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Swaziland Info · Joined: 23 Feb 2007 Posts: 13 Home Country: NULL

SWAZILAND COUNTRY PROFILE

Introduction

Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed by the British in the late 19th century; independence was granted in 1968. Student and labour unrest during the 1990s pressured King Mswati III, the world's last absolute monarch, to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy, although he has backslid on these promises in recent years. 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: 17,363 sq km
land: 17,203 sq km
water: 160 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than New Jersey

Land boundaries:
total: 535 km
border countries: Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km

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: Great Usutu River 21 m
highest point: Emlembe 1,862 m

Natural resources: asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc

Land use:
arable land: 10.25%
permanent crops: 0.81%
other: 88.94% (2005)

Irrigated land: 500 sq km (2003)
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: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Geography - note: landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa

People

Population: 1,136,334
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 40.7% (male 233,169/female 229,103)
15-64 years: 55.8% (male 303,260/female 330,460)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 16,071/female 24,271) (2006 est.)

Median age:
total: 18.5 years
male: 17.8 years
female: 19.2 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: -0.23% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 27.41 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 29.74 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 71.85 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 75.25 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 68.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 32.62 years
male: 32.1 years
female: 33.17 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.53 children born/woman (2006 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: Swazi(s)
adjective: Swazi

Ethnic groups: African 97%, European 3%

Religions:
Zionist 40% (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship), 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: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.6%
male: 82.6%
female: 80.8% (2003 est.)

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Kingdom of Swaziland
conventional short form: Swaziland
local long form: Umbuso weSwatini
local short form: eSwatini

Government type: monarchy

Capital: Mbabane
note: Lobamba (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: the first constitution was signed into law in July 2005 and is scheduled to be implemented in January 2006

Legal system:
based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory courts and Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age

Executive branch:
chief of state: King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986)
head of government: Prime Minister Absolom Themba DLAMINI (since 14 November 2003)
cabinet: Cabinet recommended by the prime minister and confirmed by the monarch
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch

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: House of Assembly - last held 18 October 2003 (next to be held October 2008)
election results: House of Assembly - balloting is done on a nonparty basis; candidates for election are nominated by the local council of each constituency and for each constituency the three candidates with the most votes in the first round of voting are narrowed to a single winner by a second round

Judicial branch: High Court; Court of Appeal; judges for both courts are appointed by the monarch

Political parties and leaders:
The status of political parties, previously banned, is unclear under the new (2006)Constitution and currently being debated - the following are considered political associations; Imbokodvo National Movement or INM; 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 organisation participation:
ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Ephraim Mandla HLOPHE
chancery: 1712 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009
telephone: [1] (202) 234-5002
FAX: [1] (202) 234-8254

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Lewis LUCKE
embassy: Central Bank Building, Mahlokahla Street, Mbabane
mailing address: P. O. Box 199, Mbabane
telephone: [268] 404-6441 through 404-6445
FAX: [268] 404-5959

Flag description:
three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in yellow; centred 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 more than nine-tenths of its imports and to which it sends 60% 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 2004-05 because of drought, and nearly two-fifths of the adult population has been infected by HIV/AIDS.

GDP (purchasing power parity): $5.91 billion (2006 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate): $2.212 billion (2006 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP): $5,200 (2006 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 11.8%
industry: 51.4%
services: 36.8% (2006 est.)

Labour force: 155,700 (2003)

Labour force - by occupation:
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%

Unemployment rate: 40% (2005 est.)

Population below poverty line: 69% (2005)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 50.2% (1995)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.1% (2006 est.)

Investment (gross fixed): 15.5% of GDP (2006 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $921.8 million
expenditures: $1.019 billion; including capital expenditures of $147 million (2006 est.)

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: 458 million kWh (2004)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 58%
hydro: 42%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption: 1.123 billion kWh (2004)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004)

Electricity - imports: 697 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2004)

Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - consumption: 3,500 bbl/day (2004 est.)

Oil - exports: NA bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports: NA bbl/day (2004)

Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

Natural gas - consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

Current account balance: $-23.13 million (2006 est.)

Exports: $2.201 billion f.o.b. (2006 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: $2.274 billion f.o.b. (2006 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: $228.5 million (2006 est.)

Debt - external: $357 million (2003 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $104 million (2001)

Currency (code): lilangeni (SZL)

Currency code: SZL

Exchange rates: emalangeni per US dollar - 6.6 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002)

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Communications

Telephones - main lines in use: 35,000 (2005)

Telephones - mobile cellular: 200,000 (2005)

Telephone system:
general assessment: a somewhat modern but not an advanced system
domestic: system consists of carrier-equipped, open-wire lines and low-capacity, microwave radio relay
international: country code - 268; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 3, FM 2 plus 4 repeaters, shortwave 3 (2004)

Radios: 170,000 (1999)

Television broadcast stations: 12 (includes 7 relay stations) (2004)

Televisions: 23,000 (2000)

Internet country code: .sz

Internet hosts: 2,472 (2006)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 5 (2002)

Internet users: 36,000 (2005)

Transportation

Airports: 18 (2006)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2006)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 17
914 to 1,523 m: 7
under 914 m: 10 (2006)

Railways:
total: 301 km
narrow gauge: 301 km 1.067-m gauge (2005)

Roadways:
total: 3,594 km
paved: 1,078 km
unpaved: 2,516 km (2002)

Military

Military branches: Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (USDF): Ground Force (includes air wing), Royal Swaziland Police Force (RSPF) (2005)

Military service age and obligation:
18-30 years of age for voluntary military service; both sexes are eligible for military service (2005)

Manpower available for military service:
males age 18-49: 227,617 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 89,609 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure: $41.6 million (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.4% (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues

Disputes - international: none


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