{"id":260,"date":"2009-07-12T22:51:29","date_gmt":"2009-07-13T03:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/?p=260"},"modified":"2010-02-02T21:11:59","modified_gmt":"2010-02-03T03:11:59","slug":"the-kingdom-of-swaziland-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kickert.info\/blog\/2009\/07\/12\/the-kingdom-of-swaziland-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kingdom of Swaziland (part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I posted<\/a> about the decision Beth and I have made about moving to Africa.\u00a0 Today I want to take the time to give a brief overview of the country of Swaziland, where we are strongly considering moving.\u00a0 Tomorrow, I will write a bit about why Beth and I made this decision and what it may look like.<\/p>\n

Swaziland is the second smallest mainland country in Africa (trailing only Gambia).\u00a0 It is landlocked and roughly the size of New Jersey.\u00a0 It lies to the north-east of South Africa and is surrounded on three sides by that country.\u00a0 Southern Mozambique is along the eastern border of Swaziland.\u00a0 The population of the country is 1.1M, which is about the same as Rhode Island (by comparison Kentucky has a population of 4.3M).\u00a0 That gives a population density of roughly the same as Tennessee, but the differences is that Swaziland is more spread out with its capitol and largest city of Mbabane having only 81,000 people.\u00a0 Only 4 cities have more than 10,000 people and only 10 are over 4,000.<\/p>\n

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Map of Swaziland<\/p><\/div>\n

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The country has a rich history and remains as the only remaining monarchy in Africa.\u00a0 Currently King Mswati III is the ruler of the country.\u00a0 He currently has 14 wives and 23 children.\u00a0 Swaziland is navigating a fine line between democracy and monarchy with a (relatively) newly adopted constitution.\u00a0 In the early 1800’s the Dlamini royal house established themselves in the area.\u00a0 By the turn of the next century, the area known as Swaziland was under British colonial rule even though the royal family was still in existence.\u00a0 In 1968 the country was granted independence and a constitutional monarchy was established.\u00a0 This however was short lived as in 1973 the constitution was dissolved by King Sobhuza leading to a absolute monarchy.\u00a0 Eventually the monarchy was passed on to the current king Mswati III in 1986.\u00a0 Under his rule (and thorough the pressure of underground political parties) a movement to more democracy was initiated.\u00a0 National elections begain in 1993 and in 2006 a new constitution was established that declared the king the head of state and a prime minister and parliment along with a judicial system under him.\u00a0 While power is now shared, the king still has an abundance of control (for instance, all the land is considered to be the King’s).<\/p>\n

\"King<\/a>

King Mswati III<\/p><\/div>\n

Swaziland has two languages, siSwati and English.\u00a0 SiSwati is the traditional langauge spoken in most of the rural areas and English is the language of business and government.\u00a0 SiSwati is a derivitive of Zulu; you can hear it spoken here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By far the greatest issue facing the Swazi people is the AIDS epidemic.\u00a0 Currently nearly 40% of adults are infected that number is on the rise.\u00a0 According to the UN<\/a>, it is one of the few areas of the world where the quality of life is decreasing.\u00a0 The AIDS rate is the highest in the world, the life expectancy is the third worst, and of 177 countries, it listed as being 141st in terms of human development.\u00a0 77.8% of the population lives on less than two dollars a day and 47.7% lives on less than a dollar.<\/p>\n

Despite these staggering problems and a transitioning government, Swaziland is relatively stable.\u00a0 There are not major uprisings, civil conflicts, or major border disputes.\u00a0 There are not rebel groups attempting to overthrow the government like there are in other African countries.<\/p>\n

The crime rate in Swaziland is relatively high, especially in terms of violent crime.\u00a0 However, it should be noted that its overall crime rate is 20% lower than that of the United States.\u00a0 This compilation report<\/a> highlights crime statistics as well as human rights issues, which I will address next.<\/p>\n

While Swaziland is a stable country, it does have major human rights issues as this detailed report<\/a> from the State Department explains.\u00a0 Here is part of the the abstract (emphasis mine):<\/p>\n

Swaziland is a modified traditional monarchy with executive, legislative, and limited judicial powers ultimately vested in the king (Mswati III). The king rules according to unwritten law and custom, in conjunction with a partially elected parliament and an accompanying structure of published laws and implementing agencies. The population was approximately 1.1 million. The most recent parliamentary elections, held in 2003, were not considered free and fair. Political parties continued to be banned. Political power remained largely with the king and his circle of traditional advisors, including the queen mother. The civilian authorities maintained effective control of the security forces; however, there were some instances in which security forces committed abuses.<\/p>\n

The government’s human rights record was poor, and government agents continued to commit serious abuses.<\/em><\/strong> The country faced a serious socio?economic situation characterized by sluggish economic performance, poverty, drought, an HIV\/AIDS prevalence rate of 42.6 percent, and growing unemployment. The following human rights problems were reported:<\/p>\n