1. Maciej Matusz 12/11/2013

2.  Located in the southern part of the African continent  Capital is Mbabane (+2 GMT) ◦ Coordinates 26.19° S, 31.07° E  Most Northern Point 25.43 ° S  Most Southern Point 27.19 ° S  Most Eastern Point 32.08 ° E  Most Western Point 30.47 ° E  Size: 17,363 sq km  Population: 1,230,985 (2012) Source(s): GlobalEdge, World Atlas, and Google Earth

3.  Swaziland is a landlocked countries  It shares a majority of its border with South Africa. The rest of the border is with Mozambique Source(s): Google Earth

4.  Compared to its neighbors, Swaziland is a relatively small country. ◦ It is 46 times smaller than Mozambique  Capital - Maputo (+2 GMT )  801,590 sq km  Population 25,203,395 ◦ It is 70 times smaller than South Africa  Capital – Pretoria (+2 GMT)  1,220,000 sq km  Population 51,189,306  Countries in Africa that are more similar to Swaziland would include: ◦ Lesotho- 30,355 sq km  Capital – Maseru (+2 GMT)  Population 2,051,545 ◦ Rwanda- 26,338 sq km  Capital – Kigali (+2 GMT)  Population 11,457,801 ◦ Burundi- 27,830 sq km  Capital – Bujumbura (+2 GMT)  Population 9,849,569 Source(s): World Atlas and GlobalEdge

5.  Language – English (official government business conducted in English) ◦ Swazi (other official language)  Belief Systems ◦ Zionist 40% (a blend of Christianity and indigenous ancestral worship) ◦ Roman Catholic 20% ◦ Muslim 10% ◦ Anglican, Bahai, Methodist, Mormon, Jewish 30% Source(s): Culture Crossings, Centre for Intercultural Learning, and GlobalEdge

6.  View On Time – Punctuality is not highly valued  Personal Space – There is little regard for, or sense of, personal space  Greetings – A handshake with the right hand is the most common form of greeting ◦ Extending to shake hands while touching your own forearm or wrist is more polite ◦ While greeting an elder or someone of higher rank a bow of the head while shaking hands is expected  Communication Style – Communication is very indirect. A high emphasis on being overly polite and guarding information Source(s): Culture Crossings, Centre for Intercultural Learning, and GlobalEdge

7.  Lesotho ◦ Language – English (official), Sesotho (Southern Sotho), Zulu, Xhosa ◦ Belief Systems – Christian 80%, Indigenous Beliefs 20% ◦ View on Time – Punctuality is not highly valued ◦ Greetings – Usually all verbal ◦ Personal Space – There is little regard for personal space ◦ Communication Style – Can be very direct, but not confrontational  Burundi ◦ Language – French (official), Kirundi (official), Swahili ◦ Belief Systems – Christian 67%, Indigenous Belief 23%, Muslim 10% ◦ View on Time – Punctuality in not highly valued ◦ Greetings – Handshake and the saying amakuru meaning “what’s the news?” ◦ Personal Space – Personal space depends on the relative ranks of people’s positions ◦ Communication Style – Tends to be very indirect  Rwanda ◦ Language – Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) ◦ Belief Systems – Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, Other 1.8% ◦ View on Time – Punctuality is not highly valued ◦ Greetings – Handshake that tends to linger throughout greeting process ◦ Personal Space – Tends to be minimal. People often talk to each other very closely ◦ Communication Style – Direct in some situations, and indirect in others Source(s): Culture Crossings, Centre for Intercultural Learning, and GlobalEdge

8.  GDP - $6.23 billion ◦ GDP per capita - $5,246  Estimated that 69% of the population lives in poverty  Exports - $2.04 billion  Imports - $2.11 billion  Currency – Swazi Lilangeni  Inflation Rate – 6.1%  Global Competitiveness Report ◦ 3.52 (124 out of 148)  Corruption Perception Index 82 out of 175  Index of Economic Freedom 105 out of 177  KOF Index of Globalization 109 out of 187 Source(s): GlobalEdge, Centre for Intercultural Learning, and XE

9.  Lesotho ◦ GDP - $3.72 billion ($1,963 per capita) ◦ Exports – $1.00 billion ◦ Imports – $2.31 billion ◦ Currency – Basotho loti ◦ Country Risk - B  Burundi ◦ GDP - $5.18 billion ($560 per capita) ◦ Exports – $90.8 million ◦ Imports – $536.60 million ◦ Currency – Burundi franc ◦ Country Risk - D  Rwanda ◦ GDP - $13.62 billion ($1,354 per capita) ◦ Exports – $372.60 million ◦ Imports – $1.37 billion ◦ Currency - Francs ◦ Country Risk - D Source(s): GlobalEdge, and Centre for Intercultural Learning

10.  Member of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) with Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and South Africa  Member of the United Nations (UN)  Member of the African Union (AU)  Member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) ◦ Currently Chairs this organization  Also a member of the WTO and the IMF Source(s): GlobalEdge, and Centre for Intercultural Learning, Cultural Crossings

11.  Government Structure – Parlimentary Monarchy ◦ Chief of State - King Mswati III ◦ Head of Government – Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini  Law and Custom – The monarch holds supreme executive, legislative, and judicial powers. ◦ In practice the monarch powers are delegated to statutory bodies  All laws, passed by parliament, must be approved by the king before it becomes law  A constitution was passed on July 26, 2005 which allowed for other political parties, but did not allow them to contest elections. Source(s): GlobalEdge, and Centre for Intercultural Learning,

12.  Lesotho ◦ Government Structure – Parlimentary Constitutional Monarchy  Chief of State – King Letsie III  Head of Government – Prime Minister Tom Motsoahae Thabane  The PM is Head of the government and has executive authority. The King serves a largely ceremonial function.  Burundi ◦ Government Structure – Presidential Republic  Chief of State – President Pierre Nkurunziza  Head of Government – President Pierre Nkurunziza  The legislation is created by the a bicameral assembly and then approved by the President  Rwanda ◦ Government Structure – Parliamentary Presidential Republic  Chief of State – President Paul Kagame  Head of Government – Prime Minister Pierre-Damien Habumuremyi  The President has broad powers over policy and it is he who appoints the Prime Minister and member of the cabinets who make the policy decisions. Source(s): GlobalEdge, and Centre for Intercultural Learning

13.  New Cabinet Appointed ◦ A new cabinet has been recently appointed by King Mswati III which consists of loyalists who will support the rule of the king.  Economic Impact of Food Shortages ◦ A survey using 2009 data has shown that the economic loss from malnutrition amounted to a lost of 37 million working hours or about 1.4% of GDP  Swaziland: Country Outlook ◦ Low-level social unrest continues in Swaziland as the regime remains impervious to popular demands for democratic reforms and lift the ban on political parties Source(s): ViewsWire

14.  Personal Reflection on RW ◦ I found that even though most countries in Africa share some aspects of culture each has something that makes it unique like the language or the types of greetings or communication styles that the people of the respective countries use. ◦ On the economic aspect it was eye opening to see that the per capita income of most people in these countries ranges from $500 to $5,000 compared to the $50,000 that you see in more developed countries. ◦ In term of politics it was a surprise that absolute monarchies still exists in the world as the one in Swaziland. But it was exciting to see that there are efforts by the native people to bring about reforms.  Assessment of library references ◦ There is a vast amount of resources in the shape of databases and personnel in the library that are a great help in finding information and creating reports