Swaziland - Some Info September 21st, 2016

Swaziland - Some Info

Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland form, Swati Swatini and Umbuso we Swatini in English and Swaziland Kingdom of Swaziland, sometimes called Ngwane, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa by South Africa and bordered by Mozambique. This nation and its people owe their name to the nineteenth century king Mswati II. Swaziland is a small country, no more than 200 km apart are the north and south and 130 km from east and west. The western part of the country is mountainous, it descends to the eastern part, where the altitude is less important. The border of the country is characterized by the Lebombo Mountains. The climate is temperate enough to the west, but it reached 40 ° C in the east in summer. The country was hit by heavy rainfall, especially in summer, which can reach 2 m west of the country. The territory now occupied Swaziland has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Nowadays, almost all these people belong to ethnic Swazis whose language is siSwazi, although English is the second language spoken.

Although remnants of occupation by humans dating back more than 100,000 years have been found in Swaziland, the current population emigrated there in the nineteenth century, following the migration of Bantu and under pressure from the Boers engaged with the Zulus. At the same time, the first white began to colonize the area.

After the Boer War, Swaziland became a British colony. Independence was granted on September 6, 1968. Since then, the political life of Swaziland between supporters of a democratic system to those of an absolute monarchy.

Swaziland offers a wide variety of landscapes: mountains along the border with Mozambique, eastern savannas and tropical forests in the north-west. Several rivers flow through the country, such as Lusutfu. Swaziland has no access to the sea.

Its highest point is Mount Emlembe, located northwest of the country near Piggs Peak.

With 95,000 inhabitants, the capital Mbabane is the largest city in the country, other important cities are Manzini and Mbabane Siteki.

Swaziland's economy is characterized by a heavy unemployment rate of 34% is the 170th in the world in 2004. Exports represent a silver entry of more than 900 million do not cover the cost of imports, which represent more than a billion dollars. The trade balance deficit of $ 72 million. In 2001, the GDP amounted to 1.4 billion dollars. Growth to 1.6% in 2001 and 2% in 2002.

The Swazi economy depends in part on trade with South Africa, his neighbor, and those with Europe. In 2006, imports from South Africa accounted for 9/10th of the total imports and exports to that country, three quarters of exports. The European Union is the second largest trading partner with 14.2% of exports.

The manufactured products are imported from South but iron ore, kaolin, wood, sugar Africa are exported to England or Japan.

The production is mainly agricultural. The primary sector employs 80% of the assets but only represents 16.4% of GDP. The country grows sugar cane, cotton, tobacco, rice and corn. Since the 1980s, the industry is growing, especially in the food and textile. The business services reached more than 40% of GDP.

Swaziland faces significant development challenges. The country is the 125th in the world for the HDI, despite international assistance in 2001 to $ 104 million. Two-thirds of the population live below the effect poverty3. At the same time, 10% of the population owns 50% of the wealth of countries 3. The difficulties are real in state spending: the budget deficit reached $ 101 million in 2003. Inflation was 7.3% compared with that experienced by Namibia and Colombia.

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