Country · Africa
Eswatini
Kingdom of Eswatini
Eswatini is a country in Southern Africa. About 1.1 million people live there, in an area of 17 364 square kilometres. Its capital city is Lobamba.
Eswatini has two capitals: Mbabane is the administrative one and Lobamba the royal one, where parliament also meets. The country was called Swaziland until 2018.
Picture credit: Umkhaya (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Martijn.Munneke (CC BY 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Eswatini?
Eswatini lies in Southern Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the southern half of the world, roughly 2 950 km from the equator.
Eswatini is landlocked: it has no coast at all, so you cannot reach the sea without crossing another country.
It shares a border with 2 countries: Mozambique and South Africa.
How big is Eswatini?
Eswatini covers 17 364 square kilometres.
That is about 6.7 times the size of Luxembourg.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 153rd largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 65.4 people on every square kilometre.
That is close to the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Eswatini?
About 1.1 million people live in Eswatini.
That is the 155th biggest population in the world.
People here speak English and Swazi.
They pay with the Swazi lilangeni and South African rand.
On average, people born here can expect to live about 40 years.
The land of Eswatini
The land of Eswatini sits on average 305 metres above sea level.
Because it is landlocked, anything that comes by ship has to cross one of its 2 neighbours to get here.
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Eswatini different?
Websites from here often end in .sz.
Eswatini and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Eswatini.
It takes up about 0.01 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa the country ranks 48th of 54 by size, and 49th by population.
Eswatini and its neighbours
South Africa, its largest neighbour, is about 70.3 times bigger.
South Africa has more people: 57.8 million against 1.1 million.
Nature and animals
The highest mountain in the country is Emlembe, at 1 862 metres. The longest river in the country is the Great Usutu. The country has no large natural lake; its largest body of water, Lubovane Reservoir, is a reservoir.
How big is Eswatini compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 540 times as big as Eswatini: 9 372 610 km² against 17 364 km².
- The United Kingdom is about 14 times as big as Eswatini: 242 900 km² against 17 364 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Eswatini?
The capital of Eswatini is Lobamba.
How many people live in Eswatini?
About 1.1 million people live in Eswatini, which makes it the 155th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Eswatini?
Eswatini borders Mozambique and South Africa — 2 neighbours in total.
How big is Eswatini?
Eswatini covers 17 364 square kilometres, making it the 153rd largest country in the world. That is about 6.7 times the size of Luxembourg.
What is the highest mountain in Eswatini?
The highest mountain in Eswatini is Emlembe, 1 862 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Eswatini?
The longest river in Eswatini is the Great Usutu.
What is the largest lake in Eswatini?
The largest body of water in Eswatini is Lubovane Reservoir, a reservoir of about 14 km²; there is no large natural lake in the country.
Which continent is Eswatini in?
Eswatini is in Africa, in the part called Southern Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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