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Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini and also known by its former official name Swaziland, 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 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.
Artifacts indicating human activity dating back to the early Stone Age have been found in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The earliest known inhabitants of the region were Khoisan hunter-gatherers. Later, the population became predominantly Nguni during and after the great Bantu migrations. People speaking languages ancestral to the current Sotho and Nguni languages began settling no later than the 11th century. The country now derives its name from a later king named Mswati II. 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 people of Eswatini largely belong to a number of clans that can be categorized as Emakhandzambili, Bemdzabu, and Emafikamuva, depending on when and how they settled in Eswatini.
SothoSesotho, also known as Southern Sotho or Sesotho sa Borwa is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken in Lesotho, and South Africa where it is an official language;
Swazi or siSwati is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini and South Africa by the Swati people. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 2.4 million. The language is taught in Eswatini and some South African schools in Mpumalanga, particularly former KaNgwane areas. Siswati is an official language of Eswatini, and is also one of the eleven official languages of South Africa.
The Swazi or Swati are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, inhabiting Eswatini, a sovereign kingdom in Southern Africa, and South Africa's Mpumalanga province. EmaSwati are part of the Nguni-language speaking peoples whose origins can be traced through archaeology to East Africa where similar traditions, beliefs and cultural practices are found.
At least thirty-five languages indigenous to South Africa are spoken in the Republic, twelve of which are official languages of South Africa: Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu, Afrikaans, and English, which is the primary language used in parliamentary and state discourse, though all official languages are equal in legal status. In addition, South African Sign Language was recognised as the twelfth official language of South Africa by the National Assembly on 3 May 2023. Unofficial languages are protected under the Constitution of South Africa, though few are mentioned by any name.
Elandspark is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is located in Region 9.
Sandown is an affluent suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, in Sandton. It is located in Region E of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Sandown is both a residential and commercial area and is home to the offices of many major national and international corporations as well as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in the area known as Sandton Central. The Gautrain rapid rail system's Sandton Station is located in Sandown, linking Sandton to O.R. Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg Central and the Capital City, Pretoria.
Lobamba is a city in Eswatini, and is one of the two capitals, serving as the legislative, traditional, spiritual, seat of government of the Parliament of Eswatini, and Ludzidzini Royal Village, the residence of Queen Ntfombi, the Queen Mother.
Waterkloof is an affluent suburb of the city of Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa, located to the east of the city centre. It is named after the original farm that stood there when Pretoria was founded in the 19th Century.
The Department of Education was one of the departments of the South African government until 2009, when it was divided into the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Higher Education and Training. It oversaw the education and training system of South Africa, including schools and universities. The political head of the department was the Minister of Education, the last of which was Naledi Pandor.
Many languages are spoken, or historically have been spoken, in Zimbabwe. Since the adoption of its 2013 Constitution, Zimbabwe has 16 official languages, namely Chewa, Chibarwe, English, Kalanga, Koisan, Nambya, Ndau, Ndebele, Shona, The country's main languages are Shona, spoken by over 82% of the population, and Ndebele, spoken by roughly 15%. English is the country's lingua franca, used in government and business and as the main medium of instruction in schools. English is the first language of most white Zimbabweans, and is the second language of a majority of black Zimbabweans. Historically, a minority of white Zimbabweans spoke Afrikaans, Greek, Italian, Polish, and Portuguese, among other languages, while Gujarati and Hindi could be found amongst the country's Indian population. Deaf Zimbabweans commonly use one of several varieties of Zimbabwean Sign Language, with some using American Sign Language. Zimbabwean language data is based on estimates, as Zimbabwe has never conducted a census that enumerated people by language.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to South Africa:
The Southern Bantu languages are a large group of Bantu languages, largely validated in Janson (1991/92). They are nearly synonymous with Guthrie's Bantu zone S, apart from the exclusion of Shona and the inclusion of Makhuwa. They include all of the major Bantu languages of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mozambique, with outliers such as Lozi in Zambia and Namibia, and Ngoni in Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi.
Hlane Royal National Park is a national park in Eswatini, roughly 67 km northeast of Manzini along the MR3 road. Prior to the park being public, it was a private royal hunting ground. Hlane, meaning 'wilderness', was named by King Sobhuza II. It is now held in trust for the Nation by His Majesty King Mswati III, and is managed by Big Game Parks, a privately owned body.
The Department of Tourism is one of the departments of the South African government. It is responsible for promoting and developing tourism, both from other countries to South Africa, and within South Africa..
Lesotho, a country in Southern Africa, is home to several languages, including Phuthi, Sesotho, Xhosa, Zulu and English, — all, except for English, belong to the Niger–Congo language family.
Ezulwini Valley is a valley of northwest Eswatini. Also known as "The Valley of Heaven", the valley lasts for about 30 kilometres, and is bounded to the east by the Mdzimba hills. The historical capital of Eswatini Lobamba is located in the valley, also known as the Royal Valley, a place of many legends of Swazi history. The main highway is the MR3 road; some parts have four lanes. The valley extends as far down as Kwaluseni. The valley contains a number of notable wildlife sanctuaries and features including the 4,500-hectare Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary and the Royal Swazi Sun Hotel. The valley is undergoing significant development with the growth of Tourism in Eswatini, with the building of casinos, bars, hotels, shops such as the Gables Shopping Centre and urbanization. Also of note is the Ezulwini Handicrafts Centre and Swazi National Museum in Lobamba. Despite the urban developments in the valley, the landscape still has some "soft green hills and plains-game grazing in the lush lands below."
Several braille alphabets are used in South Africa. For English, Unified English Braille has been adopted. Nine other languages have been written in braille: Afrikaans, Ndebele, Sesotho, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu. All print alphabets are restricted to the basic Latin alphabet, with diacritics in some cases; the braille alphabets are likewise basic braille with additional letters to render the diacritics.
References
- Austin, P., ed. (2008). One thousand languages: living, endangered, and lost. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9780520255609.
- Dalby, A. (1998). Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Reference to More Than 400 Languages. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231115698.
- Fitzpatrick, M. (2004). South Africa, Lesotho & Swaziland. Lonely Planet Travel Guides Series. ISBN 9781741041620.
- Fitzpatrick, M. (2006). South Africa, Lesotho & Swaziland. Lonely Planet Travel Guides Series. ISBN 9781740599702.
- Kanduza, A. M.; et al., eds. (2003). Issues in the economy and politics of Swaziland since 1968. OSSREA.
- Simons, G. F.; et al., eds. (2018). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (21st ed.). Dallas: SIL International.
- Stokes, J., ed. (2009). Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East. New York: Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9780816071586.
