Eswatini

Kingdom of Eswatini Umbuso weSwatini  (Swazi)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  "Siyinqaba" (Swazi) "We are a fortress" "We are a mystery" "We hide ourselves away" "We are powerful ones"
Anthem:  "Nkulunkulu Mnikati wetibusiso temaSwati" "Oh God, Bestower of the Blessings of the Swazi'"
Location of  Eswatini  (dark blue) – in Africa  (light blue) – in the African Union  (light blue)
Capital	Mbabane (executive) Lobamba (legislative) 26°30′S 31°30′E / 26.500°S 31.500°E / -26.500; 31.500
Largest city	Mbabane
Official languages	English
National language	Swazi
Demonym(s)	Swazi
Government	Unitary parliamentary absolute diarchy
• Ngwenyama	Mswati III
• Prime Minister	Russell Dlamini
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Assembly
Independence from the United Kingdom
• Granted	6 September 1968
• United Nations membership	24 September 1968
• Current constitution	2005 [1][2][3]
Area
• Total	17,364 km2 (6,704 sq mi) (153rd)
• Water (%)	0.9
Population
• 2021 estimate	1,192,271[4][5] (155th)
• 2017 census	1,093,238[6]
• Density	68.2/km2 (176.6/sq mi) (135th)
GDP (PPP)	2019 estimate
• Total	$12.293 billion
• Per capita	$11,089[7]
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
• Total	$4.662 billion
• Per capita	$4,206[7]
Gini (2015)	49.5[8] high
HDI (2019)	0.611[9] medium · 138th
Currency	Swazi lilangeni (SZL) South African rand (ZAR)
Time zone	UTC+2 (SAST)
Driving side	left
Calling code	+268
ISO 3166 code	SZ
Internet TLD	.sz
Website www.gov.sz

Eswatini (or Swaziland) is a country in Africa. It is officially the Kingdom of Eswatini (Umbuso weSwatini). It was called Swaziland until April 2018.

Its capital is Mbabane. The country is named after the 19th-century king Mswati II. Eswatini was colonized by the British and the Boers at the end of the 19th century.^[10]

Eswatini is a small country. It is no more than 200 kilometres (120 mi) north to south and 130 kilometres (81 mi) east to west. It is completely surrounded by land. Eswatini does not touch the sea. The two countries that touch it are Mozambique and South Africa. The country's two largest cities are the administrative capital Mbabane and the economic center Manzini. The seat of government is Lobamba.

On 19 April 2018, the King of Eswatini Mswati III announced that the Kingdom of Swaziland had renamed itself the Kingdom of Eswatini.^[11] Part of the reason was that the old name sounded too similar to Switzerland.^[11][12]

1. ↑ "Laws" (PDF). www.wipo.int. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
2. ↑ "THE CONSTITUTION OF THE KINGDOM OF SWAZILAND ACT" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
3. ↑ "Constitution" (PDF). www.gov.sz. Retrieved 2019-12-27.
4. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
5. ↑ "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX). population.un.org ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
6. ↑ "Swaziland Releases Population Count from 2017 Census". United Nations Population Fund. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". www.imf.org.
8. ↑ "Swaziland – Country partnership strategy FY2015-2018". World Bank. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
9. ↑ "Human Development Reports – Eswatini (Kingdom of) – Human Development Indicators". United Nations Development Programme. May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
10. ↑ Kuper, Hilda (1963). The Swazi: a South African kingdom. Internet Archive. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. pp. 10–13. ISBN 978-0-03-042615-5.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} "Swaziland king changes the country's name". BBC News. 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
12. ↑ "Kingdom of Swaziland Change Now Official". Times Of Swaziland. 18 May 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.