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Swaziland |
Capital: Mbabane
Languages: English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official)
Currency: Lilangeni (SZL)
Background: Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed by the British in the late 19th century; independence was granted 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. In this small landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 60% of the population. Manufacturing features a number of agroprocessing factories. Exports of soft drink concentrate, sugar, and wood pulp are the main earners of hard currency. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa from which it receives four-fifths of its imports and to which it sends three-fourths of its exports. Remittances from Swazi workers in South African mines supplement domestically earned income by as much as 20%.
PEOPLE
Population: 1,133,066 (July 2007 est.); 1,354,051 (July 2010)
Life expectancy at birth:
2007
Total Population: 32.23 years
Male: 31.84 years
Female: 32.62 years (2007 est.)
2010
Total population: 47.97 years
Male: 48.14 years
female: 47.8 years (2010 est.)
Age structure:
2007
0-14 years: 40.3% (male 230,238/female 226,184)
15-64 years: 56.1% (male 304,899/female 331,036)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 15,870/female 24,839) (2007 est.)
2010
0-14 years: 38.6% (male 260,840/female 254,781)
15-64 years: 57.9% (male 383,236/female 391,478)
65 years and over: 3.5% (male 19,857/female 26,994) (2010 est.)
Population growth rate: -0.337% (2007 est.); 1.213% (2010 est.)
Population below poverty line: 69% (2006);
HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate: 33.4% (2006 est.); 26.1% (2007 est.)
People living with HIV/AIDS: 220,000 (2006 est.); 190,000 (2007 est.)
Literacy - definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total Population: 81.6%
Male: 82.6%
Female: 80.8% (2003 est.)
Refugees and Internally Displaced People: N/A
ECONOMY
Unemployment rate: 40% (2006 est.)
Labour force by Occupation: N/A
Agricultural Products: sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep
Industries: coal, wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel
Exports - Commodities: soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit
Exports - Partners: South Africa 59.7%, EU 8.8%, US 8.8%, Mozambique 6.2% (2006)
Imports - Commodities: motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals
Imports - Partners: South Africa 95.6%, EU 0.9%, Japan 0.9%, Singapore 0.3% (2006)
ENVIRONMENT
Environment - Current issues: limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion
Natural hazards: drought
Source: CIA World Factbook
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