Swaziland (2002) | Niue (2001) | |
![]() | ![]() | |
Administrative divisions | 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni | none; note - there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 14 villages each with its own village council whose members are elected and serve three-year terms |
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:
NA% 15-64 years: NA% 65 years and over: NA% |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep | coconuts, passion fruit, honey, limes, taro, yams, cassava (tapioca), sweet potatoes; pigs, poultry, beef cattle |
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:
260 sq km land: 260 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than New Jersey | 1.5 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. | Niue's remoteness, as well as cultural and linguistic differences between its Polynesian inhabitants and those of the rest of the Cook Islands, have caused it to be separately administered. The population of the island continues to drop (from a peak of 5,200 in 1966 to 2,100 in 2000) with substantial emigration to New Zealand. |
Birth rate | 39.59 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA births/1,000 population |
Budget | revenues: $448 million
expenditures: $506.9 million, including capital expenditures of $147 million (FY01/02 ) |
revenues:
$NA expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA |
Capital | Mbabane; note - Lobamba is the royal and legislative capital | Alofi |
Climate | varies from tropical to near temperate | tropical; modified by southeast trade winds |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 64 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 | 19 October 1974 (Niue Constitution Act) |
Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Swaziland
conventional short form: Swaziland |
conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Niue former: Savage Island |
Currency | lilangeni (SZL) | New Zealand dollar (NZD) |
Death rate | 23.26 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA deaths/1,000 population |
Debt - external | $336 million (2001 est.) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | self-governing in free association with New Zealand; Niue fully responsible for internal affairs; New Zealand retains responsibility for external affairs |
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 |
none (self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand) |
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 |
none (self-governing territory in free association with New Zealand) |
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) | $8.3 million (1995) |
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. | Government expenditures regularly exceed revenues, and the shortfall is made up by critically needed grants from New Zealand that are used to pay wages to public employees. Niue has cut government expenditures by reducing the public service by almost half. The agricultural sector consists mainly of subsistence gardening, although some cash crops are grown for export. Industry consists primarily of small factories to process passion fruit, lime oil, honey, and coconut cream. The sale of postage stamps to foreign collectors is an important source of revenue. The island in recent years has suffered a serious loss of population because of migration of Niueans to New Zealand. Efforts to increase GDP include the promotion of tourism and a financial services industry. |
Electricity - consumption | 900.66 million kWh (2000) | 2.8 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) | 3 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 near Mutalau settlement 68 m |
Environment - current issues | limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion | increasing attention to conservationist practices to counter loss of soil fertility from traditional slash and burn agriculture |
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 signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | African 97%, European 3% | Polynesian (with some 200 Europeans, Samoans, and Tongans) |
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 | New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 2.2502 (January 2001), 2.1863 (2000), 1.8886 (1999), 1.8629 (1998), 1.5082 (1997), 1.4543 (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:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and New Zealand are represented by New Zealand High Commissioner John BRYAN (since NA May 2000) head of government: Premier Sani LAKATANI (since 1 April 1999) cabinet: Cabinet consists of the premier and three ministers elections: the monarch is hereditary; premier elected by the Legislative Assembly for a three-year term; election last held 19 March 1999 (next to be held NA March 2002) election results: Sani LAKATANI elected premier; percent of Legislative Assembly vote - NA% |
Exports | $702 million f.o.b. (2001) | $117,500 (f.o.b., 1989) |
Exports - commodities | soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit | canned coconut cream, copra, honey, passion fruit products, pawpaws, root crops, limes, footballs, stamps, handicrafts |
Exports - partners | South Africa 72%, EU 12%, UK 6%, Mozambique 4%, US 4% (1999) | NZ 89%, Fiji, Cook Islands, Australia |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | 1 April - 31 March |
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 | yellow with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the flag of the UK bears five yellow five-pointed stars - a large one on a blue disk in the center and a smaller one on each arm of the bold red cross |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $4.6 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $4.5 million (1997 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 - $2,800 (1997 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.5% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 26 30 S, 31 30 E | 19 02 S, 169 52 W |
Geography - note | landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa | one of world's largest coral islands |
Highways | total: 3,800 km
paved: 1,064 km unpaved: 2,736 km (2002) |
total:
234 km paved: 86 km unpaved: 148 km (106 km of which is access and plantation road) (2001) |
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) | $4.1 million (c.i.f., 1989) |
Imports - commodities | motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals | food, live animals, manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, lubricants, chemicals, drugs |
Imports - partners | South Africa 89%, EU 5%, Japan 2%, Singapore 2% (2000) | NZ 59%, Fiji 20%, Japan 13%, Samoa, Australia, US |
Independence | 6 September 1968 (from UK) | on 19 October 1974, Niue became a self-governing parliamentary government in free association with New Zealand |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.7% (FY95/96) | NA% |
Industries | mining (coal), wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel | tourism, handicrafts, food processing |
Infant mortality rate | 109.43 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | NA deaths/1,000 live births |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 7.5% (2001 est.) | 1% (1995) |
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, ESCAP (associate), FAO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Sparteca, SPC, SPF, UNESCO, WHO, WMO |
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 of New Zealand; High Court of Niue |
Labor force | NA | 450 (1992 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | NA | most work on family plantations; paid work exists only in government service, small industry, and the Niue Development Board |
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:
19% permanent crops: 8% permanent pastures: 4% forests and woodland: 19% other: 50% (1993 est.) |
Languages | English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official) | Polynesian closely related to Tongan and Samoan, English |
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 | English 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 Legislative Assembly (20 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve three-year terms; six elected from a common roll and 14 are village representatives)
elections: last held 19 March 1999 (next to be held NA March 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NPP 9, independents 11 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 37 years
male: 36.35 years female: 37.66 years (2002 est.) |
total population:
NA years male: NA years female: NA years |
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: 95% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Tonga |
Map references | Africa | Oceania |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | none (2000 est.) |
Military - note | - | defense is the responsibility of New Zealand |
Military branches | Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (Army), Royal Swaziland Police Force | Police Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $20 million (FY01/02) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 4.75% (FY00/01) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 253,510 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 146,805 (2002 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 6 September (1968) | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) |
Nationality | noun: Swazi(s)
adjective: Swazi |
noun:
Niuean(s) adjective: Niuean |
Natural hazards | drought | typhoons |
Natural resources | asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc | fish, arable land |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA migrant(s)/1,000 population |
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] | Niue People's Action Party or NPP [Sani LAKATANI] |
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.) |
2,124 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.63% (2002 est.) | 0.5% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | none; offshore anchorage only |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 3, FM 2 plus 4 repeaters, shortwave 3 (2001) | AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | 170,000 (1999) | 1,000 (1997) |
Railways | total: 297 km
narrow gauge: 297 km 1.067-m gauge note: includes 71 km which are not in use (2001) |
0 km |
Religions | Zionist (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship) 40%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 10%, Anglican, Bahai, Methodist, Mormon, Jewish and other 30% | Ekalesia Niue (Niuean Church - a Protestant church closely related to the London Missionary Society) 75%, Latter-Day Saints 10%, other 15% (mostly Roman Catholic, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventist) |
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.) |
- |
Suffrage | 18 years of age | 18 years of age; universal |
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:
primitive system domestic: single-line telephone system connects all villages on island international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 38,500 (2001) | 376 (1991) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 45,000 (2001) | 0 (1991) |
Television broadcast stations | 5 plus 7 relay stations (2001) | 1 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains | steep limestone cliffs along coast, central plateau |
Total fertility rate | 5.77 children born/woman (2002 est.) | NA children born/woman |
Unemployment rate | 34% (2000 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | none | none |