Swaziland

The Kingdom of Swaziland, sometimes called Ngwane, is a landlock country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa and to the east by Mozambique.  The nation, as well as its people, are named after the 19th century king Mswati II.

The area that Swaziland now covers has been continuously inhabited since prehistory.  Today, the population is primarily ethnic Swazis whose language is siSwati, though English is spoken as a second language.  The Swazi people descend from the southern Bantu who migrated from Central Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries.  The Anglo Boer war saw Britain make Swaziland a protectorate under its direct control.  Swaziland gained independence in 1968 and is a member of the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, and the Commonwealth of Nations.  The head of state is the king, who appoints the prime minister and a small number of representatives for both chambers of parliament.  Elections are held every five years to determine the majority of the representatives.  A new constitution was adopted in 2005.

In Swaziland's economy, subsistence agriculture occupies approximately 70% 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.  Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa from which it receives more than nine-tenths of its imports and to which it sends 60% of its exports.  The currency is pegged to the South African rand.  Swaziland's economic growth and societal integrity is highly endangered by its HIV epidemic, the highest in the world.