Swaziland
The
Kingdom of Swaziland is a small,
landlocked country in
southern Africa (one of the smallest on the continent), situated on the eastern slope of the
Drakensberg mountains, embedded between
South Africa in the west and
Mozambique in the east. The country is named after the
Swazi, a
Bantu tribe. Due in part to a high rate of
HIV infection, Swaziland has the world's lowest
life expectancy, 32.62 years.
Main article: History of Swaziland
Human remains and artifacts from more than 100,000 years ago have been found in Swaziland. The earliest inhabitants of the area were
Khoisan hunter-gatherers. They were largely replaced by Bantu tribes during
Bantu migrations. Evidence of agriculture and iron use dates from about the
4th century, and people speaking languages ancestral to current
Sotho and
Nguni languages began settling no later than the
11th century. The ruling Dlamini lineage had chiefships in the region in the
18th century. An enlarged Swazi kingdom was established by Sobhuza I in the early
19th century. Soon thereafter the first whites started to settle in the area. In the
1890s the
South African Republic in the
Transvaal claimed sovereignty over Swaziland but never fully established power. After the
South African War of
1899–
1902, Swaziland became a British protectorate. The country was eventually granted independence on
September 6,
1968. Since then, Swaziland has seen a struggle between pro-democracy activists and the totalitarian monarchy.
The
head of state is the king, who since
1986 has been
King Mswati III. By tradition, the king reigns along with his mother (the
Indlovukazi, lit.
Great She-Elephant), the former viewed as the administrative head of state and the latter as a spiritual and national head of state. As the monarch, the king not only appoints the prime minister — the head of government — but also appoints a small number of representatives for both chambers of the
Libandla (parliament). The
Senate consists of 30 members, while the
House of Assembly has 65 seats, 55 of which are occupied by elected representatives (elections are held every 5 years in November). It is important to note that with so much power is in the hands of the king that technically Swaziland is an absolute monarchy, despite the presence of a democraticly elected parliament.
The constitution that was adopted in 1968 was suspended in 1973 in a State of Emergency decree presumably still in force today, though the government claims that it has been dissolved. In
2001 King Mswati III appointed a committee to draft a new constitution. Drafts were released for comment in May 2003 and November 2004. However, they were strongly criticised by civil society organizations in Swaziland and human rights organisations elsewhere. In 2005, the constitution was put into effect though there is still much debate in the country about that issue.
King Mswati III is often strongly criticized for living so lavishly in a nation that is afflicted by the world's highest
HIV infection rates. His fleet of luxury cars, and the millions spent towards refurbishing his numerous wives' luxury mansions, are at odds with the approximately 34 percent of the population that stand unemployed, and nearly 70 percent of the population who live on less than a dollar a day. Around 39 percent of adults are afflicted by
HIV. Swaziland is one of the poorest nations in the world, and has a very low
HDI development score.
Main article: Geography of Swaziland
Swaziland offers a wide variety of landscapes, from the mountains along the Mozambican border to
savannas in the east and
rainforest in the northwest. Several rivers flow through the country, such as the
Lusutfu River. With 50,000 inhabitants, the capital, Mbabane, is the largest town in the country; other large towns include
Manzini,
Lobamba and
Siteki.
;Administrative divisions
Main article: Districts of Swaziland
Swaziland is divided into four
districts:
#
Hhohho#
Lubombo#
Manzini#
ShiselweniSwaziland ranks among the poorest states in
Africa. Most of the high-level economic activity is in the hands of non-Africans, but ethnic Swazis are becoming more active. Small entrepreneurs are moving into middle management positions. 70% of Swazis live in rural areas and are being ravaged by drought and a resulting food crisis that threatens hundreds of thousands with hunger. The past few years have seen wavering economic growth, which has been exacerbated by the economy's inability to create new jobs at the same rate that new job seekers enter the market. This is due largely in part to the country's population growth rate that strains the natural heritage and the country's ability to provide adequate
social services, such as
health care and
education.
Overgrazing,
soil depletion,
drought, and
floods are persistent problems.
2004 Swaziland has acknowledges for the first time that it has one of the highest Aids rates in the world, with almost 40% of adults infected with the HIV (see
AIDS_in_Africa). Prime Minister
Themba Dlamini has declared a humanitarian crisis due to the combined effect of drought and land degradation, increasing poverty and HIV/Aids. The
United Nations special envoy on
AIDS Stephen Lewis said "Swaziland stands alone with the world's highest rate of
HIV infection after nearby
Botswana made headway against the deadly pandemic"
Nearly 60% of Swazi territory is held by the Crown in trust of the Swazi nation. The balance is privately owned, much of it by foreigners. The questions of land use and ownership remains a very sensitive one. For Swazis living on rural homesteads, the principal occupation is either subsistence farming or livestock herding. Culturally, cattle are important symbols of wealth and status, but they are being used increasingly for milk, meat and profit.
Swaziland enjoys well-developed road links with
South Africa. It also has railroads running east to west and north to south. The older east-west link, called the
Goba line, makes it possible to export bulk goods from Swaziland through the Port of
Maputo in
Mozambique. Until recently, most of Swaziland's imports were shipped through this port. Conflict in Mozambique in the 1980s diverted many Swazi exports to ports in South Africa. A north-south rail link, completed in 1986, provides a connection between the Eastern Transvaal (now Mpumalanga) rail network and the South African ports of
Richards Bay and
Durban.
The sugar industry, based solely on irrigated cane, is Swaziland's leading export earner and private-sector employer. Soft drink concentrate (a U.S. investment) is the country's largest export earner, followed by wood pulp and lumber from cultivated pine forests.
Pineapple,
citrus fruit, and
cotton are other important
agricultural exports.
Swaziland mines coal and diamonds for export. There also is a quarry industry for domestic consumption. Mining contributes about 1.8% of Swaziland's GDP each year but has been declining in importance in recent years.
Recently, a number of industrial firms have located at the industrial estate at Matsapha near Manzini. In addition to processed agricultural and forestry products, the fast-growing industrial sector at Matsapha also produces garments, textiles, and a variety of light manufactured products. The Swaziland Industrial Development Company (SIDC) and the Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority (SIPA) have assisted in bringing many of these industries to the country. Government programs encourage Swazi entrepreneurs to run small and medium-sized firms. Tourism also is important, attracting more than 424,000 visitors annually (mostly from Europe and South Africa).
From the mid-1980s foreign investment in the manufacturing sector boosted economic growth rates significantly. Since mid-1985, the depreciated value of the currency has increased the competitiveness of Swazi exports and moderated the growth of imports, generating trade surpluses. During the 1990s, the country often ran small trade deficits. South Africa and the European Union are major customers for Swazi exports. The United States is a significant market for Swazi sugar, a market that would presumably extend to textiles should Swaziland become a beneficiary of the African Growth Opportunity Act.
Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, and the Republic of South Africa form the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), where import duties apply uniformly to member countries. Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa also are members of the Common Monetary Area (CMA) in which repatriation and unrestricted funds are permitted. Swaziland issues its own currency, the
lilangeni (plural: emalangeni), which is at par with the
South African rand.
Swaziland is in the process or formulating an
Action Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour, which is expected to be adopted in the period 2006-2007.
Main article: Culture of Swaziland
See also
Music of Swaziland.
Swaziland's most well-known cultural event is the annual
Reed Dance. The country was under the
chastity rite of "
umchwasho" until
19 August 2005.
;Languages
Swati (also known as
siSwati,
Swazi and
Seswati) is a
Bantu language of the
Nguni Group spoken in
Swaziland and
South Africa. It has 1.5 million speakers and is taught in schools. It is an official language of
Swaziland (along with
English) and one of the 11 official languages of
South Africa.
Tsonga is spoken by about 1,646,000 people in
South Africa's
Limpopo province, as well as 1.5 million people in
Mozambique, and 19,000 people in
Swaziland. There are also 5 000 speakers in
Zimbabwe.
Government
*
Swaziland Government official government site
*
Ministry of Tourism official site
*
Swaziland Investment Promotion AuthorityNews
*
African News Dimension*
Times of Swaziland newspaper
Overviews
*
BBC News - Country Profile: Swaziland*[https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/wz.html CIA World Factbook -
Swaziland]
*
Open Directory Project - Swaziland directory category
*
US State Department - Swaziland includes Background Notes, Country Study and major reports
Tourism
*
Other
*
Online documentary about King Mswati III*
Matsapha Airport information*
Friends of Swaziland, returned
Peace Corps volunteer group
*
Natan Gamedze, Swazi Prince and Orthodox Rabbi
*https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/wz.html
