Swaziland (2005) | Bolivia (2006) | |
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Administrative divisions | 4 districts; Hhohho, Lubombo, Manzini, Shiselweni | 9 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento); Beni, Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 40.6% (male 240,643/female 235,895)
15-64 years: 55.6% (male 327,661/female 325,400) 65 years and over: 3.8% (male 19,273/female 25,028) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 35% (male 1,603,982/female 1,542,319)
15-64 years: 60.4% (male 2,660,806/female 2,771,807) 65 years and over: 4.6% (male 182,412/female 227,720) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | sugarcane, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice, citrus, pineapples, sorghum, peanuts; cattle, goats, sheep | soybeans, coffee, coca, cotton, corn, sugarcane, rice, potatoes; timber |
Airports | 18 (2004 est.) | 1,084 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 16
over 3,047 m: 4 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2006) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 17
914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 10 (2004 est.) |
total: 1,068
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 60 914 to 1,523 m: 207 under 914 m: 797 (2006) |
Area | total: 17,363 sq km
land: 17,203 sq km water: 160 sq km |
total: 1,098,580 sq km
land: 1,084,390 sq km water: 14,190 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than New Jersey | slightly less than three times the size of Montana |
Background | Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed by the British in the late 19th century; independence was granted in 1968. Student and labor unrest during the 1990s pressured the monarchy (one of the oldest on the continent) to grudgingly allow political reform and greater democracy. Swaziland recently surpassed Botswana as the country with the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection | Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent history has consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups and countercoups. Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but leaders have faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and illegal drug production. In December 2005, Bolivians elected Movement Toward Socialism leader Evo MORALES president - by the widest margin of any leader since the restoration of civilian rule in 1982 - after he ran on a promise to change the country's traditional political class and empower the nation's poor majority. However, since taking office, his controversial strategies have exacerbated racial and economic tensions between the Amerindian populations of the Andean west and the non-indigenous communities of the eastern lowlands. |
Birth rate | 27.72 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 23.3 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $494.6 million
expenditures: $552.7 million, including capital expenditures of $147 million (2004 est.) |
revenues: $2.848 billion
expenditures: $3.189 billion; including capital expenditures of $741 million (2005 est.) |
Capital | Mbabane; note - Lobamba is the royal and legislative capital | name: La Paz (adminstrative capital)
geographic coordinates: 16 30 S, 68 09 W time difference: UTC-4 (1 hour ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Sucre (constitutional capital) |
Climate | varies from tropical to near temperate | varies with altitude; humid and tropical to cold and semiarid |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | a constitution was due to be adopted in November 2003 but was delayed and scheduled for early 2005 | 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994 |
Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Swaziland
conventional short form: Swaziland |
conventional long form: Republic of Bolivia
conventional short form: Bolivia local long form: Republica de Bolivia local short form: Bolivia |
Death rate | 25.26 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 7.53 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | $320 million (2002 est.) | $6.309 billion (2005 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Lewis LUCKE
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 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Philip S. GOLDBERG
embassy: Avenida Arce 2780, La Paz mailing address: P. O. Box 425, La Paz; APO AA 34032 telephone: [591] (2) 216-8000 FAX: [591] (2) 216-8111 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Mary Madzandza KANYA
chancery: 1712 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 234-5002 FAX: [1] (202) 234-8254 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Gustavo GUZMAN Saldana
chancery: 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 483-4410 FAX: [1] (202) 328-3712 consulate(s) general: Houston, Miami, New York, Oklahoma City, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, DC |
Disputes - international | none | Chile rebuffs Bolivia's reactivated claim to restore the Atacama corridor, ceded to Chile in 1884, offering instead unrestricted but not sovereign maritime access through Chile for Bolivian natural gas and other commodities |
Economic aid - recipient | $104 million (2001) | $221 million (2005 est.) |
Economy - overview | In this small, landlocked economy, subsistence agriculture occupies more than 80% of the population. The manufacturing sector has diversified since the mid-1980s. Sugar and wood pulp remain important foreign exchange earners. Mining has declined in importance in recent years with only coal and quarry stone mines remaining active. Surrounded by South Africa, except for a short border with Mozambique, Swaziland is heavily dependent on South Africa from which it receives about nine-tenths of its imports and to which it sends nearly three-quarters of its exports. Customs duties from the Southern African Customs Union and worker remittances from South Africa 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. More than one-fourth of the population needed emergency food aid in 2004 because of drought, and more than one-third of the adult population was infected by HIV/AIDS. | Bolivia, long one of the poorest and least developed Latin American countries, reformed its economy after suffering a disastrous economic crisis in the early 1980s. The reforms spurred real GDP growth, which averaged 4% in the 1990s, and poverty rates fell. Economic growth, however, lagged again beginning in 1999 because of a global slowdown and homegrown factors such as political turmoil, civil unrest, and soaring fiscal deficits, all of which hurt investor confidence. In 2003, violent protests against the pro-foreign investment economic policies of President SANCHEZ DE LOZADA led to his resignation and the cancellation of plans to export Bolivia's newly discovered natural gas reserves to large northern hemisphere markets. In 2005, the government passed a controversial natural gas law that imposes on the oil and gas firms significantly higher taxes as well as new contracts that give the state control of their operations. Bolivian officials are in the process of implementing the law; meanwhile, foreign investors have stopped investing and have taken the first legal steps to secure their investments. Real GDP growth in 2003-05 - helped by increased demand for natural gas in neighboring Brazil - was positive, but still below the levels seen during the 1990s. Bolivia's fiscal position has improved in recent years, but the country remains dependent on foreign aid from multilateral lenders and foreign governments to meet budget shortfalls. In 2005, the G8 announced a $2 billion debt-forgiveness plan over the next few decades that should help reduce some fiscal pressures on the government in the near term. |
Electricity - consumption | 1.173 billion kWh (2002) | 3.963 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - imports | 799 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2002) | 10 million kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production | 402 million kWh (2002) | 4.25 billion kWh (2003) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Great Usutu River 21 m
highest point: Emlembe 1,862 m |
lowest point: Rio Paraguay 90 m
highest point: Nevado Sajama 6,542 m |
Environment - current issues | limited supplies of potable water; wildlife populations being depleted because of excessive hunting; overgrazing; soil degradation; soil erosion | the clearing of land for agricultural purposes and the international demand for tropical timber are contributing to deforestation; soil erosion from overgrazing and poor cultivation methods (including slash-and-burn agriculture); desertification; loss of biodiversity; industrial pollution of water supplies used for drinking and irrigation |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection |
Ethnic groups | African 97%, European 3% | Quechua 30%, mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian ancestry) 30%, Aymara 25%, white 15% |
Exchange rates | emalangeni per US dollar - 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002), 8.6092 (2001), 6.9398 (2000) | bolivianos per US dollar - 8.0661 (2005), 7.9363 (2004), 7.6592 (2003), 7.17 (2002), 6.6069 (2001) |
Executive branch | chief of state: King MSWATI III (since 25 April 1986)
head of government: Prime Minister Absolom Themba DLAMINI (since 14 November 2003) 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 Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Juan Evo MORALES Ayma (since 22 January 2006); Vice President Alvaro GARCIA Linera (since 22 January 2006); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a single five-year term; election last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: Juan Evo MORALES Ayma elected president; percent of vote - Juan Evo MORALES Ayma 53.7%; Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez 28.6%; Samuel DORIA MEDINA Arana 7.8%; Michiaki NAGATANI Morishit 6.5%; Felipe QUISPE Huanca 2.2%; Guildo ANGULA Cabrera 0.7% |
Exports | NA | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit | natural gas, soybeans and soy products, crude petroleum, zinc ore, tin |
Exports - partners | South Africa 59.7%, EU 8.8%, US 8.8%, Mozambique 6.2% (2004) | Brazil 41.2%, US 14.1%, Colombia 8.8%, Argentina 7.6%, Peru 5.5% (2005) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
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 | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow, and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band; similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed star centered in the yellow band |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 16.1%
industry: 43.4% services: 40.5% (2004 est.) |
agriculture: 12.8%
industry: 35.2% services: 52% (2005 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $5,100 (2004 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.5% (2004 est.) | 4.1% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 26 30 S, 31 30 E | 17 00 S, 65 00 W |
Geography - note | landlocked; almost completely surrounded by South Africa | landlocked; shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake (elevation 3,805 m), with Peru |
Highways | total: 3,107 km
paved: NA unpaved: NA (2000) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 50.2% (1995) |
lowest 10%: 1.3%
highest 10%: 32% (1999) |
Illicit drugs | - | world's third-largest cultivator of coca (after Colombia and Peru) with an estimated 26,500 hectares under cultivation in August 2005, an 8% increase from 2004; intermediate coca products and cocaine exported mostly to or through Brazil, Argentina, and Chile to European drug markets; cultivation steadily increasing despite eradication and alternative crop programs; money-laundering activity related to narcotics trade, especially along the borders with Brazil and Paraguay |
Imports | NA | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | motor vehicles, machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products, chemicals | petroleum products, plastics, paper, aircraft and aircraft parts, prepared foods, automobiles, insecticides, soybeans |
Imports - partners | South Africa 95.6%, EU 0.9%, Japan 0.9%, Singapore 0.3% (2004) | Brazil 21.9%, Argentina 16.7%, US 13.8%, Chile 6.9%, Peru 6.5%, Japan 6.1%, China 5.8% (2005) |
Independence | 6 September 1968 (from UK) | 6 August 1825 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 3.7% (FY95/96) | 5.7% (2004 est.) |
Industries | mining (coal, raw asbestos), wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel | mining, smelting, petroleum, food and beverages, tobacco, handicrafts, clothing |
Infant mortality rate | total: 69.27 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 72.51 deaths/1,000 live births female: 65.94 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
total: 51.77 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 55.31 deaths/1,000 live births female: 48.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 5.4% (2004 est.) | 5.4% (2005 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, AU, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PCA, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO | CAN, CSN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMISET, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Irrigated land | 690 sq km (1998 est.) | 1,320 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | High Court; Court of Appeal; judges for both courts are appointed by the monarch | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges appointed for 10-year terms by National Congress); District Courts (one in each department); provincial and local courts (to try minor cases) |
Labor force | 383,200 (2000) | 4.22 million (2005 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | NA | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
Land boundaries | total: 535 km
border countries: Mozambique 105 km, South Africa 430 km |
total: 6,743 km
border countries: Argentina 832 km, Brazil 3,400 km, Chile 861 km, Paraguay 750 km, Peru 900 km |
Land use | arable land: 10.35%
permanent crops: 0.7% other: 88.95% (2001) |
arable land: 2.78%
permanent crops: 0.19% other: 97.03% (2005) |
Languages | English (official, government business conducted in English), siSwati (official) | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara (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 | based on Spanish law and Napoleonic Code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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 18 October 2003 (next to be held October 2008) 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 |
bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130 seats; 69 are directly elected from their districts and 61 are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve five-year terms)
elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held 18 December 2005 (next to be held in 2010) election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PODEMOS 13, MAS 12, UN 1, MNR 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - MAS 73, PODEMOS 43, UN 8, MNR 6 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 33.22 years
male: 32.49 years female: 33.98 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 65.84 years
male: 63.21 years female: 68.61 years (2006 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.6% male: 82.6% female: 80.8% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 87.2% male: 93.1% female: 81.6% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southern Africa, between Mozambique and South Africa | Central South America, southwest of Brazil |
Map references | Africa | South America |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | - | total: 24 ships (1000 GRT or over) 127,297 GRT/198,525 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 8, chemical tanker 1, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 10 foreign-owned: 10 (Argentina 1, China 1, Egypt 2, Iran 1, Singapore 3, Taiwan 1, Yemen 1) (2006) |
Military branches | Umbutfo Swaziland Defense Force (USDF): Ground Force (includes Air Wing), Royal Swaziland Police Force (RSPF) (2005) | Bolivian Armed Forces: Bolivian Army (Ejercito Boliviano), Bolivian Navy (Armada Boliviana; includes marines), Bolivian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, FAB) (2006) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $40.5 million (2004) | $130 million (2005 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.4% (2004) | 1.4% (2005 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 6 September (1968) | Independence Day, 6 August (1825) |
Nationality | noun: Swazi(s)
adjective: Swazi |
noun: Bolivian(s)
adjective: Bolivian |
Natural hazards | drought | flooding in the northeast (March-April) |
Natural resources | asbestos, coal, clay, cassiterite, hydropower, forests, small gold and diamond deposits, quarry stone, and talc | tin, natural gas, petroleum, zinc, tungsten, antimony, silver, iron, lead, gold, timber, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | -1.22 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 4,860 km; liquid petroleum gas 47 km; oil 2,475 km; refined products 1,589 km; unknown (oil/water) 247 km (2006) |
Political parties and leaders | political parties are banned by the government - the following are considered political associations; Imbokodvo National Movement or INM [leader NA]; Ngwane National Liberatory Congress or NNLC [Obed DLAMINI, president]; People's United Democratic Movement or PUDEMO [Mario MASUKU, president] | Bolivian Socialist Falange or FSB [Romel PANTOJA]; Civic Solidarity Union or UCS [Johnny FERNANDEZ]; Free Bolivia Movement or MBL [Franz BARRIOS]; Marshal of Ayacucho Institutional Vanguard or VIMA [Freddy ZABALA]; Movement of the Revolutionary Left or MIR [Jaime PAZ Zamora]; Movement Toward Socialism or MAS [Juan Evo MORALES Ayma]; Movement Without Fear or MSM [Juan DEL GRANADO]; National Revolutionary Movement or MNR [Gonzalo SANCHEZ DE LOZADA]; New Republican Force or NFR [Manfred REYES-VILLA]; Pachakuti Indigenous Movement or MIP [Felipe QUISPE Huanca]; Poder Democratico Nacional or PODEMOS [Jorge Fernando QUIROGA Ramirez]; Socialist Party or PS [Jeres JUSTINIANO] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Cocalero groups; indigenous organizations; labor unions; Sole Confederation of Campesino Workers of Bolivia or CSUTCB [Roman LOAYZA] |
Population | 1,173,900
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 2005 est.) |
8,989,046 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 40% (1995) | 64% (2004 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.25% (2005 est.) | 1.45% (2006 est.) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 3, FM 2 plus 4 repeaters, shortwave 3 (2004) | AM 171, FM 73, shortwave 77 (1999) |
Railways | total: 301 km
narrow gauge: 301 km 1.067-m gauge (2004) |
total: 3,519 km
narrow gauge: 3,519 km 1.000-m gauge (2005) |
Religions | Zionist (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship) 40%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 10%, Anglican, Bahai, Methodist, Mormon, Jewish and other 30% | Roman Catholic 95%, Protestant (Evangelical Methodist) 5% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age | 18 years of age, universal and compulsory (married); 21 years of age, universal and compulsory (single) |
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: country code - 268; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: new subscribers face bureaucratic difficulties; most telephones are concentrated in La Paz and other cities; mobile cellular telephone use expanding rapidly
domestic: primary trunk system, which is being expanded, employs digital microwave radio relay; some areas are served by fiber-optic cable; mobile cellular systems are being expanded international: country code - 591; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 46,200 (2003) | 646,300 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 88,000 (2003) | 2.421 million (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 5 plus 7 relay stations (2004) | 48 (1997) |
Terrain | mostly mountains and hills; some moderately sloping plains | rugged Andes Mountains with a highland plateau (Altiplano), hills, lowland plains of the Amazon Basin |
Total fertility rate | 3.7 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 2.85 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 34% (2000 est.) | 8% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2005 est.) |
Waterways | - | 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2005) |