]! ^! 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 King MSWATI III, the world's last ruling monarch, to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy, although he has backslid on these promises in recent years. Swaziland recently surpassed Botswana as the country with the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection. 
]" ^" Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa ^# 26 30 S, 31 30 E ^$ Africa ^% `! 17,363 sq km `" 17,203 sq km `# 160 sq km ^& slightly smaller than New Jersey ^' `! 535 km `Y Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km ^( 0 km (landlocked) ^) none (landlocked) ^* varies from tropical to near temperate ^+ mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains ^, `% Great Usutu River 21 m `& Emlembe 1,862 m ^- asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc ^. `' 10.25% `( 0.81% `) 88.94% (2005) ^/ 500 sq km (2003) ^0 drought ^1 limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion _P `P Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection `Q Law of the Sea ^2 landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa 
]# ^3 1,133,066 `* 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 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 40.3% (male 230,238/female 226,184) `, 56.1% (male 304,899/female 331,036) `- 3.6% (male 15,870/female 24,839) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 18.6 years `. 17.9 years `/ 19.3 years (2007 est.) ^6 -0.337% (2007 est.) ^7 26.98 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 30.35 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.03 male(s)/female `1 1.018 male(s)/female `, 0.921 male(s)/female `- 0.639 male(s)/female `2 0.947 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 70.66 deaths/1,000 live births `. 74 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 67.21 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 32.23 years `. 31.84 years `/ 32.62 years (2007 est.) ^= 3.43 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> 38.8% (2003 est.) ^? 220,000 (2003 est.) ^@ 17,000 (2003 est.) ^A `3 Swazi(s) `4 Swazi ^B African 97%, European 3% ^C Zionist 40% (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship), Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 10%, other (includes Anglican, Bahai, Methodist, Mormon, Jewish) 30% ^D English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official) ^E `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 81.6% `. 82.6% `/ 80.8% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 Kingdom of Swaziland `7 Swaziland `Z Umbuso weSwatini `[ eSwatini ^H monarchy ^I `8 Mbabane `9 26 18 S, 31 06 E `: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) `* Lobamba (royal and legislative capital) ^J 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni ^K 6 September 1968 (from UK) ^L Independence Day, 6 September (1968) ^M signed by the King in July 2005 went into effect on 8 February 2006 ^N based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory courts and Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations ^O 18 years of age ^P `; King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986) `< Prime Minister Absolom Themba DLAMINI (since 14 November 2003) `= Cabinet recommended by the prime minister and confirmed by the monarch `> none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch from among the elected members of the House of Assembly ^Q bicameral Parliament or Libandla, a legislative 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) `> House of Assembly - last held 18 October 2003 (next to be held in October 2008) `? 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 ^R High Court; Supreme Court; judges for both courts are appointed by the monarch ^S the status of political parties, previously banned, is unclear under the new (2006)Constitution and currently being debated - the following are considered political associations; African United Democratic Party or AUDP [Stanley MAUNDZISA, president]; Imbokodvo National Movement or INM; Ngwane National Liberatory Congress or NNLC [Obed DLAMINI, president]; People's United Democratic Movement or PUDEMO [Mario MASUKU, president] ^T NA ^U ACP, AfDB, AU, C, COMESA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO ^V `R Ambassador Ephraim Mandla HLOPHE `S 1712 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009 `T [1] (202) 234-5002 `U [1] (202) 234-8254 ^W `R Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Lynn ALLISON `_ Central Bank Building, Mahlokahla Street, Mbabane `` P. O. Box 199, Mbabane `T [268] 404-6441 through 404-6445 `U [268] 404-5959 ^X 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 
]% ^Y 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 more than nine-tenths of its imports and to which it sends 60% 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 2004-05 because of drought, and nearly two-fifths of the adult population has been infected by HIV/AIDS. ^Z $5.91 billion (2006 est.) ^[ $2.212 billion (2006 est.) ^\ 2% (2006 est.) ^] $5,500 (2006 est.) ^^ `@ 8.6% `A 49.7% `B 41.7% (2006 est.) ^_ 300,000 (2006) ^` `@ NA% `A NA% `B NA% ^a 40% (2006 est.) _! 69% (2006) _" `C 1% `D 50.2% (1995) _# 5.4% (2006 est.) _V 15.5% of GDP (2006 est.) _$ `E $984.6 million `F $1.019 billion; including capital expenditures of $147 million (2006 est.) _& sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep _' coal, wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel _( 3.7% (FY95/96) _) 156.3 million kWh (2005) _* 1.123 billion kWh (2005) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 697 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2004) _- 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) _. 3,500 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _1 0 cu m (2004 est.) _2 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Q $-23.13 million (2006 est.) _3 $2.201 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _4 soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit _5 South Africa 59.7%, EU 8.8%, US 8.8%, Mozambique 6.2% (2004) _6 $2.274 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _7 motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals _8 South Africa 95.6%, EU 0.9%, Japan 0.9%, Singapore 0.3% (2004) _[ $228.5 million (2006 est.) _9 $417 million (2006) _: $104 million (2001) _; lilangeni (SZL) _< emalangeni per US dollar - 6.85 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002) _= 1 April - 31 March 
]& _> 35,000 (2005) _? 200,000 (2005) _@ `G a somewhat modern but not an advanced system `H system consists of carrier-equipped, open-wire lines and low-capacity, microwave radio relay `I country code - 268; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) _A AM 3, FM 2 (plus 4 repeaters), shortwave 3 (2004) _B 12 (includes 7 relay stations) (2004) _C .sz _D 2,472 (2006) _E 36,000 (2005) 
]' _F 18 (2006) _G `! 1 `J 1 (2006) _R `! 17 `c 7 `W 10 (2006) _e `! 301 km `n 301 km 1.067-m gauge (2005) _H `! 3,594 km `K 1,078 km `L 2,516 km (2002) 
]( _J Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (USDF): Ground Force (includes air wing), Royal Swaziland Police Force (RSPF) (2005) _T 18-30 years of age for voluntary military service; both sexes are eligible for military service (2005) _K males age 18-49: 227,617 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 89,609 (2005 est.) _U 4.9% (2006 est.) 
]) _N in 2006, Swazi king advocates resort to ICJ to claim parts of Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal from South Africa 