SWAZILAND
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 17,360 km2; land area: 17,200 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than New Jersey
Land boundaries: 535 km total; Mozambique 105 km, South Africa
430 km
Coastline: none--landlocked
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
Climate: varies from tropical to near temperate
Terrain: mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains
Natural resources: asbestos, coal, clay, tin, hydropower, forests,
and small gold and diamond deposits
Land use: arable land 8%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 67%; forest and woodland 6%; other 19%; includes irrigated
2%
Environment: overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion
Note: landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa
PEOPLE
Population: 859,336 (July 1991), growth rate 2.7% (1991)
Birth rate: 44 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 12 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 5 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 101 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 51 years male, 59 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 6.2 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Swazi(s); adjective--Swazi
Ethnic divisions: African 97%, European 3%
Religion: Christian 60%, indigenous beliefs 40%
Language: English and siSwati (official); government business
conducted in English
Literacy: 55% (male 57%, female 54%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1976)
Labor force: 195,000; over 60,000 engaged in subsistence
agriculture; about 92,000 wage earners (many only intermittently), with
agriculture and forestry 36%, community and social services 20%,
manufacturing 14%, construction 9%, other 21%; 24,000-29,000 employed in
South Africa (1987)
Organized labor: about 10% of wage earners
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Kingdom of Swaziland
Type: monarchy; independent member of Commonwealth
Capital: Mbabane (administrative); Lobamba (legislative)
Administrative divisions: 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini,
Shiselweni
Independence: 6 September 1968 (from UK)
Constitution: none; constitution of 6 September 1968 was suspended
on 12 April 1973; a new constitution was promulgated 13 October 1978, but
has not been formally presented to the people
Legal system: based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory
courts, Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts; has not
accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Somhlolo (Independence) Day, 6 September (1968)
Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament is advisory and consists
of an upper house or Senate and a lower house or House of Assembly
Judicial branch: High Court, Court of Appeal
Leaders:
Chief of State--King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Obed DLAMINI (since 12 July
1989)
Political parties: none; banned by the Constitution promulgated on
13 October 1978
Suffrage: none
Elections: no direct elections
Communists: no Communist party
Member of: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU,
IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU,
PCA, SACU, SADCC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Absalom Vusani MAMBA;
Chancery at 4301 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008;
telephone (202) 362-6683;
US--Ambassador Stephen H. ROGERS; Embassy at Central Bank Building,
Warner Street, Mbabane (mailing address is P. O. Box 199, Mbabane);
telephone 268 46441 through 5
Flag: 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: The economy is based on subsistence agriculture, which
occupies much of the labor force and contributes about 23% to GDP.
Manufacturing, which includes a number of agroprocessing factories,
accounts for another 26% of GDP. Mining has declined in importance in
recent years; high-grade iron ore deposits were depleted in 1978, and
health concerns cut world demand for asbestos. Exports of sugar and
forestry products are the main earners of hard currency. Surrounded by
South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland
is heavily dependent on South Africa, from which it receives 92% of
its imports and to which it sends about 40% of its exports.
GNP: $563 million, per capita $670; real growth rate 5.0% (1990
est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 13% (1990)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $322.9 million; expenditures $325.5 million,
including capital expenditures of $NA (FY92 est.)
Exports: $543 million (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, citrus,
canned fruit;
partners--South Africa 40% (est.), EC, Canada
Imports: $651 million (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment,
petroleum products, foodstuffs, chemicals;
partners--South Africa 92% (est.), Japan, Belgium, UK
External debt: $290 million (1990)
Industrial production: growth rate NA; accounts for 26%
of GDP (1989)
Electricity: 50,000 kW capacity; 130 million kWh produced,
170 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: mining (coal and asbestos), wood pulp, sugar
Agriculture: accounts for 23% of GDP and over 60% of labor force;
mostly subsistence agriculture; cash crops--sugarcane, citrus fruit,
cotton, pineapples; other crops and livestock--corn, sorghum, peanuts,
cattle, goats, sheep; not self-sufficient in grain
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $142
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $488 million
Currency: lilangeni (plural--emalangeni); 1 lilangeni (E) =
100 cents
Exchange rates: emalangeni (E) per US$1--2.5625 (January 1991),
2.5863 (1990), 2.6166 (1989), 2.2611 (1988), 2.0350 (1987), 2.2685
(1986), 2.1911 (1985); note--the Swazi emalangeni is at par with the
South African rand
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 297 km plus 71 km disused, 1.067-meter gauge, single
track
Highways: 2,853 km total; 510 km paved, 1,230 km crushed stone,
gravel, or stabilized soil, and 1,113 km improved earth
Civil air: 1 major transport aircraft
Airports: 23 total, 22 usable; 1 with permanent-surfaced runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: system consists of carrier-equipped open-wire
lines and low-capacity radio relay links; 15,400 telephones;
stations--6 AM, 6 FM, 10 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force, Royal Swaziland Police
Force
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 185,562; 107,254 fit for
military service
Defense expenditures: $8 million, 1.3% of GDP (1988)