Eswatini

Overview

Eswatini, officially the Kingdom of Eswatini (known as Swaziland until 2018), is a small landlocked kingdom of 17,364 km² in Southern Africa, bordered by South Africa on three sides and Mozambique to the east. The executive capital and largest city is Mbabane; Lobamba is the legislative and royal capital. It is Africa's last absolute monarchy.

History

The region was first inhabited by Khoisan hunter-gatherers; Bantu-speaking Nguni peoples migrated south and the Swazi (Embo-Dlamini) settled the area in the 18th century. Ngwane III is regarded as the founder of the kingdom (then KaNgwane), Sobhuza I consolidated its heartland, and Mswati II — for whom the country is named — unified and roughly doubled its territory in the 19th century. Britain recognised Swazi independence in 1881, but King Mbandzeni's wholesale granting of land concessions to Europeans left Swazis only about a third of the country. After the South African Republic took over as protector (1894) and the Second Boer War, Swaziland became a British High Commission Territory in 1903. Under Sobhuza II — crowned 1921 and destined to reign nearly 83 years, the longest verifiable reign in history — the Swazi monarchy skillfully resisted both British administrative erosion and incorporation into South Africa.

Swaziland regained independence on 6 September 1968 with a Westminster constitution, which Sobhuza II suspended in 1973, ruling by decree until his death in 1982. After regency struggles, his son Mswati III was crowned in 1986 and still rules. A 2005 constitution left royal power intact: political parties cannot contest elections, the king appoints the prime minister and much of parliament, and pro-democracy protests — notably the explosive 2021 unrest in which at least 20 people were killed — have been suppressed. In April 2018 the country was renamed Eswatini ("land of the Swazis").

Later history and present status

The economy (sugar, forestry, manufacturing, customs-union receipts) is tightly bound to South Africa; the lilangeni is pegged to the rand. About 97% of the ~1.2 million people are ethnic Swazis; Christianity (mostly Protestant, ~89%) predominates alongside traditional beliefs. Eswatini has one of the world's highest HIV prevalence rates (~28% of adults) and low life expectancy. It is the only African state maintaining diplomatic ties with Taiwan rather than China.