Swaziland: An Overview

One of the smallest countries in the Southern Hemisphere, Swaziland measures just over 17,000 sq. km (6,000 miles) – making it slightly smaller than the U.S. state of New Jersey or the country of Wales. It's surrounded on three sides by South Africa and bordered on the east by Mozambique.

Swaziland has two main cities: its capital, Mbabane, and Manzini, which is the country's industrial center. Altogether, there are just nine towns with municipal governments; 70% of the country's population of one million people live on traditional homesteads spread throughout rural communities.

Though small in size, Swaziland has four distinct ecological zones, descending from the highveld in the west to the midveld and lowveld in the center of the country and then rising abruptly to the Lubombo Plateau in the east. Mountains and savannah, temperate forests and tropical plains are all contained within its borders.

An Absolute Monarchy

The Swazi people migrated from the north sometime before the 16th century, settling primarily in what is now Mozambique. Following conflicts there, they moved to northern Zululand in the middle of the 18th century. However, the growing power of Shaka Zulu caused them to move again to what is now modern Swaziland in the early part of the 19th century. So, unlike many other African countries, Swaziland is almost universally peopled by just one ethnic group. While retaining many traditional beliefs, some 90% of Swazis are Christian.

From 1902 until 1968, the country was controlled by Great Britain. Swaziland gained its independence in that year as a constitutional monarchy. In 1973, King Sobhuza II repealed the constitution and established Swaziland as one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies. It has been ruled since 1986 by King Mswati III, a son of the previous king.

His government combines a Western parliament with the Swazi traditional Tinkhundla system.

Within the country's four regions – Hhohho, Manzini, Shiselweni and Lubombo – there are 55 Tinkhundla, or administrative centers, comprised of 390 chieftaincies. While each inkhundla elects a member to Parliament's House of Assembly, the law does not permit the formation of political parties. In 2006, a new constitution was enacted but has yet to be fully implemented as law.           READ MORE...