![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Eswatini-on-the-Globe-300x279.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>The population is composed primarily of ethnic Swazis<\/a>. The language is Swazi<\/a> (siSwati in native form). The Swazis established their kingdom in the mid-18th century under the leadership of Ngwane III<\/a>. The country and the Swazi take their names from Mswati II<\/a>, the 19th-century king under whose rule Swazi territory was expanded and unified; the present boundaries were drawn up in 1881 in the midst of the Scramble for Africa. After the Second Boer War<\/a>, the kingdom, under the name of Swaziland, was a British protectorate<\/a> from 1903 until it regained its independence on 6 September 1968. In April 2018, the official name was changed from Kingdom of Swaziland to Kingdom of Eswatini, mirroring the name commonly used in Swazi.<\/p>\n The government is an absolute monarchy, ruled by King Mswati III<\/a> since 1986. Elections are held every five years to determine the House of Assembly and the Senate majority. The current constitution was adopted in 2005. Umhlanga, the reed dance held in August\/September, and incwala<\/a>, the kingship dance held in December\/January, are the nation’s most important events.<\/p>\n Eswatini is a developing country with a small economy. As a member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU)<\/a> and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)<\/a>, its main local trading partner is South Africa; in order to ensure economic stability, Eswatini’s currency, the lilangeni<\/a>, is pegged<\/a> to the South African rand<\/a>. Eswatini’s major overseas trading partners are the United States and the European Union<\/a>. The majority of the country’s employment is provided by its agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Eswatini is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)<\/a>, the African Union<\/a>, the Commonwealth of Nations<\/a>, and the United Nations.<\/a><\/p>\n The Swazi population faces major health issues: HIV\/AIDS<\/a> and (to a lesser extent) tuberculosis<\/a> are widespread. It is estimated that 26% of the adult population is HIV-positive. As of 2018, Eswatini has the 12th-lowest life expectancy in the world, at 58 years. The population of Eswatini is young, with a median age of 20.5 years and people aged 14 years or younger constituting 37.5% of the country’s total population. The present population growth rate is 1.2%.<\/p>\n Artifacts indicating human activity dating back to the early Stone Age<\/a>, around 200,000 years ago, have been found in Eswatini. Prehistoric rock art paintings dating from as far back as c. 27,000 years ago, to as recent as the 19th century, can be found in various places around the country.<\/p>\n The earliest known inhabitants of the region were Khoisan<\/a> hunter-gatherers. They were largely replaced by the Nguni<\/a> during the great Bantu migrations<\/a>. These peoples originated from the Great Lakes regions of eastern and central Africa<\/a>. Evidence of agriculture and iron use dates from about the 4th century. People speaking languages ancestral to the current Sotho<\/a> and Nguni languages<\/a> began settling no later than the 11th century.<\/p>\n The Swazi settlers, then known as the Ngwane (or bakaNgwane) before entering Eswatini, had been settled on the banks of the Pongola River<\/a>. Before that, they were settled in the area of the Tembe River near present-day Maputo, Mozambique. Continuing conflict with the Ndwandwe people<\/a> pushed them further north, with Ngwane III establishing his capital at Shiselweni at the foot of the Mhlosheni hills.<\/p>\n Under Sobhuza I<\/a>, the Ngwane people eventually established their capital at Zombodze<\/a> in the heartland of present-day Eswatini. In this process, they conquered and incorporated the long-established clans of the country known to the Swazi as Emakhandzambili.<\/p>\n Eswatini derives its name from a later king named Mswati II. KaNgwane, named for Ngwane III, is an alternative name for Eswatini, the surname of whose royal house remains Nkhosi Dlamini<\/a>. Nkhosi literally means “king”. Mswati II was the greatest of the fighting kings of Eswatini, and he greatly extended the area of the country to twice its current size. The Emakhandzambili clans were initially incorporated into the kingdom with wide autonomy, often including grants of special ritual and political status. The extent of their autonomy, however, was drastically curtailed by Mswati, who attacked and subdued some of them in the 1850s.<\/p>\n With his power, Mswati greatly reduced the influence of the Emakhandzambili while incorporating more people into his kingdom either through conquest or by giving them refuge. These later arrivals became known to the Swazis as Emafikamuva. The clans who accompanied the Dlamini kings were known as the Bemdzabuko or true Swazi.<\/p>\n The autonomy of the Swazi nation was influenced by British and Dutch rule of southern Africa in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1881, the British government signed a convention recognizing Swazi independence despite the Scramble for Africa<\/a> that was taking place at the time. This independence was also recognized in the London Convention of 1884.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Because of controversial land\/mineral rights and other concessions, Swaziland had a triumviral administration in 1890 following the death of King Mbandzeni<\/a> in 1889. This government represented the British, the Dutch republics, and the Swazi people. In 1894, a convention placed Swaziland under the South African Republic<\/a> as a protectorate. This continued under the rule of Ngwane V<\/a> until the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899.<\/p>\n King Ngwane V died in December 1899, during incwala, after the outbreak of the Second Boer War. His successor, Sobhuza II, was four months old. Swaziland was indirectly involved in the war with various skirmishes between the British and the Boers occurring in the country until 1902.<\/p>\n In 1903, after the British victory in the Second Boer War, Swaziland became a British protectorate. Much of its early administration (for example, postal services) was carried out from South Africa until 1906 when the Transvaal Colony<\/a> was granted self-government. Following this, Swaziland was partitioned into European and non-European (or native reserves) areas with the former being two-thirds of the total land. Sobhuza’s official coronation was in December 1921 after the regency of Labotsibeni<\/a>, after which he led an unsuccessful deputation to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom<\/a> in London in 1922 regarding the issue of the land.<\/p>\n In the period between 1923 and 1963, Sobhuza II established the Swazi Commercial Amadoda which was to grant licences to small businesses on the Swazi reserves and also established the Swazi National School to counter the dominance of the missions in education. His stature grew with time and the Swazi royal leadership was successful in resisting the weakening power of the British administration and the incorporation of Swaziland into the Union of South Africa<\/a>.<\/p>\n The constitution for independent Swaziland was promulgated by Britain in November 1963 under the terms of which legislative and executive councils were established. This development was opposed by the Swazi National Council (liqoqo). Despite such opposition, elections took place and the first Legislative Council of Swaziland was constituted on 9 September 1964. Changes to the original constitution proposed by the Legislative Council were accepted by Britain and a new constitution providing for a House of Assembly and Senate was drawn up. Elections under this constitution were held in 1967.<\/p>\n Following the 1967 elections, Swaziland was a protected state until independence was regained in 1968.<\/p>\n Following the elections of 1973, the constitution of Swaziland was suspended by King Sobhuza II who thereafter ruled the country by decree until his death in 1982. At this point, Sobhuza II had ruled Swaziland for almost 83 years, making him the longest-reigning monarch in history. A regency followed his death, with Queen Regent Dzeliwe Shongw<\/a>e being head of state until 1984 when she was removed by the Liqoqo and replaced by Queen Mother Ntfombi Tfwala<\/a>. Mswati III, the son of Ntfombi, was crowned king on 25 April 1986 as King and Ingwenyama of Swaziland<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 1990s saw a rise in student and labor protests pressuring the king to introduce reforms. Thus, progress toward constitutional reforms began, culminating with the introduction of the current Swazi constitution in 2005. This happened despite objections by political activists. The current constitution does not clearly deal with the status of political parties.<\/p>\n The first election under the new constitution took place in 2008. Members of parliament were elected from 55 constituencies (also known as tinkhundla). These MPs served five-year terms which ended in 2013.<\/p>\n In 2011, Swaziland suffered an economic crisis, due to reduced SACU receipts. This caused the government to request a loan from neighboring South Africa. However, they did not agree with the conditions of the loan, which included political reforms.<\/p>\n During this period, there was increased pressure on the Swazi government to carry out more reforms. Public protests by civic organisations and trade unions became more common. Starting in 2012, improvements in SACU receipts have eased the fiscal pressure on the Swazi government. A new parliament, the second since promulgation of the constitution, was elected on 20 September 2013. At this time the king reappointed Sibusiso Dlamini<\/a> as prime minister for the third time.<\/p>\n On 19 April 2018, King Mswati III announced that the Kingdom of Swaziland had renamed itself the Kingdom of Eswatini, reflecting the extant Swazi name for the state eSwatini, to mark the 50th anniversary of Swazi independence. The new name, Eswatini, means “land of the Swazis” in the Swazi language and was partially intended to prevent confusion with the similarly named Switzerland.<\/p>\n Eswatini workers began anti-government protests against low salaries on 19 September 2018. They went on a three-day strike organised by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA)<\/a> that resulted in widespread disruption.<\/p>\n Eswatini lies across a fault which runs from the Drakensberg Mountains<\/a> of Lesotho<\/a>, north through the Eastern highlands of Zimbabwe<\/a>, and forms the Great Rift Valley<\/a> of Kenya.<\/p>\n A small, landlocked kingdom, Eswatini is bordered in the North, West and South by the Republic of South Africa and by Mozambique in the East. Eswatini has a land area of 17,364 km2. Eswatini has four separate geographical regions. These run from North to South and are determined by altitude. Eswatini has a wide variety of landscapes, from the mountains along the Mozambican border to savannas in the east and rain forest in the northwest. Several rivers flow through the country, such as the Great Usutu River<\/a>.<\/p>\n Along the eastern border with Mozambique is the Lubombo, a mountain ridge, at an altitude of around 600 meters. The mountains are broken by the canyons of three rivers, the Ngwavuma, the Usutu and the Mbuluzi River<\/a>. This is cattle ranching country. The western border of Eswatini, with an average altitude of 1200 meters, lies on the edge of an escarpment<\/a>. Between the mountains rivers rush through deep gorges. Mbabane<\/a>, the capital, is on the Highveld.<\/p>\n The Middleveld<\/a>, lying at an average 700 metres above sea level is the most densely populated region of Eswatini with a lower rainfall than the mountains. Manzini<\/a>, the principal commercial and industrial city, is situated in the Middleveld.<\/p>\n The Lowveld of Eswatini, at around 250 meters, is less populated than other areas and presents a typical African bush country of thorn trees and grasslands. Development of the region was inhibited, in early days, by the scourge of malaria<\/a>.<\/p>\n Eswatini’s economy is diverse, with agriculture, forestry and mining accounting for about 13% of GDP, manufacturing (textiles and sugar-related processing) representing 37% of GDP and services \u2013 with government services in the lead \u2013 constituting 50% of GDP. Title Deed Lands (TDLs)<\/a>, where the bulk of high value crops are grown (sugar, forestry, and citrus) are characterized by high levels of investment and irrigation, and high productivity.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n About 75% of the population is employed in subsistence agriculture upon Swazi Nation Land (SNL)<\/a>. In contrast with the commercial farms, Swazi Nation Land suffers from low productivity and investment. This dual nature of the Swazi economy, with high productivity in textile manufacturing and in the industrialized agricultural TDLs on the one hand, and declining productivity subsistence agriculture (on SNL) on the other, may well explain the country’s overall low growth, high inequality and unemployment.<\/p>\n Economic growth in Eswatini has lagged behind that of its neighbors. Real GDP growth since 2001 has averaged 2.8%, nearly 2 percentage points lower than growth in other Southern African Customs Union (SACU) member countries. Low agricultural productivity in the SNLs, repeated droughts, the devastating effect of HIV\/AIDS and an overly large and inefficient government sector are likely contributing factors. Eswatini’s public finances deteriorated in the late 1990s following sizable surpluses a decade earlier. A combination of declining revenues and increased spending led to significant budget deficits.<\/p>\n The considerable spending did not lead to more growth and did not benefit the poor. Much of the increased spending has gone to current expenditures related to wages, transfers, and subsidies. The wage bill today constitutes over 15% of GDP and 55% of total public spending; these are some of the highest levels on the African continent. The recent rapid growth in SACU revenues has, however, reversed the fiscal situation, and a sizable surplus was recorded since 2006. SACU revenues today account for over 60% of total government revenues. On the positive side, the external debt burden has declined markedly over the last 20 years, and domestic debt is almost negligible; external debt as a percent of GDP was less than 20% in 2006.<\/p>\n Eswatini’s economy is very closely linked to the economy of South Africa<\/a>, from which it receives over 90% of its imports and to which it sends about 70% of its exports. Eswatini’s other key trading partners are the United States and the EU, from whom the country has received trade preferences for apparel exports (under the African Growth and Opportunity Act \u2013 AGOA<\/a> \u2013 to the US) and for sugar (to the EU). Under these agreements, both apparel and sugar exports did well, with rapid growth and a strong inflow of foreign direct investment. Textile exports grew by over 200% between 2000 and 2005 and sugar exports increasing by more than 50% over the same period.<\/p>\n The continued vibrancy of the export sector is threatened by the removal of trade preferences for textiles, the accession to similar preferences for East Asian countries, and the phasing out of preferential prices for sugar to the EU market. Eswatini will thus have to face the challenge of remaining competitive in a changing global environment. A crucial factor in addressing this challenge is the investment climate.<\/p>\n The recently concluded Investment Climate Assessment provides some positive findings in this regard, namely that Eswatini firms are among the most productive in Sub-Saharan Africa, although they are less productive than firms in the most productive middle-income countries in other regions. They compare more favorably with firms from lower middle income countries, but are hampered by inadequate governance arrangements and infrastructure.<\/p>\n Eswatini’s currency, the lilangeni, is pegged to the South African rand, subsuming Eswatini’s monetary policy to South Africa. Customs duties from the Southern African Customs Union, which may equal as much as 70% of government revenue this year, and worker remittances from South Africa substantially supplement domestically earned income. Eswatini is not poor enough to merit an IMF program; however, the country is struggling to reduce the size of the civil service and control costs at public enterprises. The government is trying to improve the atmosphere for foreign direct investment.<\/p>\n Estawini features a road network, with six main routes, totalling 3,594 kilometers with 1,078 being paved. Roads connect to both South Africa and Mozambique.<\/p>\n There is a 301 kilometer railway in Eswatini that is used strictly for freight movement, especially for exporting products through Mozambiquan ports of Matola<\/a> and Maputo<\/a>.<\/p>\n The country’s main airport is King Mswati International Airport<\/a>, which has a 3,600m runway.<\/p>\n The other paved airport is Matsapha Airport.<\/a><\/p>\n The flag of Eswatini was adopted on October 6, 1968 after Eswatini (then Swaziland) gained independence from the British Empire on September 6, 1968.<\/p>\n The flag is based on the military flag given by King Sobhuza II<\/a> to the Swazi Pioneer Corps in 1941 to remind them of the nation’s military traditions. On 25 April 1967, the day the pledge of oath was taken by the king, the flag was hoisted for the first time. The College of Arms in London registered the flag on 30 October 1967. The first official hoisting of the flag was conducted on this day.<\/p>\n The red stands for past battles, the blue for peace and stability, and the yellow for the resources of Eswatini. The central focus of the flag is a Nguni shield<\/a> and two spears, symbolizing protection from the country’s enemies. Its colour is meant to show that white and black people live in peaceful coexistence in Eswatini. The flag has five horizontal stripes\u2014two blue stripes at the top and bottom while the center stripe is red. Two thin yellow stripes border the red stripe. On the red stripe is an ox hide combat shield from the traditional Swazi Emasotsha Regiment, laid horizontally. The shield is reinforced by a staff from which hangs injobo tassels-bunches of feathers of the widowbird<\/a> and the lourie<\/a>. They also decorate the shield. These feathers are used only by the king. Above the staff are two assegais-local spears, a Swazi fighting stick and three royal Swazi ornamental tassels called tinjobo, which are made from widow bird and loury feathers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The flag is based on the military flag given by King Sobhuza II to the Swazi Pioneer Corps in 1941 to remind them of the nation’s military traditions. On 25 April 1967, the day the pledge of oath was taken by the king, the flag was hoisted for the first time. The College of Arms in London registered the flag on 30 October 1967. The first official hoisting of the flag was conducted on this day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[19,59,5,6,7,18,17,20,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5415"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/King-Mswati-III-229x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
Pre-History:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Nguni-village-in-South-Africa-c.1900-300x180.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Swazi Settlers – 18th and 19th Centuries:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/A-19th-Century-Swazi-Container-Carved-in-Wood-225x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Southern-Africa-1896-221x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>British Rule over Swaziland – 1906\u20131968:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Transvaal-Colony-in-Red-300x150.png\" "\\"\\""){kind=spacer}
<\/a>Independence – 1968\u2013Today:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/City-Map-of-Eswatini-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Barnabas-Sibusiso-Dlamini-201x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Eswatini-Topography-300x297.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Map-of-Eswatini-Exports-300x234.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Central-Bank-in-Mbabane-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Johannesburg-the-Financial-Center-of-South-Africa-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/King-Mswati-III-International-Airport-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of Eswatini:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/05\/Flag-of-Eswatini-300x200.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>