Swaziland
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Swaziland is a landlocked nation in southern-Africa. 80% of its border is with South Africa, and the remaining portion is with Mozambique to the east. It is mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains.
Swaziland's major environmental issues include: limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; and, soil erosion.It is susceptible to drought.
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 MswatiI 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. A constitution came into effect in 2006, but political parties remain banned. The African United Democratic Party tried unsuccessfully to register as an official political party in mid 2006. Talks over the constitution broke down between the government and progressive groups in 2007. Swaziland recently surpassed Botswana as the country with the world's highest known HIV/AIDS prevalence rate.
Geography
Location: Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa
Geographic Coordinates: 26 30 S, 31 30 E
Area: 17,363 km2 (17,203 km2 land and 160 km2 water)
arable land: 10.25%
permanent crops: 0.81%
other: 88.94% (2005)
Land Boundaries: 535 km. Border countries: Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime Claims: none (landlocked)
Natural Hazards: drought
Terrain: Mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains. Its lowest point is the Great Usutu River (21 metres) and its highest point is Emlembe (1,862 metres)
Climate: Varies from tropical to near temperate
Government
Government Type: Monarchy
Capital: Mbabane
Independence Date: 6 September 1968 (from UK)
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
International Environmental Agreements
Swaziland is party to international agreements on: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, and Ozone Layer Protection. It has signed, but not ratified the international agreement known as the Law of the Sea.
People and Society
Population: 1,128,814
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 39.9% (male 226,947/female 222,922)
15-64 years: 56.5% (male 306,560/female 331,406)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 15,594/female 25,385) (2008 est.)
Population Growth Rate: -0.41% (2008 est.)
Birth Rate: 26.6 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 30.7 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net Migration Rate: NA
Life Expectancy at Birth: 31.99 years (2008 est.)
Total Fertility Rate: 3.34 children born/woman (2008 est.)
Languages: English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official)
Literacy (2003 est.): 81.6% (male: 82.6% - female: 80.8%)
Water
Total Renewable Water Resources: 4.5 cu km (1987)
Freshwater Withdrawal: Total: 1.04 cu km/yr (2% domestic, 1% industrial, 97% agricultural). Per capita: 1,010 cu m/yr (2000)
Agriculture
Agricultural Products: sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep
Irrigated Land: 500 sq km (2003)
Resources
Natural Resources: asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc.
Energy
| Energy in Swaziland | |||||
| Production | Consumption | Exports | Imports | Reserves | |
| Electricity | 460 million kWh (2007) | 1.2 billion kWh (2007) | 0 kWh (2007) | 872 million kWh | |
| Oil | 0 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 3,500 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 0 bbl/day (2004) | 3,530 bbl/day (2004) | 0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Natural Gas | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005) | 0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Source: CIA Factbook | |||||
Health
Prevalence Rate of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 38.8% (2003 est.)
Major Infectious Diseases: Degree of risk: intermediate
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008)
Conflict
International Disputes: in 2006, Swazi king advocates resort to International Court of Justice to claim parts of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal from South Africa
Economy
In this small, landlocked 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. In 2007, the sugar industry increased efficiency and diversification efforts, in response to a 17% decline in EU sugar prices. 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. Swaziland's currency is pegged to the South African rand, subsuming Swaziland'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. Swaziland 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 investment. With an estimated 40% unemployment rate, Swaziland's need to increase the number and size of small and medium enterprises and attract foreign direct investment is acute. 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 2006-07 because of drought, and nearly two-fifths of the adult population has been infected by HIV/AIDS.
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $5.626 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $2.936 billion (2007 est.)
GDP- real growth rate: 2.4% (2007 est.)
GDP- per capita (PPP): $4,800 (2007 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 11.8%
industry: 45.7%
services: 42.5% (2007 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line: 69% (2006)
Industries: coal, wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textiles and apparel
Exports: soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit
Export Partners: South Africa 59.7%, EU 8.8%, US 8.8%, Mozambique 6.2% (2006)
Imports: motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals
Import Partners: South Africa 95.6%, EU 0.9%, Japan 0.9% (2006)
Economic Aid Recipient: $46.03 million (2005)
Currency: lilangeni (SZL)
Further Reading