Lobamba, Mbabane

CAPITAL CITY OF Swaziland: Lobamba
LANGUAGE OF Swaziland: English
CURRENCY OF Swaziland: Lilangeni (SZL), plural Emalangeni
COMMENTS ABOUT Swaziland:
The Kingdom of Swaziland is a small, landlocked country in Southern Africa
Cities : Mbabane (capital), Lobamba, Manzini, Piggs Peak, Big Bend
Best Places : Mkhaya Game Reserve, Hlane Royal National Park, Malolotja Nature Reserve, Siteki, Mlilwane Game Reserve
Eat : Maize-based dishes, mealie-meal, mealie-pap, beans, nuts, sour milk, meats (antelope), Sweet breads, vegetables, fruits
Calling code : +268
Time zone : (UTC+2)
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 the monarchy (one of the oldest on the continent) to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy. Swaziland recently surpassed Botswana as the country with the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection
CLIMATE OF Swaziland: varies from tropical to near temperate
RELIGION OF Swaziland: Zionist (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship) 40%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 10%, Anglican, Bahai, Methodist, Mormon, Jewish and other 30%
POPULATION OF Swaziland: 1,173,900 - 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.)>>>
ECONOMY OVERVIEW OF Swaziland: 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 three-quarters 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 because of drought, and more than one-third of the adult population was infected by HIV/AIDS.