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120-514: Eswatini ( / ˌ ɛ s w ɑː ˈ t iː n i / ESS -wah- TEE -nee ; Swazi : eSwatini [ɛswáˈtʼiːni] ), formally the Kingdom of Eswatini and also known by its former official name Swaziland ( / ˈ s w ɑː z i l æ n d / SWAH -zee-land ) and formerly the Kingdom of Swaziland , is a landlocked country in Southern Africa . It
240-468: A 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.21/10, ranking it 142nd globally out of 172 countries. Eswatini is divided into four climatic regions: the Highveld, Middleveld, Lowveld, and Lubombo plateau. Generally speaking, rain falls mostly during the summer months (December to March), often in the form of thunderstorms. Winter is the dry season . Annual rainfall is highest on the Highveld in
360-446: A changing climate. Eswatini has a spectrum of formal and informal conservation areas that protect the nation's rich biological diversity. These areas comprise about 5% of the country's land area. Eswatini has over 820 species of vertebrates and over 2400 species of plants, with many endemic species. This diversity suggests Eswatini is globally important for biodiversity conservation. Land degradation and conversion to other land uses are
480-760: A conference in anthropology held by the Wenner-Gren Foundation, at Burg Wartenstein Castle, which it then owned in Austria, attended by the same scholars that attended the Pan African Congress, including Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey , who was delivering a pilot presentation of her typological analysis of Early Stone Age tools, to be included in her 1971 contribution to Olduvai Gorge , "Excavations in Beds I and II, 1960–1963." However, although
600-429: A depressor for some rules but not others. The Swazi noun ( libito ) consists of two essential parts, the prefix ( sicalo ) and the stem ( umsuka ). Using the prefixes, nouns can be grouped into noun classes, which are numbered consecutively, to ease comparison with other Bantu languages . The following table gives an overview of Swazi noun classes, arranged according to singular-plural pairs. Verbs use
720-477: A foreign conflict. The king is the commander-in-chief of the defence force and the substantive Minister of the Ministry of Defence. There are approximately 3,000 personnel in the defence force, with the army being the largest component. There is a small air force, which is mainly used for transporting the king as well as cargo and personnel, surveying land with search and rescue functions, and mobilising in case of
840-653: A gate designated for the candidate of choice while officials counted them. Later on, a constitutional review commission was appointed by King Mswati III in July 1996, comprising chiefs, political activists, and unionists to consider public submissions and draft proposals for a new constitution. Drafts were released for comment in May 1999 and November 2000. These were strongly criticised by civil society organisations in Swaziland and human rights organisations elsewhere. A 15-member team
960-420: A hammerstone to obtain large and small pieces with one or more sharp edges. The original stone is called a core; the resultant pieces, flakes. Typically, but not necessarily, small pieces are detached from a larger piece, in which case the larger piece may be called the core and the smaller pieces the flakes . The prevalent usage, however, is to call all the results flakes, which can be confusing. A split in half
1080-797: A member of the Southern African Customs Union and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa , its main local trading partner is South Africa; to ensure economic stability, Eswatini's currency, the lilangeni , is pegged to the South African rand . Eswatini's major overseas trading partners are the United States and the European Union . The majority of the country's employment is provided by its agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Eswatini
1200-594: A mountain ridge at an altitude of around 600 metres (2,000 ft). The mountains are broken by the canyons of three rivers, the Ngwavuma , the Great Usutu and the Mbuluzi . The western border, with an average altitude of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft), lies on the edge of an escarpment . Eswatini is separated into four geographical regions. These run from north to south and are determined by elevation. Mbabane ,
1320-426: A national emergency. Eswatini is divided into four regions: Hhohho , Lubombo , Manzini , and Shiselweni . In each of the four regions, there are several tinkhundla (singular inkhundla ). The regions are managed by a regional administrator, who is aided by elected members in each inkhundla. The local government is divided into differently structured rural and urban councils depending on the level of development in
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#17327648223591440-782: A new Lower Paleolithic tool, the hand axe, appeared. The earliest European hand axes are assigned to the Abbevillian industry , which developed in northern France in the valley of the Somme River ; a later, more refined hand-axe tradition is seen in the Acheulian industry , evidence of which has been found in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Some of the earliest known hand axes were found at Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) in association with remains of H. erectus . Alongside
1560-606: A separate Copper Age or Bronze Age. Moreover, the technologies included in those 'stages', as Goodwin called them, were not exactly the same. Since then, the original relative terms have become identified with the technologies of the Paleolithic and Mesolithic, so that they are no longer relative. Moreover, there has been a tendency to drop the comparative degree in favor of the positive: resulting in two sets of Early, Middle and Late Stone Ages of quite different content and chronologies. By voluntary agreement, archaeologists respect
1680-534: A spirit of brotherhood." Stone Age Paleolithic Epipalaeolithic Mesolithic Neolithic The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended between 4000 BC and 2000 BC, with the advent of metalworking . It therefore represents nearly 99.3% of human history. Though some simple metalworking of malleable metals, particularly
1800-786: A time known as the Copper Age (or more technically the Chalcolithic or Eneolithic, both meaning 'copper–stone'). The Chalcolithic by convention is the initial period of the Bronze Age. The Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age . The transition out of the Stone Age occurred between 6000 and 2500 BC for much of humanity living in North Africa and Eurasia . The first evidence of human metallurgy dates to between
1920-565: A wide range of techniques derived from multiple fields. The work of archaeologists in determining the paleocontext and relative sequence of the layers is supplemented by the efforts of geologic specialists in identifying layers of rock developed or deposited over geologic time; of paleontological specialists in identifying bones and animals; of palynologists in discovering and identifying pollen, spores and plant species; of physicists and chemists in laboratories determining ages of materials by carbon-14 , potassium-argon and other methods. The study of
2040-889: Is 9th lowest ranked worldwide and 2nd lowest ranked electoral democracy in Africa . Eswatini is a member of the United Nations , the Commonwealth of Nations , the African Union , the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa , and the Southern African Development Community . As of 2024, it is the only country in Africa that has maintained ties with Taiwan and not the People's Republic of China . The judicial system in Eswatini
2160-525: Is a dual system. The 2005 constitution established a court system based on the Western model consisting of four regional Magistrates Courts, a High Court, and a Court of Appeal (the Supreme Court), which are independent of crown control. In addition, traditional courts (Swazi Courts or Customary Courts) deal with minor offenses and violations of traditional Swazi law and custom. Judges are appointed by
2280-536: Is a member of the Southern African Development Community , the African Union , the Commonwealth of Nations , and the United Nations . The government is an absolute monarchy , the last of its kind in Africa, and has been ruled by King Mswati III since 1986. Elections are held every five years to determine the House of Assembly and the Senate majority, but political parties are prohibited from running. Its constitution
2400-564: Is an alternative name for Eswatini, the surname of whose royal house remains Nkhosi Dlamini . Nkhosi curiously means "king" in Ethiopian Semitic languages. Mswati II was the greatest of the fighting kings of Eswatini, and he greatly extended the area of the country to twice its current size. The Emakhandzambili clans were initially incorporated into the kingdom with wide autonomy, often including grants of special ritual and political status. The extent of their autonomy, however,
2520-535: Is associated with the remains of Neanderthal man . The earliest documented stone tools have been found in eastern Africa, manufacturers unknown, at the 3.3 million-year-old site of Lomekwi 3 in Kenya. Better known are the later tools belonging to an industry known as Oldowan , after the type site of Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. The tools were formed by knocking pieces off a river pebble, or stones like it, with
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#17327648223592640-458: Is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its north, west, south, and southeast. At no more than 200 km (120 mi) north to south and 130 km (81 mi) east to west, Eswatini is one of the smallest countries in Africa ; despite this, its climate and topography are diverse, ranging from a cool and mountainous highveld to a hot and dry lowveld . The population
2760-542: Is called bipolar flaking. Consequently, the method is often called "core-and-flake". More recently, the tradition has been called "small flake" since the flakes were small compared to subsequent Acheulean tools . The essence of the Oldowan is the making and often immediate use of small flakes. Another naming scheme is "Pebble Core Technology (PBC)": Pebble cores are ... artifacts that have been shaped by varying amounts of hard-hammer percussion. Various refinements in
2880-533: Is composed primarily of ethnic Swazis . The prevalent language is Swazi ( siSwati in native form). The Swazis established their kingdom in the mid-18th century under the leadership of Ngwane III . The country and the Swazi take their names from Mswati II , the 19th-century king under whose rule the country was expanded and unified; its boundaries were drawn up in 1881 in the midst of the Scramble for Africa . After
3000-472: Is distinguishable by distinct intonation , and perhaps distinct tone patterns. Intonation patterns (and informal perceptions of 'stress') in Mpumalanga Swazi are often considered discordant to the Swazi ear. This South African variety of Swazi is considered to exhibit influence from other South African languages spoken close to Swazi. A feature of the standard prestige variety of Swazi (spoken in
3120-451: Is diverse, with agriculture, forestry and mining accounting for about 13% of GDP, manufacturing (textiles and sugar-related processing) representing 37% of GDP and services – with government services in the lead – constituting 50% of GDP. Title Deed Lands (TDLs), where the bulk of high value crops are grown (sugar, forestry, and citrus), are characterised by high levels of investment and irrigation, and high productivity. About 75% of
3240-477: Is in the nature of this boundary. If there is no distinct boundary, then the population of A suddenly stopped using the customs characteristic of A and suddenly started using those of B, an unlikely scenario in the process of evolution . More realistically, a distinct border period, the A/B transition, existed, in which the customs of A were gradually dropped and those of B acquired. If transitions do not exist, then there
3360-494: Is most closely related to the other Tekela languages , like Phuthi and Northern Transvaal (Sumayela) Ndebele , but is also very close to the Zunda languages : Zulu , Southern Ndebele , Northern Ndebele , and Xhosa . Siswati spoken in Eswatini can be divided into four dialects corresponding to the four administrative regions of the country: Hhohho , Lubombo , Manzini , and Shiselweni . Siswati has at least two varieties:
3480-568: Is no proof of any continuity between A and B. The Stone Age of Europe is characteristically in deficit of known transitions. The 19th and early 20th-century innovators of the modern three-age system recognized the problem of the initial transition, the "gap" between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic. Louis Leakey provided something of an answer by proving that man evolved in Africa. The Stone Age must have begun there to be carried repeatedly to Europe by migrant populations. The different phases of
3600-571: Is now considered to be a facies of Acheulean , while Sangoan is a facies of Lupemban . Magosian is "an artificial mix of two different periods". Once seriously questioned, the intermediates did not wait for the next Pan African Congress two years hence, but were officially rejected in 1965 (again on an advisory basis) by Burg Wartenstein Conference #29, Systematic Investigation of the African Later Tertiary and Quaternary ,
3720-586: Is possible to speak of a general 'Stone Age' period for the whole of humanity, some groups never developed metal- smelting technology, and so remained in the so-called 'Stone Age' until they encountered technologically developed cultures. The term was innovated to describe the archaeological cultures of Europe. It may not always be the best in relation to regions such as some parts of the Indies and Oceania, where farmers or hunter-gatherers used stone for tools until European colonisation began. Archaeologists of
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3840-433: Is the king or ngwenyama (lit. lion ), currently King Mswati III, who ascended to the throne in 1986 after the death of his father King Sobhuza II in 1982 and a period of regency. According to the country's constitution, the ngwenyama is a symbol of unity and the eternity of the Swazi nation. By tradition, the king reigns along with his mother (or a ritual substitute), the ndlovukati (lit. she- e lephant ). The former
3960-682: Is what may be referred to as the second dialect in the country. The sizeable number of Swazi speakers in South Africa (mainly in the Mpumalanga province, and in Soweto ) are considered by Eswatini Swazi speakers to speak a non-standard form of the language. Unlike the variant in the south of Eswatini, the Mpumalanga variety appears to be less influenced by Zulu, and is thus considered closer to standard Swazi. However, this Mpumalanga variety
4080-648: The 6th and 5th millennia BC in the archaeological sites of the Vinča culture , including Majdanpek , Jarmovac , Pločnik , Rudna Glava in modern-day Serbia. Ötzi the Iceman , a mummy from about 3300 BC, carried with him a copper axe and a flint knife. In some regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa , the Stone Age was followed directly by the Iron Age. The Middle East and Southeast Asian regions progressed past Stone Age technology around 6000 BC. Europe, and
4200-608: The Fauresmith and Sangoan technologies, and the Second Intermediate Period between Middle and Later, to encompass the Magosian technology and others. The chronologic basis for the definition was entirely relative. With the arrival of scientific means of finding an absolute chronology, the two intermediates turned out to be will-of-the-wisps . They were in fact Middle and Lower Paleolithic . Fauresmith
4320-527: The Libandla (parliament) with help from an advisory council. The king is allowed by the constitution to appoint some members to parliament to represent special interests. These special interests are citizens who might have been electoral candidates who were not elected, or might not have stood as candidates. This is done to balance views in parliament. Special interests could be people of a particular gender or race, people with disabilities, significant members of
4440-479: The Second Boer War , the kingdom, under the name of Swaziland, was a British high commission territory from 1903 until it regained its full independence on 6 September 1968. In April 2018, the official name was changed from Kingdom of Swaziland to Kingdom of Eswatini, mirroring the name commonly used in Swazi. Eswatini is a developing country that is classified as having a lower-middle income economy. As
4560-440: The genus Homo , and possibly by the earlier partly contemporaneous genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus . Bone tools have been discovered that were used during this period as well but these are rarely preserved in the archaeological record . The Stone Age is further subdivided by the types of stone tools in use. The Stone Age is the first period in the three-age system frequently used in archaeology to divide
4680-500: The geologic time scale : The succession of these phases varies enormously from one region (and culture ) to another. The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (from Greek: παλαιός, palaios , "old"; and λίθος, lithos , "stone" lit. "old stone", coined by archaeologist John Lubbock and published in 1865) is the earliest division of the Stone Age. It covers the greatest portion of humanity's time (roughly 99% of "human technological history", where "human" and "humanity" are interpreted to mean
4800-666: The 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1881, the British government signed a convention recognising Swazi independence, despite the Scramble for Africa that was taking place at the time. This independence was also recognised in the London Convention of 1884 . King Mbandzeni created a complex pattern of land ownership by granting many concessions to Europeans. During the concessions some of the King's senior chiefs like Chief Ntengu Mbokane got permission to relocate to farms towards
4920-516: The 19th century can be found around the country. The earliest known inhabitants of the region were Khoisan hunter-gatherers . They were largely replaced by the Nguni during the great Bantu migrations . These peoples originated from the Great Lakes region of eastern and central Africa. Evidence of agriculture and iron use dates from about the 4th century. People speaking languages ancestral to
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5040-649: The 50th anniversary of Swazi independence. The name Eswatini means "land of the Swazis" in the Swazi language and was partially intended to prevent confusion with the similarly named Switzerland . Eswatini workers began anti-government protests against low salaries in September 2018. They went on a three-day strike organised by the Trade Union Congress of Eswatini that resulted in widespread disruption. In June 2021, pro-democracy protests broke out across
5160-1207: The Eswatini National Trust Commission, the Eswatini Environment Authority , and the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives. In addition, Big Game Parks, a private entity, is tasked with the management of the Game Act, which controls wildlife and CITES. There are 6 formal and more than 10 informal protected areas in the country. The formally gazetted areas include: Malolotja Nature Reserve , Mantenga Nature Reserve, Mlawula Nature Reserve , Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary , and Mkhaya Game Reserve , and Hlane Royal National Park . In addition to these, there are many private and community nature reserves, as well as some with mixed governance structures. These include: Dombeya Game Reserve, Mbuluzi Game Reserve , Shewula Nature Reserve, Phophonyane Falls Nature Reserve , Royal Jozini , IYSIS (Inyoni Yami), Ngwempisi Wilderness, Sibebe and others. There are other entities that practice secondary or tertiary conservation, as well as two conservancies:
5280-547: The Europeans. Much of the early administration of the territory (for example, postal services) was carried out from South Africa until 1906, when the Transvaal Colony was granted self-government. A British high commissioner had some of the functions of a governor, but the Swazis were self-governing on their reserves, and the territory was not deemed to be a British possession. Sobhuza's official coronation as king
5400-421: The House of Assembly were held in 1978, and they were conducted under the tinkhundla as electoral constituencies determined by the King, and established an Electoral Committee appointed by the King to supervise elections. Until the 1993 election, the ballot was not secret, voters were not registered, and they did not elect representatives directly. Instead, voters elected an electoral college by passing through
5520-482: The Legislative Council were accepted by Britain and a new constitution providing for a House of Assembly and Senate was drawn up. Elections under this constitution were held in 1967. Following the 1967 elections, Swaziland was a protected state until independence was regained in 1968. Following the elections of 1972, the constitution of Swaziland was suspended by King Sobhuza II who thereafter ruled
5640-531: The Lubombo region, in the modern-day city of Nsoko. Others like Mshiza Maseko relocated to farms towards the Komati River in the place called eLuvalweni. The concessions included grants and leases for agriculture and grazing. In 1890, following the death of Mbandzeni, a Swaziland Convention created a Chief Court to determine disputes about controversial land and mineral rights and other concessions. Swaziland
5760-831: The Mhlosinga Conservancy and the Lubombo Conservancy . Others include: the Natural History Society of Eswatini and the Eswatini Game Ranchers Association. From 2014 to 2021, Eswatini participated in the "Strengthening the National Protected Areas System" (SNPAS) project. This project attempted to strengthen conservation outcomes and the national footprint of biodiversity conservation across the country. In an effort to broaden
5880-592: The Nile valley. Consequently, they proposed a new system for Africa, the Three-stage System. Clark regarded the Three-age System as valid for North Africa; in sub-Saharan Africa, the Three-stage System was best. In practice, the failure of African archaeologists either to keep this distinction in mind, or to explain which one they mean, contributes to the considerable equivocation already present in
6000-470: The South African government hoped to use the area as a buffer zone against guerrilla infiltration from Mozambique . (The South African government responded to the failure of the transfer by temporarily suspending the autonomy of KaNgwane.) The 1990s saw a rise in student and labour protests calling on the king to introduce reforms. Thus, progress towards constitutional reforms began, culminating with
6120-521: The Stone Age ended in a given area. In Europe and North America, millstones were in use until well into the 20th century, and still are in many parts of the world. The terms "Stone Age", "Bronze Age", and "Iron Age" are not intended to suggest that advancements and time periods in prehistory are only measured by the type of tool material, rather than, for example, social organization , food sources exploited, adaptation to climate, adoption of agriculture, cooking, settlement , and religion. Like pottery ,
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#17327648223596240-407: The Stone Age has never been limited to stone tools and archaeology, even though they are important forms of evidence. The chief focus of study has always been on the society and the living people who belonged to it. Useful as it has been, the concept of the Stone Age has its limitations. The date range of this period is ambiguous, disputed, and variable, depending upon the region in question. While it
6360-649: The Stone Age thus could appear there without transitions. The burden on African archaeologists became all the greater, because now they must find the missing transitions in Africa. The problem is difficult and ongoing. After its adoption by the First Pan African Congress in 1947, the Three-Stage Chronology was amended by the Third Congress in 1955 to include a First Intermediate Period between Early and Middle, to encompass
6480-466: The Stone Age. In Sub-Saharan Africa, however, iron-working technologies were either invented independently or came across the Sahara from the north (see iron metallurgy in Africa ). The Neolithic was characterized primarily by herding societies rather than large agricultural societies, and although there was copper metallurgy in Africa as well as bronze smelting, archaeologists do not currently recognize
6600-580: The Swazi National School to counter the dominance of the missions in education. His stature grew with time, and the Swazi royal leadership was successful in resisting the weakening power of the British administration and the possibility of the incorporation of Swaziland into the Union of South Africa . The constitution for independent Swaziland was promulgated by Britain in November 1963 under
6720-432: The Zulu homeland of KwaZulu and parts of the Swazi homeland of KaNgwane , to Swaziland in 1982 was never realized. This would have given land-locked Swaziland access to the sea. The deal was negotiated by the governments of South Africa and Swaziland, but was met by popular opposition in the territory meant to be transferred. The territory had been claimed by Sobhuza II as part of the Swazi monarchs' traditional realm, and
6840-478: The area. Although there are different political structures to the local authorities, effectively the urban councils are municipalities and the rural councils are the tinkhundla. There are twelve municipalities and 55 tinkhundla. Each inkhundla has a development committee ( bucopho ) elected from the various constituency chiefdoms in its area for a five-year term. Bucopho bring to the inkhundla all matters of interest and concern to their various chiefdoms, and take back to
6960-563: The beginning of stems as [ŋ] , and commonly as [ŋɡ] within words. Swazi exhibits three surface tones: high, mid and low. Tone is unwritten in the standard orthography. Traditionally, only the high and mid tones are taken to exist phonemically, with the low tone conditioned by a preceding depressor consonant . Bradshaw (2003) however argues that all three tones exist underlyingly. Phonological processes acting on tone include: The depressor consonants are all voiced obstruents other than /ɓ/ . The allophone [ŋ] of /ŋɡ/ appears to behave as
7080-461: The business community, civic society, scholars, and chiefs. The Swazi bicameral Parliament, or Libandla, consists of the Senate (30 seats; 10 members appointed by the House of Assembly and 20 appointed by the monarch; to serve five-year terms) and the House of Assembly (65 seats; 10 members appointed by the monarch and 55 elected by popular vote ; to serve five-year terms). The elections are held every five years after dissolution of parliament by
7200-612: The capital, is on the Highveld . The Middleveld, lying at an average 700 metres (2,300 ft) above sea level, is the most densely populated region of Eswatini with a lower rainfall than the mountains. Manzini , the principal commercial and industrial city, is situated in the Middleveld. The Lowveld, at around 250 metres (820 ft), is less populated than other areas and presents a typical African bush country of thorn trees and grasslands. Eswatini contains three ecosystems: Maputaland coastal forest mosaic , Zambezian and mopane woodlands , and Drakensberg montane grasslands . The country had
7320-401: The chiefdoms the decisions of the inkhundla. The chairman of the bucopho is elected at the inkhundla and is called indvuna ye nkhundla . There are three tiers of government in the urban areas and these are city councils, town councils and town boards. This variation considers the size of the town or city. Equally, there are three tiers in the rural areas which are the regional administration at
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#17327648223597440-468: The constituency headman are also elected from each chiefdom. The secondary and final elections takes place at the various constituencies called tinkhundla . Candidates who win primary elections in the chiefdoms are considered nominees for the secondary elections at inkhundla or constituency level. The nominees with majority votes become the winners and they become members of parliament or constituency headman. According to 2023 V-Dem Democracy indices Eswatini
7560-533: The country by decree until his death in 1982. At that point, Sobhuza II had been king of Swaziland for almost 83 years, making him the longest-reigning monarch in history . A regency followed his death, with Queen Regent Dzeliwe Shongwe as head of state until 1984 when she was removed by the Liqoqo and replaced by Queen Mother Ntfombi Tfwala . Mswati III , the son of Ntfombi, was crowned in 1986 as king and ngwenyama of Swaziland. An attempt to transfer neighbouring parts of South Africa , more precisely parts of
7680-495: The country, sparking riots, looting, and street skirmishes with police and soldiers. This civil unrest began as a result of years of anger towards the lack of meaningful reforms that would nudge Eswatini in the direction of democracy, as well as the government's reported banning of the submission of petitions. Numerous buildings said to be connected to King Mswati III were torched by protesters, and police reportedly assaulted and arrested political opponents. The New York Times called
7800-405: The country, though government officials disputed those claims, also calling for an end to the protests. A small landlocked kingdom with an area of 17,364 km (6,704 sq mi), Eswatini is located at approximately 26°30'S, 31°30'E and is bordered in the north, west and south by South Africa and by Mozambique in the east. Along the eastern border with Mozambique are the Lebombo Mountains ,
7920-471: The critically endangered South-central black rhinoceros and seven other endangered or vulnerable species. Eswatini is rich in bird life, including white-backed vultures , white-headed , lappet-faced and Cape vultures , raptors such as martial eagles , bateleurs , and long-crested eagles , and the southernmost nesting site of the marabou stork . Eswatini is an absolute monarchy with constitutional provision and Swazi law and customs. The head of state
8040-474: The current Sotho and Nguni languages began settling no later than the 11th century. The Swazi settlers, then known as the Ngwane (or bakaNgwane ) before entering Eswatini, had been settled on the banks of the Pongola River . Before that, they were settled in the area of the Tembe River near present-day Maputo , Mozambique. Continuing conflict with the Ndwandwe people pushed them further north, with Ngwane III establishing his capital at Shiselweni at
8160-415: The decisions of the Pan-African Congress on Prehistory , which meets every four years to resolve the archaeological business brought before it. Delegates are actually international; the organization takes its name from the topic. Louis Leakey hosted the first one in Nairobi in 1947. It adopted Goodwin and Lowe's 3-stage system at that time, the stages to be called Early, Middle and Later. The problem of
8280-427: The discovery of these "Lomekwian" tools, the oldest known stone tools had been found at several sites at Gona, Ethiopia , on sediments of the paleo- Awash River , which serve to date them. All the tools come from the Busidama Formation, which lies above a disconformity , or missing layer, which would have been from 2.9 to 2.7 mya . The oldest sites discovered to contain tools are dated to 2.6–2.55 mya. One of
8400-417: The early Stone Age, when species prior to Homo may have manufactured tools. According to the age and location of the current evidence, the cradle of the genus is the East African Rift System, especially toward the north in Ethiopia , where it is bordered by grasslands . The closest relative among the other living primates , the genus Pan , represents a branch that continued on in the deep forest, where
8520-400: The first to transition away from hunter-gatherer societies into the settled lifestyle of inhabiting towns and villages as agriculture became widespread . In the chronology of prehistory, the Neolithic era usually overlaps with the Chalcolithic ("Copper") era preceding the Bronze Age. The Stone Age is contemporaneous with the evolution of the genus Homo , with the possible exception of
8640-459: The fiscal pressure on the Swazi government. A new parliament, the second since the promulgation of the constitution, was elected in 2013. The king then reappointed Sibusiso Dlamini as prime minister for the third time. On 19 April 2018, Mswati III announced that the Kingdom of Swaziland had been renamed as the Kingdom of Eswatini, reflecting the extant Swazi name for the state eSwatini , to mark
8760-679: The following affixes for the subject and the object: The following example of text is Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Bonkhe bantfu batalwa bakhululekile balingana ngalokufananako ngesitfunti nangemalungelo. Baphiwe ingcondvo nekucondza kanye nanembeza ngakoke bafanele batiphatse futsi baphatse nalabanye ngemoya webuzalwane. The Declaration reads in English: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in
8880-512: The foot of the Mhlosheni hills. Under Sobhuza I , the Ngwane people established their capital at Zombodze in the heartland of present-day Eswatini. In this process, they conquered and incorporated the long established clans of the country known to the Swazi as Emakhandzambili (those found ahead). Eswatini derives its name from a later king named Mswati II . KaNgwane , named for Ngwane III,
9000-731: The genus Homo ), extending from 2.5 or 2.6 million years ago, with the first documented use of stone tools by hominins such as Homo habilis , to the end of the Pleistocene around 10,000 BC. The Paleolithic era ended with the Mesolithic , or in areas with an early neolithisation , the Epipaleolithic . At sites dating from the Lower Paleolithic Period (about 2,500,000 to 200,000 years ago), simple pebble tools have been found in association with
9120-589: The grasslands of the rift, Homo erectus , the predecessor of modern humans, found an ecological niche as a tool-maker and developed a dependence on it, becoming a "tool-equipped savanna dweller". The oldest indirect evidence found of stone tool use is fossilised animal bones with tool marks; these are 3.4 million years old and were found in the Lower Awash Valley in Ethiopia. Archaeological discoveries in Kenya in 2015, identifying what may be
9240-589: The hand-axe tradition, there developed a distinct and very different stone-tool industry, based on flakes of stone: special tools were made from worked (carefully shaped) flakes of flint. In Europe, the Clactonian industry is one example of a flake tradition. The early flake industries probably contributed to the development of the Middle Paleolithic flake tools of the Mousterian industry , which
9360-504: The intermediate periods were gone, the search for the transitions continued. In 1859 Jens Jacob Worsaae first proposed a division of the Stone Age into older and younger parts based on his work with Danish kitchen middens that began in 1851. In the subsequent decades this simple distinction developed into the archaeological periods of today. The major subdivisions of the Three-age Stone Age cross two epoch boundaries on
9480-464: The introduction of the current Swazi constitution in 2005. This happened despite objections by political activists. The current constitution does not clearly deal with the status of political parties. The first election under the constitution took place in 2008. Members of Parliament (MPs) were elected from 55 constituencies (also known as tinkhundla ). These MPs served five-year terms which ended in 2013. In 2011, Swaziland suffered an economic crisis which
9600-645: The journal Annals of the South African Museum . By then, the dates of the Early Stone Age, or Paleolithic , and Late Stone Age, or Neolithic ( neo = new), were fairly solid and were regarded by Goodwin as absolute. He therefore proposed a relative chronology of periods with floating dates, to be called the Earlier and Later Stone Age. The Middle Stone Age would not change its name, but it would not mean Mesolithic . The duo thus reinvented
9720-490: The king and are usually expatriates from South Africa. The Supreme Court, which replaced the previous Court of Appeal, consists of the chief justice and at least four other Supreme Court judges. The High Court consists of the chief justice and at least four High Court judges. The chief justices have been: The military of Eswatini ( Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force ) is used primarily during domestic protests, with some border and customs duties. The military has never been involved in
9840-521: The king. The last elections were held on 29 September 2023. The balloting is done in a non-partisan manner. All election procedures are overseen by the Elections and Boundaries Commission. At Swaziland's independence on 6 September 1968, Swaziland adopted a Westminster-style constitution. On 12 April 1973, King Sobhuza II annulled it by decree, assuming supreme powers in all executive, judicial, and legislative matters. The first non-party elections for
9960-638: The late 19th and early 20th centuries CE, who adapted the three-age system to their ideas, hoped to combine cultural anthropology and archaeology in such a way that a specific contemporaneous tribe could be used to illustrate the way of life and beliefs of the people exercising a particular Stone-Age technology. As a description of people living today, the term Stone Age is controversial. The Association of Social Anthropologists discourages this use, asserting: To describe any living group as 'primitive' or 'Stone Age' inevitably implies that they are living representatives of some earlier stage of human development that
10080-579: The literature. There are in effect two Stone Ages, one part of the Three-age and the other constituting the Three-stage. They refer to one and the same artifacts and the same technologies, but vary by locality and time. The three-stage system was proposed in 1929 by Astley John Hilary Goodwin, a professional archaeologist, and Clarence van Riet Lowe , a civil engineer and amateur archaeologist, in an article titled "Stone Age Cultures of South Africa" in
10200-798: The major threats to biodiversity, including plantation agriculture (legal and illegal), bush-clearing, the spread of alien and invasive plants, and unsustainable resource harvesting; major land fragmentation is evident. Eswatini is a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity , the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ( CITES ), and the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are three main government ministries responsible for national biodiversity management:
10320-420: The majority of humankind has left behind. In the 1920s, South African archaeologists organizing the stone tool collections of that country observed that they did not fit the newly detailed Three-Age System. In the words of J. Desmond Clark : It was early realized that the threefold division of culture into Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages adopted in the nineteenth century for Europe had no validity in Africa outside
10440-466: The most striking circumstances about these sites is that they are from the Late Pliocene , where prior to their discovery tools were thought to have evolved only in the Pleistocene . Excavators at the locality point out that: ... the earliest stone tool makers were skilled flintknappers ... The possible reasons behind this seeming abrupt transition from the absence of stone tools to
10560-680: The north and centre of Eswatini) is the royal style of slow, heavily stressed enunciation, which is anecdotally claimed to have a 'mellifluous' feel to its hearers. Swazi does not distinguish between places of articulation in its clicks. They are dental (as [ǀ] ) or might also be alveolar (as [ǃ] ). It does, however, distinguish five or six manners of articulation and phonation, including tenuis, aspirated, voiced, breathy voiced, nasal, and breathy-voiced nasal. The consonants /ts k ŋɡ/ each have two sounds. /ts/ and /k/ can both occur as ejective sounds, [tsʼ] and [kʼ] , but their common forms are [tsʰ] and [k̬] . The sound /ŋɡ/ differs when at
10680-532: The oldest evidence of hominin use of tools known to date, have indicated that Kenyanthropus platyops (a 3.2 to 3.5-million-year-old Pliocene hominin fossil discovered in Lake Turkana, Kenya, in 1999) may have been the earliest tool-users known. The oldest stone tools were excavated from the site of Lomekwi 3 in West Turkana , northwestern Kenya, and date to 3.3 million years old. Prior to
10800-505: The population is employed in subsistence agriculture upon Swazi Nation Land (SNL). In contrast with the commercial farms, SNL suffers from low productivity and investment. Swazi language Swazi or siSwati is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and South Africa by the Swati people . The number of speakers is estimated to be in
10920-549: The position of Member of Parliament, Constituency Headman ( Indvuna ), and the Constituency Executive Committee ( Bucopho ). The minimum number of nominees is four and the maximum is ten. Primary elections also take place at the chiefdom level. It is by secret ballot . During the primary elections, the voters are given an opportunity to elect the member of the executive committee (bucopho) for that particular chiefdom. Aspiring members of parliament and
11040-626: The presence thereof include ... gaps in the geological record. The species that made the Pliocene tools remains unknown. Fragments of Australopithecus garhi , Australopithecus aethiopicus , and Homo , possibly Homo habilis , have been found in sites near the age of the Gona tools. In July 2018, scientists reported the discovery in China of the known oldest stone tools outside Africa, estimated at 2.12 million years old. Innovation in
11160-581: The primates evolved. The rift served as a conduit for movement into southern Africa and also north down the Nile into North Africa and through the continuation of the rift in the Levant to the vast grasslands of Asia. Starting from about 4 million years ago ( mya ) a single biome established itself from South Africa through the rift, North Africa, and across Asia to modern China. This has been called "transcontinental 'savannahstan ' " recently. Starting in
11280-514: The region of 4.7 million including first and second language speakers. The language is taught in Eswatini and some South African schools in Mpumalanga , particularly former KaNgwane areas. Siswati is an official language of Eswatini (along with English), and is also one of the twelve official languages of South Africa. The official term is "siSwati" among native speakers; in English, Zulu, Ndebele or Xhosa it may be referred to as Swazi . siSwati
11400-471: The regional level, tinkhundla and chiefdoms. Decisions are made by full council based on recommendations made by the various sub-committees. The town clerk is the chief advisor in each local council or town board. There are twelve declared urban areas, comprising two city councils, three town councils and seven town boards. The main cities and towns in Eswatini are Manzini , Mbabane , Nhlangano and Siteki which are also regional capitals. Eswatini's economy
11520-605: The remains of what may have been the earliest human ancestors. A somewhat more sophisticated Lower Paleolithic tradition, known as the Chopper chopping tool industry, is widely distributed in the Eastern Hemisphere. This tradition is thought to have been the work of the hominin species named Homo erectus . Although no such fossil tools have yet been found, it is believed that H. erectus probably made tools of wood and bone as well as stone. About 700,000 years ago,
11640-487: The rest of Asia became post-Stone Age societies by about 4000 BC. The proto-Inca cultures of South America continued at a Stone Age level until around 2000 BC, when gold, copper, and silver made their entrance. The peoples of the Americas notably did not develop a widespread behavior of smelting bronze or iron after the Stone Age period, although the technology existed. Stone tool manufacture continued even after
11760-486: The scientific study of the lithic reduction of the raw materials and methods used to make the prehistoric artifacts that are discovered. Much of this study takes place in the laboratory in the presence of various specialists. In experimental archaeology , researchers attempt to create replica tools, to understand how they were made. Flintknappers are craftsmen who use sharp tools to reduce flintstone to flint tool . In addition to lithic analysis, field prehistorians use
11880-568: The season: The government of Eswatini has expressed concern that climate change is exacerbating existing social challenges such as poverty, a high HIV prevalence, and food insecurity and will drastically restrict the country's ability to develop, as per Vision 2022. Economically, climate change has already adversely impacted Eswatini. For instance, the 2015–16 drought decreased sugar and soft drink concentrate production export (Eswatini's largest economic export). Many of Eswatini's major exports are raw agricultural products and are therefore vulnerable to
12000-498: The sole use and occupation of the Swazis. The commissioner had the power to expropriate up to one third of each concession without compensation, but payment would need to be made if more than a third was taken. In the event, in 1910 he completed his work and set aside 1,639,687 acres, some 38% of Swaziland's area, for the Swazi. The queen regent then encouraged the Swazi to go to work in the Transvaal to earn money to buy more land from
12120-704: The spectrum of areas eligible for conservation support (which practice bona-fide conservation management), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) established a new category for informal, or non-gazetted, conservation areas in 2018. These are now called OECMs, or Other Effective Conservation Measures. The SNPAS Project adopted this OECM terminology and began certifying informal conservation areas in Eswatini in 2021. There are known to be 507 bird species in Eswatini, including 11 globally threatened species and four introduced species, and 107 mammal species native to Eswatini, including
12240-450: The standard, prestige variety spoken mainly in the north, centre and southwest of the country, and a less prestigious variety spoken elsewhere. In the far south, especially in towns such as Nhlangano and Hlatikhulu , the variety of the language spoken is significantly influenced by isiZulu. Many Swazis (plural emaSwati , singular liSwati ), including those in the south who speak this variety, do not regard it as 'proper' Swazi. This
12360-461: The technique of smelting ore is regarded as the end of the Stone Age and the beginning of the Bronze Age . The first highly significant metal manufactured was bronze , an alloy of copper and tin or arsenic , each of which was smelted separately. The transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age was a period during which modern people could smelt copper, but did not yet manufacture bronze,
12480-424: The terms of which a Legislative Council and an Executive Council were established. This development was opposed by the king's Swazi National Council ( Liqoqo ). Despite such opposition, elections took place, and the first Legislative Council was constituted on 9 September 1964. By 1964, the area of the country reserved for occupation by the Swazi had increased to 56%. Changes to the original constitution proposed by
12600-533: The timeline of human technological prehistory into functional periods, with the next two being the Bronze Age and the Iron Age , respectively. The Stone Age is also commonly divided into three distinct periods: the earliest and most primitive being the Paleolithic era; a transitional period with finer tools known as the Mesolithic era; and the final stage known as the Neolithic era. Neolithic peoples were
12720-450: The transitions in archaeology is a branch of the general philosophic continuity problem, which examines how discrete objects of any sort that are contiguous in any way can be presumed to have a relationship of any sort. In archaeology, the relationship is one of causality . If Period B can be presumed to descend from Period A, there must be a boundary between A and B, the A–B boundary. The problem
12840-404: The turmoil in the landlocked nation "the most explosive civil unrest in its 53 years of independence". At least 20 people were killed by state security forces and dozens more injured and detained. The government shut down the internet (with the compliance of mobile providers MTN and Eswatini Mobile) making it difficult to access reliable news from the country. The king was also said to have fled
12960-472: The typology of the stone tools combined with the relative sequence of the types in various regions provide a chronological framework for the evolution of humanity and society. They serve as diagnostics of date, rather than characterizing the people or the society. Lithic analysis is a major and specialised form of archaeological investigation. It involves the measurement of stone tools to determine their typology, function and technologies involved. It includes
13080-669: The use of gold and copper for purposes of ornamentation, was known in the Stone Age, it is the melting and smelting of copper that marks the end of the Stone Age. In Western Asia , this occurred by about 3000 BC, when bronze became widespread. The term Bronze Age is used to describe the period that followed the Stone Age, as well as to describe cultures that had developed techniques and technologies for working copper alloys (bronze: originally copper and arsenic, later copper and tin) into tools, supplanting stone in many uses. Stone Age artifacts that have been discovered include tools used by modern humans, by their predecessor species in
13200-524: The west, between 1,000 and 2,000 mm (39.4 and 78.7 in). The further east, the less rain, with the Lowveld recording 500 to 900 mm (19.7 to 35.4 in) per annum. Variations in temperature are also related to the altitude of the different regions. The Highveld temperature is temperate and seldom uncomfortably hot, while the Lowveld may record temperatures around 40 °C (104 °F) in summer. The average temperatures at Mbabane, according to
13320-408: The world , at 58 years. The population of Eswatini is young. As of 2018, people aged 14 years or younger constitute 35% of the country's population and the median age is 22 years. Artifacts have been found indicating human activity dating back to the early Stone Age , around 200,000 years ago. Prehistoric rock art paintings dating from as far back as c. 27,000 years ago to as recently as
13440-548: Was adopted in 2005. Umhlanga , the reed dance held in August/September, and incwala , the kingship dance held in December/January, are the nation's most important events. The Swazi population faces major health issues: HIV/AIDS and (to a lesser extent) tuberculosis is widespread. Twenty-eight percent of the adult population is HIV-positive. As of 2018, Eswatini has the 12th-lowest life expectancy in
13560-484: Was announced in December 2001 to draft a new constitution; several members of this team were reported to be close to the royal family. Nominations take place at the chiefdoms. On the day of nomination, the name of the nominee is raised by a show of hand, and the nominee either accepts or rejects the nomination. If accepted, the nominee must have the support of at least ten members of that chiefdom. The nominations are for
13680-581: Was caused by reduced Southern African Customs Union (SACU) receipts. This caused the government to request a loan from neighbouring South Africa. However, they did not agree with the conditions of the loan, which included political reforms. During this period, there was increased pressure on the Swazi government to carry out more reforms. Public protests by civic organisations and trade unions became more common. Starting in 2012, improvements in SACU receipts eased
13800-493: Was drastically curtailed by Mswati, who attacked and subdued some of them in the 1850s. With his power, Mswati greatly reduced the influence of the Emakhandzambili while incorporating more people into his kingdom either through conquest or by giving them refuge. These later arrivals became known to the Swazis as Emafikamuva . The autonomy of the Swazi nation was influenced by British and Dutch rule of southern Africa in
13920-451: Was four months old. Swaziland was indirectly involved in the war with various skirmishes between the British and the Boers occurring in the country until 1902. In 1903, after the British victory in the Second Boer War , Swaziland became one of the British " High Commission Territories ", the others being Basutoland (now Lesotho ) and Bechuanaland (now Botswana ), although a protectorate
14040-692: Was given a triumviral administration in 1890, representing the British, the Dutch republics, and the Swazi people. In 1894, a convention placed Swaziland under the South African Republic as a protectorate . This continued under the rule of Ngwane V until the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899. King Ngwane V died in December 1899, during incwala , after the outbreak of the Second Boer War. His successor, Sobhuza II ,
14160-729: Was in December 1921 after the regency of Labotsibeni, after which he led an unsuccessful deputation to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in London in 1922 regarding the issue of the land. In the period between 1923 and 1963, Sobhuza II established the Swazi Commercial Amadoda which was to grant licences to small businesses on the Swazi reserves and also established
14280-631: Was not established because terms had not been agreed with the Swazi Queen Regent Labotsibeni Mdluli . The Swaziland Administration Proclamation of 1904 established a commission with the task of examining all the concessions and defining their boundaries. This work was finished by 1907, and the Swaziland Concessions Partition Proclamation provided for a concessions partition commissioner to be appointed to set aside areas for
14400-402: Was viewed as the administrative head of state and the latter as a spiritual and national head of state, with real power counterbalancing that of the king, but during the long reign of Sobhuza II, the role of the ndlovukati became more symbolic. The king appoints the prime minister from the legislature and also appoints a majority of senators and a minority of legislators to the lower chamber of
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