Eswatini

Lore & Background

The population is composed primarily of ethnic Swazis. The prevalent language is Swazi (siSwati in native form). The Swazis established their kingdom in the mid-18th century under the leadership of Ngwane III. The country and the Swazi take their names from Mswati II, the 19th-century king under whose rule the country was expanded and unified. Its boundaries were drawn up in 1881 in the midst of the European Scramble for Africa. After the Second Boer War, the kingdom, under the name of Swaziland, was a British high commission territory from 1903 until it regained its full independence on 6 September 1968. In April 2018, the king changed the official name from Kingdom of Swaziland to Kingdom of Eswatini, the name commonly used in the Swazi language.

In Their Own Story

The morning mist clings to the rolling hills of the Highveld as cattle herds move slowly toward the royal enclosures near Lobamba. In the distance, the rhythmic sound of drums echoes through the valley, signaling the start of a ceremonial gathering where elders in traditional attire gather beneath the shade of ancient trees. The air smells of woodsmoke and fresh earth, a sensory reminder that here, time moves to the beat of ancestral rhythms rather than the ticking of modern clocks.

Reader's Guide

Eswatini is a developing country that is classified as having a lower-middle income economy. As a member of the Southern African Customs Union and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, its main local trading partner is South Africa; to ensure economic stability, Eswatini's currency, the lilangeni, is pegged to the South African rand. Eswatini's major overseas trading partners are the United States and the European Union. The majority of the country's employment is provided by its agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Eswatini is a member of the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the United Nations. Eswatini's government is an absolute monarchy, the last of its kind in Africa. The country has been ruled by King Mswati III since 1986. Elections are held every five years to determine the House of Assembly and the Senate majority, but political parties are prohibited from running. Eswatini's constitution was adopted in 2005.

Did You Know?

• Eswatini is the smallest landlocked country in Africa, and the third smallest overall after Seychelles and São Tomé and Príncipe.
• Twenty-eight percent of the adult population are HIV-positive.
• As of 2018, Eswatini has the 12th-lowest life expectancy in the world, at 58 years.
• The Swazi population's median age is 22 years.