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Postage Stamp, Bophuthatswana
Postage Stamp, Bophuthatswana
Date 1977 Origin South Africa Size 24mm x 30mm Acquired March 2021 From Rosebank Market, Jhb Price R250 for collector’s album
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Rhodesia
“Rhodesia (formerly Southern Rhodesia). Area 150,333 square miles, of which 79,533 square miles constitute Mashonaland and 70,800 square miles Matabeleland. The capital is Salisbury (q.v.). Population (June 1965): 4,260,000 including 4,020,000 Africans, 219,000 Whites, 7,800 Asians and 12,100 Coloured. The national income in 1963 was £313,400,000, compared with £170,200,000 in 1954. Principal mineral products: gold, asbestos, chrome ore, coal, iron ore, tin and copper. Building construction in 1962 was valued at £5,489,000. The most important market is Britain for tobacco, asbestos and tea. Next in importance are trading relations with the Republic of South Africa, followed by the U.S.A. Business is also done on a large scale with Australia, Canada, India, Hong Kong, Sweden, Germany, Italy, France, Holland, Belgium, Katanga, Mozambique and Iran.
Manufacturing has made great progress in Rhodesia. From 1946 to 1961 the output rose from £7.6 million to £148,737,000. From 1946 to 1961 the number of factories increased from 435 to 1,279, while employees of all races rose from 39,958 in 1946 to 91,797 in 1961. Communications are by road, rail and, increasingly air. Tarmac is replacing ‘strip’ surfaces on the main roads. See RHODESIA RAILWAYS. The most important source of electric power is the Kariba Scheme (q.v.) controlled by the Rhodesia Electricity Supply Commission, the Zambia copper mines being by far the largest consumers.
There are three daily newspapers, including the African daily, published in Salisbury and Bulawayo; two Sunday newspapers and 22 other newspapers, two of them published three times a week, one twice weekly, and the rest once a week or once a fortnight. Eight of these are for Africans, printed in the vernacular and in English.
Agriculture is advancing in Rhodesia, much experimental work being undertaken. Large irrigation schemes are operating in the Sabi Valley. Maize production has risen to 4,037,000 bags of 200 lb. each. The most important crop, from the revenue point of view, is tobacco, which enjoys a large overseas market. Virginia flue-cured tobacco output rose to 216 million lb. in 1962. Exports are nearly all to the United Kingdom, amounting to £40 million in 1962. Sugar is successfully grown in the Triangle Sugar Estates, about 67,000 tons a year. Plans are afoot to cultivate 16,000 acres. Rhodesia produced 1.4 million lb. of tea from the Eastern Highlands. There, too, large softwood plantations have been established” (Rosenthal 1967: 453-454).
