Despite its small area of 17 363 km2, Swaziland is for sure the worth visiting country with beautiful but rough nature and friendly people. The Kingdom of Swaziland is situated on the Africa continent and borders with South Africa in the west, north and south and Mozambique in the east.

The name of the country is derived from the word Swazi, the Bantu tribe. Swaziland has two capitals: the royal and legislative capital Lobamba and the administrative Mbabane, but the largest city is Manzini with more than 70.000 inhabitants. The whole population of the country is about 1 million. Official languages are English and SiSwati.

History and politics

Archaeological findings prove that human beings lived in Swaziland more than 100 000 years ago. But during the Bantu migration in the 16th century, these first inhabitants were replaced by Bantu tribes. The self Swazi Kingdom was established in the early 19th century by King Sobhuza and in the same time, first white inhabitants started to move here. At the turn of the 19th and 20th century after the Second Boer War Swaziland became a British protectorate and it granted independence again in 1968.

Swaziland is the monarchy and the king, which is the head of state, reigns according to the old tradition along with his mother. The government contains the prime ministr and two chambers of Parliament.

Geography and Nature

The landscape of the country is very variable with mountains and savannas in the east and rainforests in the northwest. Natural reserves and sanctuaries cover huge areas of the country and they protect variety of animals: antelope, crocodile, cattle, monkeys and also hippopotamus. But most of them are popular especially among bird watchers and ornithologists, who can observe more than 400 species of birds.

People and Culture

Most of the population is Swazi, but we can find here also whites – British and African descendents. The official religion is Christianity, often mixed with traditional beliefs and cultural practices. Tourists can likely see many Swazi´s in traditional colourful costumes with popular hairstyle called „beehive“. Despite of ever-present modernisation and globalization, Swazis were successful in preserving their age-old culture and ceremonies. If you search for a nice souvenir from Africa, Swaziland is ideal place for you: handcraft industry is very rich and local traditional markets are one of the main tourist attractions of the country.

What to do in Swaziland

Variety of landscape with high mountains and tropical forests on the small area and incredible natural wealth mixed with traditional African culture, including music, handcraft and kind people is the irresistible combination. Swaziland can offer many possibilities for sports-minded tourists as well as for nature lovers. Small area of the country and the fact, that for many people Swaziland is still quite unknown destination, does not mean, that it is not worth visiting – at least on the way to South Africa.