10 Things You Didn't Know About Eswatini (Swaziland)

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Eswatini(Swaziland)
Hello Displorers, Welcome back to another exciting video and thanks for watching, As you already know Displorers its always a pleasure presenting to you some interesting but lesser known facts about the beautiful countries on the Africa contitnent In this video, we shall be taking you all the way to the southern part of Africa and shining the light on of the smallest countires in the part of the continent. Eswatini.
Eswatini, officially the Kingdom of Eswatini formerly known as Swaziland until officially renamed in 2018 is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its north, west, and south. At no more than 200km north to south and 130km east to west, Eswatini is one of the smallest countries in Africa with a total area of 17,364km2. Despite this, its climate and topography are diverse, ranging from a cool and mountainous Highveld to a hot and dry lowveld. The population of 1.3million is composed primarily of ethnic Swazis and the language is Swazi or siSwati in native form. The Swazis established their kingdom in the mid-18th century under the leadership of Ngwane III. The country and the Swazi take their names from Mswati II, the 19th-century king under whose rule Swazi territory was expanded and unified; the present boundaries were drawn up in 1881 in the midst of the Scramble for Africa. After the Second Boer War, the kingdom, under the name of Swaziland, was a British protectorate from 1903 until it regained its independence on 6 September 1968.
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The kingdom of Eswatini has a GDP of about $4.662 billion and a GDP per capita of $4,145.97 and here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about Eswatini.
10. Everything Can Be Expressed Through Dance
Dance is key to the Swazis’ cultural identity, and every single member of the community is expected to participate during cultural celebrations. Every year, 10,000 young women perform for the Queen Mother at the Umhlanga for the Reed Dance Festival, while the men get their turn before the king at the Incwala, which takes place during the summer solstice. These dancers were the most important part of the 50:50 celebrations in Swazi which we will discuss later in this video. They also hosts one of the best festivals in the world called MTN Bushfire Fest which is held every year to celebrate everything arts. The line-up of Swazi and international acts include DJs, live acts, filmmakers, and even poets. There are also dozens of craft stalls, a Global Food Village, and an extensive camp site which is only tips of the extensive show.
9. Eswatini is The Last Absolute Monarchy in Africa
Eswatini is Africa’s last absolute monarchy and one of the few remaining in the world. This form of government gives the King supreme authority, unimpeded by written laws, legislature or customs. This simply implies, the King can do whatever he wants and the public has no right to complain about it. For starters, political parties are banned from taking part in elections which renders their existence pointless and only candidates approved by chiefs loyal to the king can stand for office. Since it is the last absolute monarchy in Africa it’s the reason why ESwatini’s king was able to change the country’s name without consulting parliament due to his status as an absolute monarchy. Though he generally rules with consensus, he is still one of the two most powerful people in the country known as “the Lion”, while his mother, Queen Mother Ntfomb, is the second and known as “the Great She Elephant”. Because mother and son are equal in power, they can theoretically keep each other in check.
8. The Name Change From Swaziland to Eswatini
It wasn’t always called Eswatini but it was known as Swaziland. Swaziland is the country’s colonial name which it kept for the first 50 years of independence. However, in April 2018, King Mswati III decided to resurrect the country’s Swazi name ESwatini, and announced to cheering crowds that the country would be renamed the Kingdom of ESwatini. The year 2018 marked 50 years of independence for the Kingdom of eSwatini, as well as the 50th birthday of its ruler, King Mswati III. In celebration of this Southern African country’s 50th year of independence and the king’s 50th birthday, they called the double Golden Jubilee Celebrations ’50:50’. King Mswati III announced the name change to the Kingdom of ESwatini to mark 50 years since independence from British rule during this celebration. The name Eswatini means “place of the Swazi”. So from 2018 the country was officially known as the Kingdom of Eswatini so if you are still left behind, you can officially catch up now.
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