Eswatini (officially the Kingdom of Eswatini) is a country in Southern Africa. It was formerly known as Swaziland and was renamed Eswatini on April 19, 2018.
Eswatini may sound like a strange place to travel to, but you know how breathtakingly beautiful it is if you have ever spent any time in the country.
Eswatini is a beautiful country that boasts magnificent peaks, rivers, rolling valleys, ravines, and waterfalls. It is a great place not just to hike but also for game-viewing.
The country has also preserved its culture, customs, and festivals very well.
The Mlawula Nature Reserve and the Hlane Royal National Park are two of the best places to check out diverse wildlife such as lions, hippos, and elephants.
The country was called Swaziland as Swazi was the anglicized name of the early king, Mswati II.
Later, King Mswati III changed the country’s name to the Kingdom of Eswatini in April 2018.
The country has two capital cities Mbabane and Lobamba. The former being made while under the British colonial administration.
Geography
Eswatini is a landlocked country that is bordered by South Africa to the north, south, and west and Mozambique in the northeast.
Eswatini has a variety of relief and soils even though it is a small country.
The country has four physiographic regions: the Highveld, the Middleveld, the Lowveld, and the Lebombo escarpment.
The country’s landscapes consist of rugged mountains, Inkangalas (treeless cold places), river valleys, fertile lands, and more.
Climate
The climate of Eswatini is generally subtropical and is influenced by its position on the eastern side of southern Africa.
Eswatini falls within the summer rainfall region, due to which the country gets most of the rainfall during the summer months (October to March). Therefore, it usually has thunderstorms and frontal rains.
Nature and Wildlife
The country’s natural vegetation consists of forests mainly in the Highveld and the slopes of the Lubombo escarpment. However, it has savannas and grasslands too.
You can find both dry and wet forests. Eswatini has an overall rich flora with more than 2,600 plant species.
Due to the increasing human settlement, the number of wild animals has depleted.
You have to visit the protected reserves to check out the wild species such as antelope, wildebeest, elephants, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, giraffe, zebra, and waterbuck. You will also find smaller animals like monkeys, baboons, jackals, and mongooses.
Eswatini also has abundant birdlife. It consists of both resident and migrant bird species.
People
Eswatini houses more than 70 clans. The Swazis dominate the country’s population by four-fifth.
Other smaller ethnic tribes consist of Zulu, Tsonga, Afrikaner, and other immigrants from the rest of the world.
