Zimbabwe is landlocked republic in southern Africa, bordered on the north by Zambia and Mozambique, on the east by Mozambique, on the south by South Africa, and on the southwest and west by Botswana. Formerly the British colony of Southern Rhodesia, the white government of the territory unilaterally declared itself independent in 1965 and adopted a republican form of government in 1970. In 1979, as Zimbabwe Rhodesia, the territory installed a transitional coalition government; the following year a new black majority government was elected and the country became formally independent. The total area of the country is 390,759 sq km (150,873 sq mi).