Labour government, 1964–1970 Golda Meir. Another associate, although not as solid on Israel, was West German Chancellor Willy Brandt; all three were members of the Socialist International. The British "retreat from Empire" had made headway by 1964 and was to continue during Wilson's administration. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland came to present serious problems. The Federation was set up in 1953, and was an amalgamation of the British Colonies of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland and the self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia. The Federation was dissolved in 1963 and the states of Zambia and Malawi were granted independence. Southern Rhodesia, which had been
Northern Rhodesia these copper deposits could not be exploited commercially until the Southern Rhodesian railway had extended across the Zambezi and continued northward, to reach the Belgian Congo border, which it did in 1909. By that time, mining had started in Katanga, where rich copper oxide ores occurred near the surface. In Northern Rhodesia, the surface ores were of poorer quality, and copper was only worked intermittently at Bwana Mkubwa, until in 1924 rich copper sulphide ores were discovered about 100 feet below the surface. Prior to 1924, there had not been significant exploitation of Northern Rhodesia's mineral resources: there was some