White Rhodesians
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| ~100,000 worldwide | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Zimbabwe 28,732 (2012)
|
|
 South Africa
|
64,261 (2002) |
 Australia
|
12,352 (2006) |
| Languages | |
| English (majority), Afrikaans, Portuguese,Greek | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, Judaism, others | |
White Zimbabweans (also referred to as white Rhodesians or simply Rhodesians) are people from the southern African country Zimbabwe who are white. In linguistic, cultural and historical terms, these Zimbabweans of European ethnic origin are divided between the English-speaking descendants of British and Irish settlers, the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of Afrikaners from South Africa, and those descended from Greek and Portuguese settlers.
A small number of people of European ethnicity first came to the British colony of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) as settlers during the late-nineteenth century, during the Scramble for Africa. A steady immigration of white people continued for about the next 75 years. The white population of Zimbabwe reached a peak of about 296,000 in 1975, representing just over 8% of the population. It fell to around 120,000 in 1999 and to less than 50,000 in 2002. The white population of Zimbabwe was listed as 28,732 in the 2012 census.
The area today called Zimbabwe (known as Southern Rhodesia from 1895) was selected as a settlement colony by British South African, and Afrikaner colonists from the 1890s onwards, following the subjugation of the Matabele, (Ndebele), and Shona nations by the British South Africa Company (BSAC). The early white settlers came in search of mineral resources, finding deposits of coal, chromium, nickel, platinum, and gold. They also found some of the best farmland in Africa. The central part of Zimbabwe is a plateau which varies in altitude between 900 and 1,500 m (2,950 and 4,900 ft) above sea level. This gives the area a sub-tropical climate which is conducive to European settlement and agricultural practices.
...
Wikipedia