Swaziland (2002) | Nauru (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni | 14 districts; Aiwo, Anabar, Anetan, Anibare, Baiti, Boe, Buada, Denigomodu, Ewa, Ijuw, Meneng, Nibok, Uaboe, Yaren |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 45.5% (male 254,573; female 256,677)
15-64 years: 51.9% (male 281,645; female 301,071) 65 years and over: 2.6% (male 12,027; female 17,612) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years:
40.33% (male 2,510; female 2,365) 15-64 years: 57.97% (male 3,475; female 3,533) 65 years and over: 1.7% (male 103; female 102) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep | coconuts |
Airports | 18 (2001) | 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2002) |
total:
1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 17
914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 10 (2002) |
- |
Area | total: 17,363 sq km
land: 17,203 sq km water: 160 sq km |
total:
21 sq km land: 21 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than New Jersey | about 0.1 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. | Nauru's phosphate deposits began to be mined early in the 20th century by a German-British consortium; the island was occupied by Australian forces in World War I. Upon achieving independence in 1968, Nauru became the smallest independent republic in the world; it joined the UN in 1999. |
Birth rate | 39.59 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 27.22 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $448 million
expenditures: $506.9 million, including capital expenditures of $147 million (FY01/02 ) |
revenues:
$23.4 million expenditures: $64.8 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY95/96) |
Capital | Mbabane; note - Lobamba is the royal and legislative capital | no official capital; government offices in Yaren District |
Climate | varies from tropical to near temperate | tropical; monsoonal; rainy season (November to February) |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 30 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 | 29 January 1968 |
Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Swaziland
conventional short form: Swaziland |
conventional long form:
Republic of Nauru conventional short form: Nauru former: Pleasant Island |
Currency | lilangeni (SZL) | Australian dollar (AUD) |
Death rate | 23.26 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 7.2 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $336 million (2001 est.) | $33.3 million |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador James D. McGEE
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 Nauru; the US Ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Nauru |
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 |
Nauru does not have an embassy in the US, but does have a UN office at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400 D, New York, New York 10017; telephone: (212) 937-0074
consulate(s): Hagatna (Guam) |
Disputes - international | Swaziland continues to press South Africa into ceding ethnic Swazi lands in Kangwane region of KwaZulu-Natal province that were long ago part of the Swazi Kingdom | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $104 million (2001) | $2.25 million from Australia (FY96/97 est.) |
Economy - overview | In this small landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 80% 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 nine-tenths of its imports and to which it sends more than 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 2002 are strengthened by the country's status as a beneficiary of the US African Growth and Opportunity Act initiative. | Revenues of this tiny island have come from exports of phosphates, but reserves are expected to be exhausted within five to ten years. Phosphate production has declined since 1989, as demand has fallen in traditional markets and as the marginal cost of extracting the remaining phosphate increases, making it less internationally competitive. While phosphates have given Nauruans one of the highest per capita incomes in the Third World, few other resources exist with most necessities being imported, including fresh water from Australia. The rehabilitation of mined land and the replacement of income from phosphates are serious long-term problems. In anticipation of the exhaustion of Nauru's phosphate deposits, substantial amounts of phosphate income have been invested in trust funds to help cushion the transition and provide for Nauru's economic future. The government has been borrowing heavily from the trusts to finance fiscal deficits. To cut costs the government has called for a freezing of wages, a reduction of over-staffed public service departments, privatization of numerous government agencies, and closure of some overseas consulates. In recent years Nauru has encouraged the registration of offshore banks and corporations. Tens of billions of dollars have been channeled through their accounts. Few comprehensive statistics on the Nauru economy exist, with estimates of Nauru's per capita GDP varying widely. |
Electricity - consumption | 900.66 million kWh (2000) | 27.9 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 564 million kWh
note: supplied by South Africa (2000) |
0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 362 million kWh (2000) | 30 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 56%
hydro: 44% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
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 along plateau rim 61 m |
Environment - current issues | limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion | limited natural fresh water resources, roof storage tanks collect rainwater, but mostly dependent on a single, aging desalination plant; intensive phosphate mining during the past 90 years - mainly by a UK, Australia, and NZ consortium - has left the central 90% of Nauru a wasteland and threatens limited remaining land resources |
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, Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | African 97%, European 3% | Nauruan 58%, other Pacific Islander 26%, Chinese 8%, European 8% |
Exchange rates | emalangeni per US dollar - 11.5808 (January 2002), 8.4933 (2001), 6.9056 (2000), 6.1087 (1999), 5.4807 (1998), 4.6032 (1997); note - the Swazi lilangeni is at par with the South African rand; emalangeni is the plural form of lilangeni | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.7995 (January 2001), 1.7173 (2000), 1.5497 (1999), 1.5888 (1998), 1.3439 (1997), 1.2773 (1996) |
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 Bernard DOWIYOGO (since 19 April 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Bernard DOWIYOGO (since 19 April 2000); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president from among the members of Parliament elections: president elected by Parliament for a three-year term; election last held 8 April 2000 (next to be held NA 2003) election results: Bernard DOWIYOGO elected president by a vote in Parliament of nine to eight note: former President Rene HARRIS was deposed in a no-confidence vote; this is the eighth change of government in Nauru since the fall of the Lagumont HARRIS government in a no-confidence motion in early November 1996; six of the last eight governments have resulted because of parliamentary no-confidence motions |
Exports | $702 million f.o.b. (2001) | $25.3 million (f.o.b., 1991) |
Exports - commodities | soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit | phosphates |
Exports - partners | South Africa 72%, EU 12%, UK 6%, Mozambique 4%, US 4% (1999) | Australia, NZ |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | 1 July - 30 June |
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 | blue with a narrow, horizontal, yellow stripe across the center and a large white 12-pointed star below the stripe on the hoist side; the star indicates the country's location in relation to the Equator (the yellow stripe) and the 12 points symbolize the 12 original tribes of Nauru |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $4.6 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $59 million (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 10%
industry: 43% services: 47% (1999 est.) |
agriculture:
NA% industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $4,200 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $5,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.5% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 26 30 S, 31 30 E | 0 32 S, 166 55 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa | Nauru is one of the three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean - the others are Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia; only 53 km south of Equator |
Highways | total: 3,800 km
paved: 1,064 km unpaved: 2,736 km (2002) |
total:
30 km paved: 24 km unpaved: 6 km (1998 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $850 million f.o.b. (2001) | $21.1 million (c.i.f., 1991) |
Imports - commodities | motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals | food, fuel, manufactures, building materials, machinery |
Imports - partners | South Africa 89%, EU 5%, Japan 2%, Singapore 2% (2000) | Australia, UK, NZ, Japan |
Independence | 6 September 1968 (from UK) | 31 January 1968 (from the Australia-, NZ-, and UK-administered UN trusteeship) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.7% (FY95/96) | NA% |
Industries | mining (coal), wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel | phosphate mining, financial services, coconut products |
Infant mortality rate | 109.43 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 10.71 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 7.5% (2001 est.) | -3.6% (1993) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACP, AsDB, C, ESCAP, ICAO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 6 (2001) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 690 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | High Court; Court of Appeal; judges for both courts are appointed by the monarch | Supreme Court |
Labor force | NA | - |
Labor force - by occupation | NA | employed in mining phosphates, public administration, education, and transportation |
Land boundaries | total: 535 km
border countries: Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 9.77%
permanent crops: 0.7% other: 89.53% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 100% (1993 est.) |
Languages | English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official) | Nauruan (official, a distinct Pacific Island language), English widely understood, spoken, and used for most government and commercial purposes |
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 | acts of the Nauru Parliament and British common law |
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 Parliament (18 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 9 April 2000 (next to be held NA April 2003) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 18 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 37 years
male: 36.35 years female: 37.66 years (2002 est.) |
total population:
61.2 years male: 57.7 years female: 64.88 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 78.3% male: 78% female: 78.4% (1999 est.) |
definition:
NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, south of the Marshall Islands |
Map references | Africa | Oceania |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | contiguous zone:
24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | none (2000 est.) |
Military - note | - | Nauru maintains no defense forces; under an informal agreement, defense is the responsibility of Australia |
Military branches | Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (Army), Royal Swaziland Police Force | no regular armed forces; Directorate of the Nauru Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $20 million (FY01/02) | $NA |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.75% (FY00/01) | NA% |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 253,510 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
3,018 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 146,805 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
1,661 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 6 September (1968) | Independence Day, 31 January (1968) |
Nationality | noun: Swazi(s)
adjective: Swazi |
noun:
Nauruan(s) adjective: Nauruan |
Natural hazards | drought | periodic droughts |
Natural resources | asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc | phosphates |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | political parties are banned by the constitution - the following are considered political associations - 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] | loose multiparty system; Democratic Party [Kennan ADEANG]; Nauru Party (informal) [Bernard DOWIYOGO] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 1,123,605
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 2002 est.) |
12,088 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.63% (2002 est.) | 2% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Nauru |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 3, FM 2 plus 4 repeaters, shortwave 3 (2001) | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | 170,000 (1999) | 7,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 297 km
narrow gauge: 297 km 1.067-m gauge note: includes 71 km which are not in use (2001) |
total:
5 km; note - used to haul phosphates from the center of the island to processing facilities on the southwest coast |
Religions | Zionist (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship) 40%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 10%, Anglican, Bahai, Methodist, Mormon, Jewish and other 30% | Christian (two-thirds Protestant, one-third Roman Catholic) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age | 20 years of age; universal and compulsory |
Telephone system | general assessment: a somewhat modern but not an advanced 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:
adequate local and international radiotelephone communications provided via Australian facilities domestic: NA international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 38,500 (2001) | 2,000 (1996) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 45,000 (2001) | 450 (1994) |
Television broadcast stations | 5 plus 7 relay stations (2001) | 1 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains | sandy beach rises to fertile ring around raised coral reefs with phosphate plateau in center |
Total fertility rate | 5.77 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 3.61 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 34% (2000 est.) | 0% |
Waterways | none | none |