The Kingdom of Swaziland, ruled by King Mswati III, is an absolute monarchy. A long-awaited constitution, signed by the king in 2005 and introduced in 2006, cemented his rule. There have been calls from banned political parties and trade unions for democracy. Swaziland has also recently surpassed Botswana as the country with world's highest known HIV/AIDS prevalence rate and many in the country live in poverty. The country's official languages are Swazi, and English.

Leader: King Mswati III
Capital city: Mbabane

Economic profile

Monetary unit: Lilangeni
GDP per capita: $2 351 (2008) (IMF)
GDP composition by sector:
Agriculture: 11,9% (2008) (World Bank)
Industry: 45,1% (2008) (World Bank)
Services: 43% (2008) (World Bank)
GDP growth rate: 2,7% (2008) (IMF)
Budget:
Government revenue, excluding grants: 37,9% of GDP (2007) (IMF)
Government expenditure: 39,1% of GDP (2007) (IMF)
Consumer price inflation: 8,2% (2007) (IMF)
Industries: Coal, wood pulp, sugar, soft drink concentrates, textile and apparel
Exports of goods and services: 68,4% of GDP (2007) (IMF)
Imports of goods and services: 80,2% of GDP (2007) (IMF)
Export commodities: Soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn, refrigerators, citrus and canned fruit
Import commodities: Not stated
Trade balance: -11,3% of GDP (2007) (IMF)
Reserves: 3,9 months of imports (2007) (IMF)
Total investment: 19,7% of GDP (2008) (IMF)
Market capitalisation of listed companies: 7,5% (2005) (World Bank)

Social profile

Population: 1,12-million (2009) (World Bank)
Population growth: 0,6% (2006) (World Bank)
Life expectancy at birth: 32 years (2008) (World Bank)
Adult literacy: 81,6% (2003) (World Bank)
School enrolment primary: 107,2% (2005) (World Bank)
School enrolment secondary: 44,9% (2005) (World Bank)
School enrolment tertiary: 4,5% (2005) (World Bank)
Number of people living with HIV/Aids: 190 000 (2007) (UNAids estimate)