Swaziland

Swaziland is a small, mountainous, landlocked country located between South Africa and Mozambique. Home to about 1.1 million people, its total land area is just over 17,000 square kilometers. The [Page 1692]country is divided into four geographic regions: The Highveld, The Middleveld, The Lowveld, and Lubombo. The Highveld, in the west, has an average altitude of about 1,300 meters. This region receives the most rainfall in the country and has the coolest temperatures. The Middleveld has an average elevation of 700 meters and is warmer and drier than the Highveld. The Lowveld, with an average elevation of 300 meters, is the center of sugar cane production, the nation's main industry. The fourth region, the Lubombo, is an escarpment along the Lowveld with variable climate and agricultural land use.

Historically, the Swazi people migrated into the area from Mozambique in the 1750s. When faced with the Zulus to the south, the Swazis settled to the north in present-day Swaziland, and consolidated under King Mswati, who gave them their name. By 1902 the British had assumed control of Swaziland. The British planned to join South Africa and Swaziland, but due to the racial segregation policies of South Africa, Swaziland stayed a separate unit; in 1968 Swaziland gained independence from Britain. It is still a Commonwealth country.

Swaziland is one of the few monarchies left in Africa. King Mswati III holds supreme executive, legislative, and judicial powers, although in practice an elected House of Assembly and appointed cabinet help delegate government decisions.

Swaziland has one of the strongest economies in Africa with a total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $2.8 billion, or $1,891 per capita income. Swaziland's largest industry is sugar, which accounts for 24 percent of its GDP and 51 percent of its agricultural production. The major markets for the sugar are the European Union (EU) and the United States, and only a small percentage of the sugar is sold on the domestic market. Swazi sugar had preferential status in the European market, but this reliance on one crop—which is sold primarily to two markets—may hurt Swaziland's economy in the short-term. In 2005, the EU began to reform its sugar market, and it is expected that by 2009 the price of Swazi sugar could fall by 38 percent.

The falling sugar prices combined with the HIV/AIDS pandemic may prove disastrous for the country. Swaziland has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world. It has a prevalence rate of 38 percent, which is second in the world only to Botswana. The country's productive labor force has been severely impacted as the majority of deaths occur among young people aged 15–49. Due to the HIV epidemic, life expectancy at birth has dropped from 51 years in the mid-1990s to 39.4 in 2005.