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 King MSWATI III the world's last ruling 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.

Geographic coordinates: 26 30 S 31 30 E

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total: 17,363 km²
Land: 17,203 km²
Water: 160 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than New Jersey

Land boundaries
Total: 535 km
Border countries: (2) 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
Extremes 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 km² (2003)

Natural hazards: drought

Geography
Note: landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa

Population
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.)
Growth rate: -0.23% (2006 est.)
Below poverty line: 69% (2005)

Nationality
Noun: Swazi
Adjective: Swazi

Ethnic groups: African 97% European 3%

Languages: English (official government business conducted in English) siSwati (official)

Religions: Zionist 40% (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship) Roman Catholic 20% Muslim 10% Anglican Bahai Methodist Mormon Jewish and other 30%

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/1000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 29.74 deaths/1000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (2006 est.)

Environment
Current issues: limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Ozone Layer Protection
International agreements signed but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.02 male/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male/female
65 years and over: 0.66 male/female
Total population: 0.95 male/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 71.85 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 75.25 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 68.34 deaths/1000 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.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 38.8% (2003 est.)
People living with hivaids: 220,000 (2003 est.)
Deaths: 17,000 (2003 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 81.6%
Male: 82.6%
Female: 80.8% (2003 est.)

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
Name: Mbabane
Geographic coordinates: 26 18 S, 31 06 E
Time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
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
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: political parties are banned by the government under an emergency decree that will be revoked when the new constitution takes effect (January 2006)- 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]

International organization participation: ACP AfDB AU C COMESA 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: Ambassador Ephraim Mandla HLOPHE
In the us chancery: 1712 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20,009
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 234-5,002
In the us fax: [1] (202) 234-8,254
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Lewis LUCKE
From the us embassy: Central Bank Building, Mahlokahla Street, Mbabane
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 199, Mbabane
From the us telephone: [268] 404-6,441 through 404-6,445
From the us fax: [268] 404-5,959

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 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 two-thirds 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.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $5.68 billion (2005 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 1.8% (2005 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $5,000 (2005 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 11.9%
Industry: 51.5%
Services: 36.6% (2005 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)

Labor force: 155,700 (2003)
By occupation agriculture: NA%
By occupation industry: NA%
By occupation 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)

Budget
Revenues: $805.6 million
Expenditures: $957.1 million; including capital expenditures of $147 million (2005 est.)

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices: 4% (2005 est.)

Current account balance: $7 million (2005 est.)

Exports: $1.991 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Commodities: soft drink concentrates sugar wood pulp cotton yarn refrigerators citrus and canned fruit
Partners: South Africa 59.7% EU 8.8% US 8.8% Mozambique 6.2% (2004)

Imports: $2.149 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Commodities: motor vehicles machinery transport equipment foodstuffs petroleum products chemicals
Partners: South Africa 95.6% EU 0.9% Japan 0.9% Singapore 0.3% (2004)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $311 million (2005 est.)

Debt external: $357 million (2003 est.)

Exchange rates: emalangeni per US dollar - 6.3593 (2005) 6.4597 (2004) 7.5648 (2003) 10.5407 (2002) 8.6092 (2001)

Electricity
Production: 392 million kWh (2003)
Consumption: 1.161 billion kWh (2003)
Exports: 0 kWh (2004)
Imports: 821.4 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2004)

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2003 est.)
Consumption: 0 m³ (2003 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 35,000 (2005)
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)

Internet
Country code: .sz
Hosts: 2,472 (2006)
Users: 36,000 (2005)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: 1.4% (2005 est.)

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

Airports: 18 (2006)
With paved runways total: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1 (2006)
With unpaved runways total: 17
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 7
With unpaved runways 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)

Disputes international: none