Eswatini [ b ] , formally the Kingdom of Eswatini , also known by its former official name Swaziland [ c ] and formally the Kingdom of Swaziland , [ 11 ] [ 12 ] is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its north, west, south, and southeast. At no more than km mi north to south and 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 is composed primarily of ethnic Swazis. The prevalent language is Swazi siSwati in native form. Eswatini is a developing country that is classified as having a lower-middle income economy.
As 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 [ 18 ] and the European Union. The government is an absolute monarchy , the last of its kind in Africa, [ 20 ] and has been ruled by King Mswati III since Artifacts have been found indicating human activity dating back to the early Stone Age , around , years ago.
Prehistoric rock art paintings dating from as far back as c. 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 the current Sotho and Nguni languages began settling no later than the 11th century.
