Swaziland (2001) | Kiribati (2003) | |
Administrative divisions | 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni | 3 units; Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands; note - in addition, there are 6 districts (Banaba, Central Gilberts, Line Islands, Northern Gilberts, Southern Gilberts, Tarawa) and 21 island councils - one for each of the inhabited islands (Abaiang, Abemama, Aranuka, Arorae, Banaba, Beru, Butaritari, Kanton, Kiritimati, Kuria, Maiana, Makin, Marakei, Nikunau, Nonouti, Onotoa, Tabiteuea, Tabuaeran, Tamana, Tarawa, Teraina) |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
45.53% (male 250,327; female 252,479) 15-64 years: 51.88% (male 276,186; female 296,728) 65 years and over: 2.59% (male 11,687; female 16,936) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 39.7% (male 19,839; female 19,333)
15-64 years: 57% (male 27,705; female 28,438) 65 years and over: 3.3% (male 1,385; female 1,849) (2003 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep | copra, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, vegetables; fish |
Airports | 18 (2000 est.) | 20 (2002) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
17 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 10 (2000 est.) |
total: 16
914 to 1,523 m: 12 under 914 m: 4 (2002) |
Area | total:
17,363 sq km land: 17,203 sq km water: 160 sq km |
total: 811 sq km
land: 811 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes three island groups - Gilbert Islands, Line Islands, Phoenix Islands |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than New Jersey | four times the size of Washington, DC |
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 have pressured the monarchy (one of the oldest on the continent) to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy. | The Gilbert Islands were granted self-rule by the UK in 1971 and complete independence in 1979 under the new name of Kiribati. The US relinquished all claims to the sparsely inhabited Phoenix and Line Island groups in a 1979 treaty of friendship with Kiribati. |
Birth rate | 40.12 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 31.24 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$400 million expenditures: $450 million, including capital expenditures of $115 million (FY96/97) |
revenues: $28.4 million
expenditures: $37.2 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | Mbabane; note - Lobamba is the royal and legislative capital | Tarawa |
Climate | varies from tropical to near temperate | tropical; marine, hot and humid, moderated by trade winds |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 1,143 km |
Constitution | none; constitution of 6 September 1968 was suspended 12 April 1973; a new constitution was promulgated 13 October 1978, but was not formally presented to the people; since then a few more outlines for a constitution have been compiled under the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), but so far none have been accepted | 12 July 1979 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Kingdom of Swaziland conventional short form: Swaziland |
conventional long form: Republic of Kiribati
conventional short form: Kiribati note: pronounced keer-ree-bahss former: Gilbert Islands |
Currency | lilangeni (SZL) | Australian dollar (AUD) |
Death rate | 21.84 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 8.63 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Debt - external | $281 million (2000 est.) | $10 million (1999 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Gregory L. JOHNSON embassy: Central Bank Building, Warner Street, Mbabane mailing address: P. O. Box 199, Mbabane telephone: [268] 404-6441 through 404-6445 FAX: [268] 404-5959 |
the US does not have an embassy in Kiribati; the ambassador to the Marshall Islands is accredited to Kiribati |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Mary Madzandza KANYA chancery: 3400 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 362-6683 FAX: [1] (202) 244-8059 |
Kiribati does not have an embassy in the US; there is an honorary consulate in Honolulu |
Disputes - international | Swaziland has asked South Africa to open negotiations on reincorporating some nearby South African territories that are populated by ethnic Swazis or that were long ago part of the Swazi Kingdom | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $55 million (1995) | $15.5 million largely from UK and Japan (1995) |
Economy - overview | In this small landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 60% of the population. Manufacturing features a number of agroprocessing factories. Mining has declined in importance in recent years: diamond mines have shut down because of the depletion of easily accessible reserves; high-grade iron ore deposits were depleted by 1978; and health concerns have cut world demand for asbestos. 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 two-thirds of its exports. Remittances from the Southern African Customs Union and Swazi workers in South African mines 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. Prospects for 2001 are strengthened by government millennium projects for a new convention center, additional hotels, an amusement park, a new airport, and stepped-up roadbuilding and factory construction plans. | A remote country of 33 scattered coral atolls, Kiribati has few natural resources. Commercially viable phosphate deposits were exhausted at the time of independence from the UK in 1979. Copra and fish now represent the bulk of production and exports. The economy has fluctuated widely in recent years. Economic development is constrained by a shortage of skilled workers, weak infrastructure, and remoteness from international markets. Tourism provides more than one-fifth of GDP. The financial sector is at an early stage of development as is the expansion of private sector initiatives. Foreign financial aid from UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and China is a critical supplement to GDP, equal to 25%-50% of GDP in recent years. Remittances from workers abroad account for more than $5 million each year. |
Electricity - consumption | 198 million kWh (1999) | 6.51 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 852 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 701 million kWh
note: supplied by South Africa (1999) |
0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 375 million kWh (1999) | 7 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
53.33% hydro: 46.67% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Great Usutu River 21 m highest point: Emlembe 1,862 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location on Banaba 81 m |
Environment - current issues | limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion | heavy pollution in lagoon of south Tarawa atoll due to heavy migration mixed with traditional practices such as lagoon latrines and open-pit dumping; ground water at risk |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Desertification, Law of the Sea |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | African 97%, European 3% | predominantly Micronesian with some Polynesian |
Exchange rates | emalangeni per US dollar - 7.7803 (January 2001), 6.9056 (2000), 6.1087 (1999), 5.4807 (1998), 4.6032 (1997), 4.2706 (1996); note - the Swazi lilangeni is at par with the South African rand; emalangeni is the plural form of lilangeni | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.84 (2002), 1.93 (2001), 1.72 (2000), 1.55 (1999), 1.59 (1998) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986) head of government: Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas DLAMINI (since 9 August 1996) cabinet: Cabinet recommended by the prime minister and confirmed by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister appointed by the monarch |
chief of state: President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President NA; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Anote TONG (since 10 July 2003); Vice President NA; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: 12-member Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of the House of Parliament elections: the House of Parliament chooses the presidential candidates from among their members and then those candidates compete in a general election; president is elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 4 July 2003 (next to be held not later than July 2007); vice president appointed by the president election results: Anote TONG 47.4%, Harry TONG 43.5%, Banuera BERINA 9.1% |
Exports | $881 million (f.o.b., 2000) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit | copra 62%, coconuts, seaweed, fish |
Exports - partners | South Africa 65%, EU 12%, Mozambique 11%, US 5% (1998) | Japan 56.7%, Thailand 16.6%, South Korea 16.3% (2002) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | NA |
Flag description | 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 | the upper half is red with a yellow frigate bird flying over a yellow rising sun, and the lower half is blue with three horizontal wavy white stripes to represent the ocean |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $4.4 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $79 million - supplemented by a nearly equal amount from external sources (2001 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
10% industry: 46% services: 44% (1998 est.) |
agriculture: 30%
industry: 7% services: 63% (1998 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $4,000 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $800 (2001 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.4% (2000 est.) | 1.5% (2001 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 26 30 S, 31 30 E | 1 25 N, 173 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa | 21 of the 33 islands are inhabited; Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Makatea in French Polynesia, and Nauru |
Highways | total:
3,000 km paved: 850 km unpaved: 2,150 km (1997) |
total: 670 km
paved: NA km unpaved: NA km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $928 million (f.o.b., 2000) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, miscellaneous manufactured goods, fuel |
Imports - partners | South Africa 84%, EU 5%, Japan 2%, Singapore 2% (1998) | France 28.7%, Australia 26.3%, Fiji 12.5%, Japan 9.5%, Latvia 5.4%, US 4.6%, New Zealand 4% (2002) |
Independence | 6 September 1968 (from UK) | 12 July 1979 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.7% (FY95/96) | 0.7% (1991 est.) |
Industries | mining (coal and asbestos), wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates | fishing, handicrafts |
Infant mortality rate | 109.19 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 51.26 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 56.45 deaths/1,000 live births female: 45.82 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.4% (2000 est.) | 2.5% (2001 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, ITU, OPCW, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WTrO (applicant) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 3 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 670 sq km (1993 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | High Court; Court of Appeal; judges for both courts are appointed by the monarch | Court of Appeal; High Court; 26 Magistrates' courts; judges at all levels are appointed by the president |
Labor force | NA | 7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers |
Labor force - by occupation | private sector 70%, public sector 30% | - |
Land boundaries | total:
535 km border countries: Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land:
11% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 62% forests and woodland: 7% other: 20% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 50.68% other: 49.32% (1998 est.) |
Languages | English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official) | I-Kiribati, English (official) |
Legal system | based on South African Roman-Dutch law in statutory courts and Swazi traditional law and custom in traditional courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | NA |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament or Libandla, an advisory 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)
elections: House of Assembly - last held 16 and 24 October 1998 (next to be held NA 2003) election results: 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 |
unicameral House of Parliament or Maneaba Ni Maungatabu (42 seats; 39 elected by popular vote, one ex officio member - the attorney general, one appointed to represent Banaba, and one other; members serve four-year terms)
elections: first round elections last held 29 November 2002; second round elections held 6 December 2002 (next to be held by November 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - BTK 17, MTM 16, independents 7, other 2 (includes attorney general) note: new legislative elections were held in two rounds - the first round on 9 May 2003 and the second round on 14 May 2003 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
38.62 years male: 37.86 years female: 39.4 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 60.93 years
male: 57.97 years female: 64.03 years (2003 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 76.7% male: 78% female: 75.6% (1995 est.) |
definition: NA
total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa | Oceania, group of 33 coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean, straddling the equator; the capital Tarawa is about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia; note - on 1 January 1995, Kiribati proclaimed that all of its territory lies in the same time zone as its Gilbert Islands group (GMT +12) even though the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands under its jurisdiction lie on the other side of the International Date Line |
Map references | Africa | Oceania |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total: 1 ship (1,000 GRT or over) 1,291 GRT/1,295 DWT
ships by type: passenger/cargo 1 (2002 est.) |
Military - note | - | Kiribati does not have military forces; defense assistance is provided by Australia and NZ |
Military branches | Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (Army), Royal Swaziland Police Force | no regular military forces; Police Force (carries out law enforcement functions and paramilitary duties; small police posts are on all islands) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $19.198 million (FY00/01) | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.75% (FY00/01) | NA% |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
248,084 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
143,618 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 6 September (1968) | Independence Day, 12 July (1979) |
Nationality | noun:
Swazi(s) adjective: Swazi |
noun: I-Kiribati (singular and plural)
adjective: I-Kiribati |
Natural hazards | NA | typhoons can occur any time, but usually November to March; occasional tornadoes; low level of some of the islands make them very sensitive to changes in sea level |
Natural resources | asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc | phosphate (production discontinued in 1979) |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Imbokodvo National Movement or INM [leader NA]; Ngwane National Libertatory Congress or NNLC [Obed DLAMINI, president]; People's United Democratic Movement or PUDEMO [Mario MASUKU, president]; Swaziland National Front or SWANAFRO [Elmond SHONGWE, president]; Swaziland Progressive Party or SPP [J. J. NQUKU, president]; Swaziland United Front or SUF [Matsapa SHONGWE, leader]
note: political parties are banned by the constitution promulgated on 13 October 1978; illegal parties are prohibited from holding large public gatherings; the organizations listed are political associations |
Boutokaan Te Koaua Party or BTK [Taberannang TIMEON]; Maneaban Te Mauri Party or MTM [Teburoro TITO]; Maurin Kiribati Pati or MKP [leader NA]; National Progressive Party or NPP [Dr. Harry TONG]
note: there is no tradition of formally organized political parties in Kiribati; they more closely resemble factions or interest groups because they have no party headquarters, formal platforms, or party structures |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 1,104,343
note: 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 2001 est.) |
98,549 (July 2003 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.83% (2001 est.) | 2.26% (2003 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Banaba, Betio, English Harbour, Kanton |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 7, FM 6 (2000) | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1
note: the shortwave station may be inactive (2002) |
Radios | 155,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
297 km; note - includes 71 km which are not in use narrow gauge: 297 km 1.067-m gauge |
0 km |
Religions | Protestant 55%, Muslim 10%, Roman Catholic 5%, indigenous beliefs 30% | Roman Catholic 52%, Protestant (Congregational) 40%, some Seventh-Day Adventist, Muslim, Baha'i, Latter-day Saints, and Church of God (1999) |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
not a modern system domestic: system consists of carrier-equipped, open-wire lines and low-capacity, microwave radio relay international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) note: Kiribati is being linked to the Pacific Ocean Cooperative Telecommunications Network, which should improve telephone service |
Telephones - main lines in use | 33,500 (2000) | 3,800 (1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 30,000 (2000) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 10 (2000) | 1 (not reported to be active) (2002) |
Terrain | mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains | mostly low-lying coral atolls surrounded by extensive reefs |
Total fertility rate | 5.82 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 4.28 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 22% (1995 est.) | 2%; underemployment 70% (1992 est.) |
Waterways | none | 5 km (small network of canals in Line Islands) |