The Kingdom of Swaziland, spanning only 17,363 square kilometres, is almost entirely surrounded by South Africa and is bordered in the east by Mozambique. The country has a population just over 1 million (2002) and its official capital, Mbabane, is the largest city with 67,200 inhabitants. Interestingly, the city of Lobamba is the royal and legislative capital despite lacking official status. Swaziland is divided into four administrative regions: Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, and Shiselweni.

The kingdom's population is about 97% African and 3% European, and the official languages are English and Siswati (a branch of Nguni). Approximately 40% of Swazi are Zionist (a blend of Christianity and indigenous beliefs), 20% are Roman Catholic, and 10% are Muslim, with the remaining 30% belonging to various other world religions.

Early History

The Swazi nation itself is a fairly recent development as its constituent clans united in the 1800s, but human settlement in the region stretches back tens of thousands of years. The area is thought to have been occupied about 20,000 years ago by the San, who left their distinctive rock paintings throughout the western portion of present-day Swaziland. It was not until roughly 2,000 years ago that the Bantu-speaking Nguni, Sotho, and Tswana migrated and settled in the country, while the ancestors of the Swazi themselves did not arrive until they were forced to flee Mozambique because of Zulu attacks in the early 19th century.

At this point in time, a number of clans struggled for supremacy in the region. The Dlamini would eventually prove most successful in not only the defence of their adopted homeland, but also in the assimilation of other clans and in the formation of crucial alliances. Prompted by a growing invasion threat from the south, their new king, Sobhuza I (or Somhlohlo: "The Wonder"), decided to move his kingdom northward to the centre of present-day Swaziland. There the Dlamini consolidated their power and extended their influence far beyond Swaziland's modern borders by 1860. However, over the next 40 years, pressure from the expanding Boer republic of the Transvaal and the growing British imperial presence after the discovery of diamonds and gold in 1867 and 1871 would force the decline of the Dlamini empire.

Colonial History

By the time the kingship of Swaziland passed to Mbandzeni in 1875, what was once only a stream of European prospectors became a flood that the Swazi could no longer contain. So many concessions had been granted for so many purposes, including land and mineral rights, that the Swazi had in effect signed away their independence by 1890. Two years earlier, in 1888, the Swazi tried to regulate the new European influence by granting them conditional self-government subject to royal veto. However, the Boers and the British continued to work from behind the scenes to force the situation in which the Swazi now found themselves.

After four years of negotiation between Britain and South Africa, despite the fact that the Swazi refused to sign any proclamation of jurisdiction over them, Swaziland became a protectorate of the Transvaal in 1894. Of course, after the Boer War (1899-1902), all rights and powers passed to Great Britain. From 1906 to the late 1940s, Swaziland drifted into a backwater of the British Empire and entered a period of socioeconomic stagnation. From 1945 onward, Britain began to tackle Swaziland's problems, but while the economy began to recover, sociopolitical progress was slow. A constitution providing limited self-government was passed in 1963, and in 1967 Swaziland became a protected state under which its monarchy was restored. Swaziland achieved full independence from Great Britain on September 6, 1968, but retained membership in the Commonwealth.

Post-Colonial History

King Sobhuza II, who reigned for a total of 61 years, suspended the constitution and formally banned political party activity in 1973, effectively instituting almost absolute royal rule. The Swazi people continued to find a common cause in resistance to being incorporated into South Africa, though in 1982, the two countries formally agreed to defend each other's security interests, which included the deportation of African National Congress (ANC) members back to South Africa. King Sobhuza II died in August of the same year and Prince Makhosetive Dlamini, crowned King Mswati III in 1986, was selected as his successor.

A severe drought in 1992 theatened Swaziland with famine, which would be one of many crises that would increase political pressure on the king. Swaziland's first parliamentary elections were held in 1993 and a prime minister was appointed, but political parties still remained officially banned. The remainder of the 1990s was marked by various protests and strikes, though not all Swazis are opposed to the king's power as it is seen by many as a unifying force. Today, Swaziland is one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies