Guide to Swaziland Introduction Background: Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed by the British in the late 19th century; independence was granted in 1968. Student and labor unrest during the 1990s pressured the monarchy (one of the oldest on the continent) to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy. Swaziland recently surpassed Botswana as the country with the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection
Geography Location: Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa
Geographic coordinates: 26 30 S, 31 30 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than New Jersey
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: varies from tropical to near temperate
Terrain: mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 690 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: drought
Environment - current issues: limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa
People Population: 1,173,900 note
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 0.25% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 27.72 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 25.26 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 3.7 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 38.8% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 220,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 17,000 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: African 97%, European 3%
Religions: Zionist (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship) 40%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 10%, Anglican, Bahai, Methodist, Mormon, Jewish and other 30%
Languages: English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official)
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: monarchy; independent member of Commonwealth
Capital: Mbabane; note - Lobamba is the royal and legislative capital
Administrative divisions: 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni
Independence: 6 September 1968 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 6 September (1968)
Constitution: a constitution was due to be adopted in November 2003 but was delayed and scheduled for early 2005
Legal system: based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory courts and Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Libandla, an advisory body, consists of the Senate (30 seats - 10 appointed by the House of Assembly and 20 appointed by the monarch; members serve five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (65 seats - 10 appointed by the monarch and 55 elected by popular vote; members serve five-year terms) elections
Judicial branch: High Court; Court of Appeal; judges for both courts are appointed by the monarch
Political parties and leaders: political parties are banned by the government - the following are considered political associations; Imbokodvo National Movement or INM [leader NA]; Ngwane National Liberatory Congress or NNLC [Obed DLAMINI, president]; People's United Democratic Movement or PUDEMO [Mario MASUKU, president]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, AU, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in yellow; centered in the red band is a large black and white shield covering two spears and a staff decorated with feather tassels, all placed horizontally
Economy Economy - overview: In this small, landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 80% of the population. The manufacturing sector has diversified since the mid-1980s. Sugar and wood pulp remain important foreign exchange earners. Mining has declined in importance in recent years with only coal and quarry stone mines remaining active. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa from which it receives about nine-tenths of its imports and to which it sends nearly three-quarters of its exports. Customs duties from the Southern African Customs Union and worker remittances from South Africa substantially supplement domestically earned income. The government is trying to improve the atmosphere for foreign investment. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and sometimes floods persist as problems for the future. More than one-fourth of the population needed emergency food aid in 2004 because of drought, and more than one-third of the adult population was infected by HIV/AIDS.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $6.018 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2.5% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,100 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 383,200 (2000)
Labor force - by occupation: NA
Unemployment rate: 34% (2000 est.)
Population below poverty line: 40% (1995)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.4% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 23.6% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Agriculture - products: sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep
Industries: mining (coal, raw asbestos), wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel
Industrial production growth rate: 3.7% (FY95/96)
Electricity - production: 402 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 1.173 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 799 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 3,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: NA
Oil - imports: NA
Current account balance: $-82.4 million (2004 est.)
Exports: $900.1 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit
Exports - partners: South Africa 59.7%, EU 8.8%, US 8.8%, Mozambique 6.2% (2004)
Imports: $1.14 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals
Imports - partners: South Africa 95.6%, EU 0.9%, Japan 0.9%, Singapore 0.3% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $320.5 million (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $320 million (2002 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $104 million (2001)
Currency (code): lilangeni (SZL)
Currency code: SZL
Exchange rates: emalangeni per US dollar - 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002), 8.6092 (2001), 6.9398 (2000)
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 46,200 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 88,000 (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 2 plus 4 repeaters, shortwave 3 (2004)
Radios: 170,000 (1999)
Television broadcast stations: 5 plus 7 relay stations (2004)
Televisions: 23,000 (2000)
Internet country code: .sz
Internet hosts: 1,401 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 5 (2002)
Internet users: 27,000 (2003)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Airports: 18 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Military Military branches: Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (USDF)
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; both sexes are eligible for military service (2005)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $40.5 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.4% (2004)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: none
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
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