Rhodesia (Giovinezza)

Rhodesia, officially the Republic of Rhodesia, is a landlocked southern African state located between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers. Surrounded by South Africa, the Portuguese Province of Mozambique, and Zambia, Rhodesia has sovereignty of 390,757 km2(150,872 sq mi) of land. Salisbury, the country's largest city, is the capital of Rhodesia and hosts an estimated population of just over 20 million people as of 2016. Although a constitutional republic, Rhodesia is part of the Commonwealth of Nations alongside other republics such as South Africa. It is one of the most prosperous African nations and had earned the name "Jewel of Africa" due to its prosperity.

Since the 11th century, present-day Rhodesia has been the site of several organized states and kingdoms as well as a major route for migration and trade. The present territory of Rhodesia was first demarcated by Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company in the 1890s; Rhodes had given his name to the land and it became the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia in 1923. In 1953, the territory became a part of the Federation of Rhodesia-Nyasaland, but this project fell apart and Southern Rhodesia had regained its independence. After the protectorate of Northern Rhodesia ceased to exist, Rhodesia's white minority government unilaterally declared independence as Rhodesia. Although facing a British-backed blockade by much of the world, the partially-recognized state would endure in the face of a brutal guerrilla war with communist black nationalist forces with the help of strategic allies such as South Africa, Portugal and even secret assistance from Italy.

As the Bush War raged on in the late 1970's and early 1980's, Rhodesia prospered in the face of international condemnation. United Nations sanctions forced Rhodesia to diversify its economy and Rhodesia maintained a steady population increase by giving tax incentives to Rhodesian whites for having more children, relaxing immigration restrictions for Europeans while simultaneously restricting immigration of foreign blacks by a large margin. In addition, the Rhodesian government exploited the tribal conflicts of the native blacks and were able to seduce several chiefs to support the minority government. The Bush War would officially end in 1987, 23 years after it began, leading to a peace agreement and a slow transition towards universal enfranchisement. Concurrently, Rhodesia had made amends with Margaret Thatcher's conservative government in Britain and was officially recognized by the United Nations.

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