935)
Common languages	English (official) Bemba, Nyanja, Tonga and Lozi widely spoken
Government	Protectorate
Monarch
• 1911–1936	George V
• 1936	Edward VIII
• 1936–1952	George VI
• 1952–1964	Elizabeth II
Governor
• 1911–1921 (first)	Lawrence Aubrey Wallace
• 1959–1964 (last)	Evelyn Hone
Prime Minister
• 1964	Kenneth Kaunda
Legislature	Legislative Council
Historical era	Interwar period · Cold War
• Company rule	1911
• British protectorate	1 April 1924
• Federated with S. Rhodesia and Nyasaland	1953–1963
• Independence	24 October 1964
Area
• Total	751,925 km2 (290,320 sq mi)
Currency	Southern Rhodesian pound
Preceded by Succeeded by 1924: Company rule in Rhodesia 1963: Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland 1953: Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland 1964: Zambia
Today part of	Zambia

Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia.^[1][2][3][4] It was initially administered, as were the two earlier protectorates, by the British South Africa Company (BSAC), a chartered company, on behalf of the British Government. From 1924, it was administered by the British Government as a protectorate, under similar conditions to other British-administered protectorates, and the special provisions required when it was administered by BSAC were terminated.^[4][5]

Although under the BSAC charter it had features of a charter colony, the BSAC's treaties with local rulers, and British legislation, gave it the status of a protectorate. The territory attracted a relatively small number of European settlers, but from the time they first secured political representation, they agitated for white minority rule, either as a separate entity or associated with Southern Rhodesia and possibly Nyasaland. The mineral wealth of Northern Rhodesia made full amalgamation attractive to Southern Rhodesian politicians, but the British Government preferred a looser association to include Nyasaland. This was intended to protect Africans in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland from discriminatory Southern Rhodesian laws. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland formed in 1953 was intensely unpopular among the vast African majority and its formation hastened calls for majority rule. As a result of this pressure, the country became independent in 1964 as Zambia.^[6]

The geographical, as opposed to political, term "Rhodesia" referred to a region generally comprising the areas that are today Zambia and Zimbabwe.^[7] From 1964, it only referred to the former Southern Rhodesia.

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