Polity · 1967 CE – 1978 CE
Rhodesia
- Peak recorded area
- 1,044,860 km²
- 1891 CE
- Rulers on record
- 5
- from 1953 CE
- Data series
- 219
- 1967 CE–1978 CE
Overview
Rhodesia, officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised country in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the de facto successor state to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia following a unilateral declaration of independence issued by the ruling white-minority government. Throughout this fourteen-year period, Rhodesia faced internal conflict and political unrest.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
5 dated territorial extents on record from CShapes 2.0. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. Cliopatria holds 2 further extents, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1978 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 41 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population58 obs · 1950 CE–1978 CE | 6.5Mpersons1978 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Female48 obs · 1950 CE–1978 CE | 61.17years1978 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Male48 obs · 1950 CE–1978 CE | 49.02years1978 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Net Migration48 obs · 1950 CE–1978 CE | -170.7Kpersons1978 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Infant Mortality Rate29 obs · 1950 CE–1978 CE | 70.54per 1000 live births1978 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy29 obs · 1950 CE–1978 CE | 54.73years1978 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
Economy
6 of 97 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP179 obs · 1800 CE–1978 CE | 2,271int'l $ (inflation adj.)1978 CE · Gapminder |
| GDP per capita57 obs · 1914 CE–1978 CE | 1,9642011 int'l $1978 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Gross Capital Formation % GDP19 obs · 1960 CE–1978 CE | 10.7%_gdp1978 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Cereal Production Tonnes18 obs · 1961 CE–1978 CE | 2.1Mmetric tons1978 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Cereal Yield Kg Per Ha18 obs · 1961 CE–1978 CE | 1,378.9kg per hectare1978 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Fao Asses Stocks18 obs · 1961 CE–1978 CE | 94Khead1978 CE · FAOSTAT |
Military
6 of 12 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score14 obs · 1965 CE–1978 CE | 0.001CINC (share of world capability)1978 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption14 obs · 1965 CE–1978 CE | 7Mcoal-ton equivalents1978 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production14 obs · 1965 CE–1978 CE | 778Ktons1978 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure14 obs · 1965 CE–1978 CE | 261Mcurrent USD1978 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel14 obs · 1965 CE–1978 CE | 24Kpersons1978 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Mil Equip Aircraft Bomber9 obs · 1970 CE–1978 CE | 7count1978 CE · rDMC Military Capabilities v1.0 |
Territory & resources
6 of 20 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Coal Production79 obs · 1900 CE–1978 CE | 24.95TWh1978 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Agricultural Land %18 obs · 1961 CE–1978 CE | 29.86%1978 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Arable Land %18 obs · 1961 CE–1978 CE | 4.96%1978 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators (Climate & Environment) |
| Arable Land per capita Ha18 obs · 1961 CE–1978 CE | 0.2935hectares per person1978 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Fao Agricultural Land18 obs · 1961 CE–1978 CE | 11.6Mha1978 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Fao Arable Land18 obs · 1961 CE–1978 CE | 1.9Mha1978 CE · FAOSTAT |
Governance
6 of 21 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index79 obs · 1900 CE–1978 CE | 0.054index (0-1)1978 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index79 obs · 1900 CE–1978 CE | 0.091index (0-1)1978 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index79 obs · 1900 CE–1978 CE | 0.08index (0-1)1978 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type79 obs · 1900 CE–1978 CE | 0RoW index (0-3)1978 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index79 obs · 1900 CE–1978 CE | 0.499index (0-1)1978 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity29 obs · 1970 CE–1978 CE | 4index (-10 to 10)1978 CE · Clio-Infra |
Development
6 of 28 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index79 obs · 1900 CE–1978 CE | 0.093index (0-1)1978 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Mail Items78 obs · 1898 CE–1978 CE | 137items1978 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Line Km77 obs · 1873 CE–1978 CE | 3,415km1978 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Telegraph65 obs · 1900 CE–1975 CE | 0.515count1975 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Telephones42 obs · 1922 CE–1977 CE | 197Kcount1977 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Electricity Production41 obs · 1938 CE–1978 CE | 4.5BGWh1978 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
Rulers
5 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Garfield ToddPrime Minister of Rhodesia1953 CE – 1958 CE
- Edgar WhiteheadPrime Minister of Rhodesia1958 CE – 1962 CE
- Ian Douglas SmithPrime Minister of Rhodesia1964 CE – 1979 CE
- Clifford DupontPresident of Rhodesia1970 CE – 1975 CE
- John WrathallPresident of Rhodesia1976 CE – 1978 CE
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- English
- Currency
- Rhodesian pound, Rhodesian dollar (RHD)
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
CShapes 2.02.0
Schvitz, G. et al. (2022). Mapping the International System, 1886-2019: The CShapes 2.0 Dataset. Journal of Conflict Resolution 66(1).
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
FAOSTAT2024 release
FAO (2024). FAOSTAT Statistical Database. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
CC BY 4.0
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
Our World in Data (2024). Energy dataset. Based on Energy Institute & Ember.
CC BY 4.0
rDMC Military Capabilities v1.0v1.0
Reconstructed Data on Military Capabilities (rDMC), v1.0. Harvard Dataverse.
Academic use, attribution
UN World Population Prospects 20242024
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
CC BY 3.0 IGO
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators (Climate & Environment)2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators (Climate & Environment series). Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0