CIA World Fact Book, 2004/Swaziland


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!| Background:
 * Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed by the British in the late 19th century; independence was granted in 1968. Student and labor unrest during the 1990s pressured the monarchy (one of the oldest on the continent) to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy. Swaziland recently surpassed Botswana as the country with the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection
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!| Location: !| Geographic coordinates: !| Map references: !| Area: water: 160 sq km land: 17,203 sq km !| Area - comparative: !| Land boundaries: border countries: Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km !| Coastline: !| Maritime claims: !| Climate: !| Terrain: !| Elevation extremes: highest point: Emlembe 1,862 m !| Natural resources: !| Land use: permanent crops: 0.7% other: 88.95% (2001) !| Irrigated land: !| Natural hazards: !| Environment - current issues: !| Environment - international agreements: signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea !| Geography - note:
 * Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa
 * 26 30 S, 31 30 E
 * Africa
 * total: 17,363 sq km
 * slightly smaller than New Jersey
 * total: 535 km
 * 0 km (landlocked)
 * none (landlocked)
 * varies from tropical to near temperate
 * mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains
 * lowest point: Great Usutu River 21 m
 * asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc
 * arable land: 10.35%
 * 690 sq km (1998 est.)
 * drought
 * limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion
 * party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Ozone Layer Protection
 * landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa
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!| Population: note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2004 est.) !| Age structure: 15-64 years: 55.3% (male 323,004; female 324,029) 65 years and over: 3.7% (male 18,685; female 24,038) (2004 est.) !| Median age: male: 18.4 years female: 18.8 years (2004 est.) !| Population growth rate: !| Birth rate: !| Death rate: !| Net migration rate: !| Sex ratio: under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 est.) !| Infant mortality rate: female: 64.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 71.64 deaths/1,000 live births !| Life expectancy at birth: male: 39.1 years female: 35.94 years (2004 est.) !| Total fertility rate: !| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: !| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: !| HIV/AIDS - deaths: !| Nationality: adjective: Swazi !| Ethnic groups: !| Religions: !| Languages: !| Literacy: total population: 81.6% male: 82.6% female: 80.8% (2003 est.)
 * 1,169,241
 * 0-14 years: 41% (male 242,090; female 237,395)
 * total: 18.6 years
 * 0.55% (2004 est.)
 * 28.55 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * 23.06 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
 * total: 68.35 deaths/1,000 live births
 * total population: 37.54 years
 * 3.81 children born/woman (2004 est.)
 * 38.8% (2003 est.)
 * 220,000 (2003 est.)
 * 17,000 (2003 est.)
 * noun: Swazi(s)
 * African 97%, European 3%
 * Zionist (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship) 40%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 10%, Anglican, Bahai, Methodist, Mormon, Jewish and other 30%
 * English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official)
 * definition: age 15 and over can read and write
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!| Country name: conventional short form: Swaziland !| Government type: !| Capital: !| Administrative divisions: !| Independence: !| National holiday: !| Constitution: !| Legal system: !| Suffrage: !| Executive branch: head of government: Prime Minister Absolom Themba DLAMINI (since 14 November 2003) cabinet: Cabinet recommended by the prime minister and confirmed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch !| Legislative branch: elections: House of Assembly - last held 18 October 2003 (next to be held NA October 2008) election results: House of Assembly - balloting is done on a nonparty basis; candidates for election are nominated by the local council of each constituency and for each constituency the three candidates with the most votes in the first round of voting are narrowed to a single winner by a second round !| Judicial branch: !| Political parties and leaders: !| Political pressure groups and leaders: !| International organization participation: !| Diplomatic representation in the US: FAX: [1] (202) 244-8059 telephone: [1] (202) 362-6683 chancery: 3400 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 !| Diplomatic representation from the US: embassy: Central Bank Building, Warner Street, Mbabane mailing address: P. O. Box 199, Mbabane telephone: [268] 404-6441 through 404-6445 FAX: [268] 404-5959 !| Flag description:
 * conventional long form: Kingdom of Swaziland
 * monarchy; independent member of Commonwealth
 * Mbabane; note - Lobamba is the royal and legislative capital
 * 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni
 * 6 September 1968 (from UK)
 * Independence Day, 6 September (1968)
 * a constitution was adopted 14 November 2003
 * based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory courts and Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
 * 18 years of age
 * chief of state: King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986)
 * bicameral Parliament or Libandla, an advisory body, consists of the Senate (30 seats - 10 appointed by the House of Assembly and 20 appointed by the monarch; members serve five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (65 seats - 10 appointed by the monarch and 55 elected by popular vote; members serve five-year terms)
 * High Court; Court of Appeal; judges for both courts are appointed by the monarch
 * political parties are banned by the constitution - the following are considered political associations; Imbokodvo National Movement or INM [leader NA]; Ngwane National Liberatory Congress or NNLC [Obed DLAMINI, president]; People's United Democratic Movement or PUDEMO [Mario MASUKU, president]; Swaziland National Front or SWANAFRO [Elmond SHONGWE, president]
 * NA
 * ACP, AfDB, AU, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
 * chief of mission: Ambassador Mary Madzandza KANYA
 * chief of mission: Ambassador James D. McGEE
 * three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in yellow; centered in the red band is a large black and white shield covering two spears and a staff decorated with feather tassels, all placed horizontally
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!| Economy - overview: !| GDP: !| GDP - real growth rate: !| GDP - per capita: !| GDP - composition by sector: industry: 43.2% services: 40.5% (2003 est.) !| Investment (gross fixed): !| Population below poverty line: !| Household income or consumption by percentage share: highest 10%: 50.2% (1995) !| Inflation rate (consumer prices): !| Labor force: !| Labor force - by occupation: !| Unemployment rate: !| Budget: expenditures: $563.4 million, including capital expenditures of $147 million (2003) !| Agriculture - products: !| Industries: !| Industrial production growth rate: !| Electricity - production: !| Electricity - consumption: !| Electricity - exports: !| Electricity - imports: !| Oil - production: !| Oil - consumption: !| Oil - exports: !| Oil - imports: !| Current account balance: !| Exports: !| Exports - commodities: !| Exports - partners: !| Imports: !| Imports - commodities: !| Imports - partners: !| Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: !| Debt - external: !| Economic aid - recipient: !| Currency: !| Currency code: !| Exchange rates: !| Fiscal year:
 * In this small, landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 80% of the population. The manufacturing sector has diversified since the mid-1980s. Sugar and wood pulp remain important foreign exchange earners. Mining has declined in importance in recent years with only coal and quarry stone mines remaining active. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa from which it receives about nine-tenths of its imports and to which it sends nearly three-quarters of its exports. Customs duties from the Southern African Customs Union and worker remittances from South Africa substantially supplement domestically earned income. The government is trying to improve the atmosphere for foreign investment. Overgrazing, soil depletion, drought, and sometimes floods persist as problems for the future. More than one-fourth of the population needed emergency food aid in 2002 because of drought, and more than one-third of the adult population was infected by HIV/AIDS.
 * purchasing power parity - $5.702 billion (2003 est.)
 * 2.2% (2003 est.)
 * purchasing power parity - $4,900 (2003 est.)
 * agriculture: 16.2%
 * 21.1% of GDP (2003)
 * 40% (1995)
 * lowest 10%: 1%
 * 7.3% (2003 est.)
 * 383,200 (2000)
 * NA
 * 34% (2000 est.)
 * revenues: $462.4 million
 * sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep
 * mining (coal), wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel
 * 3.7% (FY95/96)
 * 348.3 million kWh (2001)
 * 962.9 million kWh (2001)
 * 0 kWh (2001)
 * 639 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2001)
 * 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * 3,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * NA (2001)
 * NA (2001)
 * $-72.69 million (2003)
 * $905.6 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)
 * soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit
 * South Africa 72%, EU 14.2%, Mozambique 3.7%, US 3.5% (1999)
 * $1.088 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
 * motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals
 * South Africa 88.8%, EU 5.6%, Japan 0.6%, Singapore 0.4% (1999)
 * $277.5 million (2003)
 * $320 million (2002 est.)
 * $104 million (2001)
 * lilangeni (SZL)
 * SZL
 * emalangeni per US dollar - 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002), 8.6092 (2001), 6.9398 (2000), 6.1095 (1999)
 * 1 April - 31 March
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!| Telephones - main lines in use: !| Telephones - mobile cellular: !| Telephone system: domestic: system consists of carrier-equipped, open-wire lines and low-capacity, microwave radio relay international: country code - 268; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) !| Radio broadcast stations: !| Radios: !| Television broadcast stations: !| Televisions: !| Internet country code: !| Internet hosts: !| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): !| Internet users:
 * 46,200 (2003)
 * 88,000 (2003)
 * general assessment: a somewhat modern but not an advanced system
 * AM 3, FM 2 plus 4 repeaters, shortwave 3 (2001)
 * 170,000 (1999)
 * 5 plus 7 relay stations (2001)
 * 23,000 (2000)
 * .sz
 * 1,401 (2003)
 * 5 (2002)
 * 27,000 (2003)
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!| Railways: narrow gauge: 301 km 1.067-m gauge (2003) !| Highways: paved: NA unpaved: NA (1998) !| Ports and harbors: !| Airports: !| Airports - with paved runways: 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.) !| Airports - with unpaved runways: 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 10 (2004 est.)
 * total: 301 km
 * total: 3,247 km
 * none
 * 18 (2003 est.)
 * total: 1
 * total: 17
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!| Military branches: !| Military manpower - military age and obligation: !| Military manpower - availability: !| Military manpower - fit for military service: !| Military expenditures - dollar figure: !| Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
 * Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (Army, including Air Wing)
 * 18 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)
 * males age 15-49: 289,985 (2004 est.)
 * males age 15-49: 168,257 (2004 est.)
 * $29 million (2003)
 * 1.8% (2003)
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