KEY FACTS
Joined Commonwealth: 1968
Population: 1,231,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 0.7% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 141
Official languages: siSwati, English
Time: GMT plus 2hr
Currency: lilangeni, plural emalangeni (E)
Geography
Area: 17,364 sq km
Coastline: none
Capital: Mbabane
The Kingdom of Swaziland is a small landlocked country in the east of Southern Africa, bounded to the east by Mozambique and elsewhere by South Africa.The country comprises four regions: Hhohho (in the north), Manzini (west-central), Lubombo (east) and Shiselweni (south).
Main towns:
Mbabane (capital, pop. 61,800 in 2010), Manzini (94,900), Malkerns (8,000), Nhlangano (7,000), Mhlume (6,800), Big Bend (6,700), Siteki (6,100), Simunye (5,500), Hluti (5,400), Pigg’s Peak (4,600) and Lobamba (legislative capital, 3,800).
Society
KEY FACTS 2012
Population per sq km: 71
Life expectancy: 49 years
Net primary enrolment: 85% (2007)
Population:
1,231,000 (2012); 21 per cent of people live in urban areas; growth 1.6 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 30 per 1,000 people (49 in 1970); life expectancy 49 years, having fallen sharply since the latter 1990s due to AIDS (48 in 1970, 61 in 1990 and 60 in 1997). Swazis make up 90 per cent; persons of other African, European or mixed descent ten per cent. Large numbers of Mozambicans fled to Swaziland to escape the civil war, but repatriation was completed in 1993.
Language:
siSwati is the national language and English is widely spoken.
Education:
Public spending on education was eight per cent of GDP in 2011. There are seven years of compulsory education starting at the age of six. Primary school comprises seven years and secondary five, with cycles of three and two years. Some 67 per cent of pupils complete primary school (2010). The school year starts in January. The University of Swaziland offers degrees in agriculture, commerce, education, health sciences, humanities, sciences and social sciences, and incorporates the Institute of Distance Learning. Swaziland College of Technology provides diplomas and certificate courses in building, business, education and engineering. The Vocational and Commercial Training Institute offers business and technical training. The female–male ratio for gross enrolment in tertiary education is 1.00:1 (2011). Literacy among people aged 15–24 is 94 per cent (2010). There is a national library and a mobile library service to remote parts of the country.
