| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long form: Kingdom of Swaziland
conventional short form: Swaziland |
| Capital: |
Mbabane; note - Lobamba is the royal and legislative capital |
| Location: |
Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa |
| Geographic
Coordinates: |
26 30 S, 31 30 E |
| 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 |
| Elavation
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 |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
conventional long form: Kingdom of Swaziland
conventional short form: Swaziland |
| Administratives
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: 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: |
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] |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
1,173,900
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 2005 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 40.6% (male 240,643/female 235,895)
15-64 years: 55.6% (male 327,661/female 325,400)
65 years and over: 3.8% (male 19,273/female 25,028) (2005 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 18.72 years
male: 18.53 years
female: 18.92 years (2005 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Swazi(s)
adjective: Swazi |
| 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) |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| Telephones - main
lines in use: |
46,200 (2003) |
| Telephones - mobile
cellular: |
88,000 (2003) |
| 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) |
| Television broadcast
stations: |
5 plus 7 relay stations (2004) |
| Internet country
code: |
.sz |
| Internet hosts: |
1,401 (2003) |
| Internet users: |
27,000 (2003) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
total: 301 km
narrow gauge: 301 km 1.067-m gauge (2003) |
| Highways: |
total: 3,107 km
paved: NA
unpaved: NA (2000) |
| Waterways: |
|
| Pipelines: |
|
| Ports and harbors: |
none |
| Merchant marine: |
|
| Airports: |
18 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
total: 17
914 to 1,523 m: 7
under 914 m: 10 (2004 est.) |
| Heliports: |
|
