Showing posts with label Eswatini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eswatini. Show all posts

September 6 - Independence Day in Eswatini

Posted on September 6, 2021


This is an update of my post published on September 6, 2010: 




On this day in 1968, Swaziland became fully independent of the United Kingdom. 

In 2018, Swaziland was officially renamed Eswatini.

This small, landlocked nation is almost entirely surrounded by the larger country South Africa (with a small border shared with Mozambique in the east). Landlocked means that the nation doesn't have access to an ocean or sea. It's land that is "locked up" in the middle of more land!



About three quarters of Eswatini's people work in subsistence farming, which means that they farm for themselves and their families and have basically no surplus crop to sell. Subsistence farmers grow their own food, build their own houses, and live without regularly buying things in any kind of store or marketplace. 

Tragically, the HIV infection rate in Eswatini is very high—the highest in the world. Almost a third of people ages 15 to 49 have the disease!

King Mswati III

Eswatini is ruled by a king who traditionally rules along with his mother or a ritual substitute. The king chooses a prime minister and also appoints a small number of legislative representatives, with the people electing the majority of the legislators. Apparently the king has an awful lot of power, which some citizens don't like. As a matter of fact, the current king has been said to rule "with an iron fist," and citizens have been agitating for democracy this summer (starting late June 2021). Their protests have sometimes broken into riots, looting, arson, and even street skirmishes between military and citizens. It's difficult to know what's going on, because the government shut down the internet; there are rumors that the king fled the nation, but the government denies this.


  • Eswatini preserves its folk culture by educating and including young people in its traditions and institutions. This photo shows a princess during the traditional Reed Dance. And here is a video with some kids and foreigners learning a dance and song.




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July 22 - African Holidays!

 Posted on July 22, 2021

This is an update of my post published on July 22, 2010:

There are three holidays in three different African nations, today:

Revolution Day in The Gambia




National Tree Planting Day in the Central African Republic



Birthday of King Sobhuza II in Eswatini



The Gambia, which is the smallest nation on the mainland continent of Africa, runs on either side of the river “The Gambia” and is surrounded almost entirely by Senegal. On this day The Gambia commemorates the 1994 ousting of the Jawara government by the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council. According to Wikipedia, the AFPRC, led by Yahya Jammeh, moved toward making the Gambia more democratic, and there were several elections that outsiders rated as fair. However, Jammeh began to abuse his power, imprisoning political opponents. In other words, he became something of a dictator!


After ruling The Gambia for 22 years, Jammeh lost an election. He declared the results void and called for another election. A coalition of West African nations staged a military intervention, and Jammeh ended up conceding the loss and leaving the nation.

It just goes to show how difficult it is to maintain democracy! Many folks just love power, and when they get power, they HATE to lose it!

By the way, back in 2013 Jammeh decreed that The Gambia would not longer be a member of the British Commonwealth - and would never again rejoin. However, in 2018 - and under a new president, The Gambia DID rejoin the Commonwealth.

Here are three photos of The Gambia:





The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked nation right in the center of Africa. Although it is one of the poorest nations in Africa and the world, it has potential in eco-tourism, because it has so many rain forests and so much wildlife that visitors will want to see.



Planting trees to keep the nation green is a good way of protecting these important features! So happy National Tree Planting Day to folks in the CAR!
















Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) is another tiny country (like the Gambia) that is landlocked (like the CAR). In fact, it is almost entirely surrounded by South Africa. 

On this day an important former king (pictured left) is honored. 

King Sobhuza II ruled 82 years and 9 months (although part of that rule was when he was very young, and his grandmother acted as regent). This is the longest precisely dated reign on record.

King Sobhuza married 70 wives and had 210 children. When he died in 1982, he had over one thousand grandchildren!

Here are a couple of landscapes of Eswatini:








 
Find the African nations the Gambia, Eswatini (Swaziland), and the Central African Republic on this interactive map by moving the cursor over it.






Did you know that yams, watermelon, black-eyed-peas, coffee, cola, and okra - and loads of other foods and beverages - came from Africa? 

Here are some recipes from The Gambia, Eswatini, and the Central African Republic.





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