DO YOU KNOW THE KINGDOM OF SWAZILAND CELEBRATED HER 48TH INDEPENDENT ANNIVERSARY

DO YOU KNOW THE KINGDOM OF SWAZILAND  CELEBRATED HER 48TH INDEPENDENT ANNIVERSARY 





CAPITAL: Mbabane (administrative and judicial); Lobamba (royal and parliamentary)
FLAG: Blue, yellow, crimson, yellow, and blue stripes with the shield and spears of the Emasotsha regiment superimposed on the crimson stripe.
ANTHEM: National Anthem, beginning "O God, bestower of the blessings of the Swazi."

MONETARY UNIT: The lilangeni (pl. emalangeni; e) of 100 cents is a paper currency equal in value to the South African rand, which also is legal tender. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents, 1 lilangeni, and notes of 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 emalangeni. e1 = $0.16129 (or $1 = e6.2) as of 2005.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system replaced imperial weights and measures in September 1969.


HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Commonwealth Day, 2nd Monday in March; National Flag Day, 25 April; Birthday of King Sobhuza II, 22 July; Umhlanga (Reed Dance) Day, last Monday in August; Somhlolo (Independence) Day, 6 September; UN Day, 24 October; Christmas Day, 25 December; Boxing Day, 26 December. Movable religious holidays include Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Monday, Ascension, and the Incwala Ceremony.
TIME: 2 pm = noon GMT.

LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT
A landlocked country in southern Africa, Swaziland has an area of 17,363 sq km (6,704 sq mi), extending 176 km (109 mi) n–s and 135 km (84 mi) e–w. Comparatively, the area occupied by Swaziland is slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey. It is bounded by Mozambique on the ne and by the Republic of South Africa (including the homelands) on the se, s, w, and n, with a total boundary length of 535 km (332 mi).
Swaziland's capital city, Mbabane, is located in the northwest part of the country.


TOPOGRAPHY
The country is divided west-to-east into four well defined regions, the first three being of roughly equal breadth. The four regions extend north and south and are known as the high, middle, and low veld, and the Lebombo plain and escarpment. The high veld on the west has an average altitude of 1,050 m to 1,200 m (3445 to 3,937 ft). The middle veld averages about 450 to 600 m (1,476 to 1,969 ft), and the low or bush veld less than 300 m (984 ft). The Lebombo plain, at an average height of 610 m (2,000 ft), extends to the Lebombo escarpment, which is part of the Lebombo Mountains in the east. The entire country is traversed by rivers or streams, making it one of the best watered areas in southern Africa. The longest river is the Great Usutu, which stretches roughly from west to east across the center of the country for a total distance of 217 km (135 mi).


CLIMATE
The high veld has a humid near-temperate climate with about 140 cm (55 in) of mean annual rainfall. The middle veld is subtropical and somewhat drier, with about 85 cm (33 in) of annual rainfall; the low veld, almost tropical, is subhumid, receiving about 60 cm (24 in) of rain in an average year. Rainfall tends to be concentrated in a few violent storms in the summer (October–
March). Temperatures range from as low as -3°c (27°f) in winter in the highlands to as high as 42°c (108°f) in summer in the lowlands. At Mbabane, temperatures average 20°c (68°f) in January and 12°c (54°f) in July.


FLORA AND FAUNA
Grassland, savanna, mixed bush, and scrub cover most of Swaziland. There is some forest in the highlands. Flora include aloes, orchids, and begonias. Large indigenous mammals include the blue wildebeest, kudu, impala, zebra, waterbuck, and hippopotamus; however, wildlife has become very scarce outside the protected areas. Crocodiles live in the lowland rivers. Bird life is plentiful and includes the European stork, sacred ibis, and gray heron.

ENVIRONMENT
The chief environmental problem is soil erosion and degradation, particularly because of overgrazing. Population growth and the increased demand for fuel has threatened the country's forests, and the resulting deforestation has contributed to the loss of valuable soil. Swaziland has at least four protected areas for wildlife—two wildlife sanctuaries and two nature reserves—totaling 40,045 ha (98,953 acres), all in the northern half of the country. As of 2003, 3.5% of the nation's total land area was protected.
Another significant environmental problem in Swaziland is air pollution from transportation vehicles and emissions from other countries in the area. Water pollution from industrial and agricultural sources is also a problem, as well as contamination by untreated sewage, which contributes to the spread of life-threatening diseases.
According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the number of threatened species included 6 types of mammals, 6 species of birds, and 11 species of plants. Burchell's zebra has become extinct. Threatened marine species include the Baltic sturgeon, Danube salmon, and marsh snail. The cheetah and the cape vulture are listed among the vulnerable species.


POPULATION
The population of Swaziland in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 1,138,000, which placed it at number 150 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 3% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 43% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 93 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005–
2010 was expected to be 0.3%, a rate the government viewed as too high. The projected population for the year 2025 was 1,009,000. The population density was 66 per sq km (170 per sq mi).
The UN estimated that 25% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 0.98%. The administrative capital, Mbabane, had a population of 70,000 in that year.
The prevalence of HIV/AIDS has had a significant impact on the population of Swaziland, with the number of AIDS orphans growing rapidly as of 2006. The UN estimated that 33.7% of adults between the ages of 15–49 were living with HIV/AIDS in 2001. The AIDS epidemic causes higher death and infant mortality rates, and lowers life expectancy.

MIGRATION
Over the years, there has been a noticeable drift of educated Africans, many of whom have acquired British citizenship, from South Africa to Swaziland. Conversely, many itinerant asylum seekers were making a practice of using Swaziland as a stepping stone to gain access to South Africa in 1999. The total number of migrants in 2000 was 42,000. As of 2004, Swaziland harbored some 1,010 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from the Great Lakes region. In 2005, the net migration rate was an estimated zero per 1,000 population, compared to -10.8 per 1,000 in 1990. The government views the migration levels as satisfactory.


ETHNIC GROUPS
The indigenous African population in Swaziland constitutes 97% of the total populace and comprises more than 70 clans, of which the Nkosi Dlamini, the royal clan, is dominant. Europeans make up the remaining 3%.
LANGUAGES
English and Siswati, which is spoken by almost all Swazi, are the official languages. Government business is conducted in English.

RELIGIONS
Most of the population is Christian, with about 40% of the population affiliated with the Zionist Church, professing a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship. About 20% of the population are Roman Catholic. Other Christian denominations include Anglicans, Methodists, and Mormons (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). About 10% of the population are Muslims and there are small groups of Jews and Baha'is. Muslims and Baha'is are generally located in urban areas. The constitution does not specifically guarantee religious freedom, but that right is generally respected by the government and relations between religious groups are amicable.


TRANSPORTATION
The country had 3,800 km (2,364 mi) of roads in 2002, of which at least 1,064 km (662 mi) were paved. A highway runs between the southern boundary with South Africa and the eastern boundary with Mozambique. There were 30,000 passenger cars and 9,000 commercial vehicles in use in 1995. As of 2004, there were 301 km (187 mi) of railway in the country, all of it narrow gauge, and which links iron mines at Ngwenya with the Mozambique Railway and the port of Maputo in Mozambique. In the 1970s, a 94-km (58-mi) southern spur was constructed to the South African border. A 115-km (71-mi) northern spur to the South African border was completed in 1986. Airports numbered an estimated 18 in 2004, only one of which had a paved runway (as of 2005). Matsapa Airport, near Manzini, provides service—via Royal Swazi National Airways—to South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya, and Tanzania. In all, about 89,500 passengers were carried on scheduled international and domestic flights in 2003 (the latest year for which data was available).

HISTORY 
The Nguni Swazi Kingdom rose to prominence early in the 19th century, under the leadership of King Sobhuza I, who enlarged the territory by conquering and absorbing numbers of non-Nguni people.


King Mswati II then moulded the young kingdom into a powerful military force. Through internal stability, military might and diplomacy, Swaziland remained an independent country until the 1890s, the King taking advantage of the rivalry between the British administration in Natal and the Boer republic of the Transvaal to avoid takeover by either. From 1894 until 1902 the country was administered by the Boer republic, but not annexed. After the defeat of the Boers by Britain in 1902, Swaziland came under British control until independence.
King Sobhuza II reigned from 1921 to 1982 and is thought to have been the second-longest reigning monarch in world history – although he was only officially recognised as king in 1967 under the Swaziland Constitution Order of the British Government. Sobhuza II was a staunch conservative, determined to restore traditional customs and land rights, much of the land having been sold by the colonial authorities to individual European or African farmers. By the time of his death in 1982, almost 40% of the land of the Kingdom was back in the traditional communal system of land tenure.

INDEPENDENT, GOVERNMENT  AND ADMINISTRATION

Swaziland became independent on 6 September 1968 and joined the Commonwealth. In 1973, the King repealed the independence constitution, abolishing parliament and all political parties. The tinkhundla system of government was introduced in 1978 and overhauled in 1993 (see Constitution). When the King died in 1982, there was a four-year delay before Prince Makhosetive acceded to the throne as King Mswati III in 1986. From the mid-1980s there was building pressure for a return to multiparty democracy. The reintroduction of universal adult suffrage in 1993 only served to increase this pressure. There was from the mid-1990s a succession of strikes organised by the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions and increasingly public activity by opposition movements. A Constitutional Review Commission was set up in July 1996 to solicit the views of the Swazi nation on the type of constitution the people wanted, by visiting all the constituencies in the country and then submitting a report, including a draft new constitution by 1998.

Elections for pre-selected candidates were held in October 1998. About 60% of the registered voters cast their vote. The King confirmed Dr Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini as prime minister. Most of the 16 ministers were royal appointees rather than elected members of parliament.

The Constitutional Review Commission finally presented its report to the King in November 2000, but it was not published. In 2001 the King attempted to give himself additional powers to contain the pressure for constitutional reform but climbed down in the face of national and international protests. In August 2001 he called a national gathering and the Commission’s chairperson announced – to an audience of only about 10,000 people (the last national gathering was attended by 250,000) – that the King’s powers were to be enlarged but gave no details of the fruits of the five-year review.

Subsequently the King set up a new commission to draft a new constitution and the draft was released in May 2003. However, under this constitution the country was to remain an absolute monarchy and, though freedom of assembly was to be allowed and the ban on political parties therefore technically lifted, under the continuing tinkhundla election system there is no role for parties.