Northern Rhodesia

Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in south-central Africa, the predecessor of independent Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia, both of which had been administered by the British South Africa Company under Cecil Rhodes. The company ruled the territory on behalf of the British government until 1924, when it became a Crown protectorate administered through a governor, with Livingstone and from 1935 Lusaka as its capital. The territory attracted relatively few European settlers, but those who came agitated for white minority rule and for amalgamation with Southern Rhodesia. The discovery and development of the Copperbelt made Northern Rhodesia one of the world's great copper producers and made union with the south attractive to Southern Rhodesian politicians. Instead, Britain promoted the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, created in 1953, which proved intensely unpopular among the African majority and hastened demands for majority rule. The federation was dissolved at the end of 1963, and Northern Rhodesia became independent as Zambia on 24 October 1964.