Simply Swaziland Trivia Quiz

Answer: South Africa and Mozambique

Located in southern Africa, Eswatini is a reasonably small country - roughly the size of the state of New Jersey, Wales in the UK, and the country of Kuwait. It is completely landlocked, with boundaries of only 535km. It is bordered to the north, south, and west by South Africa, for 430km; and to the east by Mozambique, with a border of approximately 105km.

Answer: Red, blue, and yellow

There are five horizontal stripes on the flag of Eswatini - from the top, they go in the order of blue, yellow, red, yellow, blue. In the red stripe, there is also a picture of a traditional black and white Swazi shield.

Answer: Four

Eswatini is divided into four districts: the northwest Hhohho; Lubombo in the east; the central-west Manzini; and the southern Shiselweni.

Answer: Emlembe

Emlembe is the highest mountain in Eswatini, and also serves as the highest point in the country. It's approximately 1863 metres above sea level. The uKhahlamba mountain range is, in fact, the Drakensburg, the highest mountain range in all of southern Africa, which runs for over 1000km. It's a World Heritage site. "uKhahlamba" means "barrier of spears" in Zulu.

Answer: Absolute Monarchy

The Kingdom of Eswatini is one of the few countries still run completely by the monarchy, and is one of three monarchies in Africa (the other two being Lesotho and Morocco). Eswatini's monarch, King Mswati III, holds supreme judicial, legislative, and executive powers.

He came to the throne in 1986, and is often criticized for not taking enough care of his people, and spending his money on luxury vehicles like BMWs, when he should be concentrating on healthcare, as Eswatini has one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the world.

He has over a dozen wives and about two dozen children (no worries about who's taking over then! Although, interestingly, and unlike many other monarchies, the oldest son is never the heir to the throne.

Answer: True

Eswatini is indeed home to the world's oldest known mine on archaeological record. Known as the Lion Cavern, carbon dating has shown this mine to have been in use since around 41,000 B.C. Lion Cavern lies on Bomvu ridge, which is several kilometres north west of Mbabane. Paleolithic humans mined a mineral known as hematite, which contained iron.

However, the many uses of iron had not yet been discovered, and so, the hematite was ground into ochre - a red pigment - which, in those times, would have been used as a beauty tool (it could be mixed with water and turned into a paint, which was used to colour hair, and paint faces).

Answer: Mbabane

Mbabane serves as the administrative capital of Eswatini. It is also the largest city in Swaziland, and lies in the Hhohho region, of which it is also the capital.

Answer: September

Eswatini was initially a protectorate of the Transvaal in South Africa in 1894, and after the Second Boer War (sometimes called the South African War) ended in 1902, Eswatini became a British protectorate. It only achieved full, but reasonably peaceful, independence on the 6th September 1968, and this is celebrated as a public holiday each year and is known as "Somhlolo Day".
Protectorate = a country or state that is partly controlled and "protected", but not owned, by a larger and stronger country or state.

Answer: Great Usutu River

Also known as the Maputo River (from the Portuguese name "Rio Maputo") or the Lusutfu River, the Great Usutu River is named after the Besotho people who once lived along the riverbanks. The name is said to mean "dark brown" or "muddy" (and I can tell you from experience that it deserves this name!) The river flows through South Africa, Eswatini, and Mozambique.

It's the largest river in Eswatini, and is a popular spot for white water rafting.

Answer: Glass

Ngwenya is world renowned for the its people's glass craftsmanship - and only recycled glass is used. Tourists can witness the art of glassblowing from an overhead balcony at the Ngwenya Glass Factory, and after enjoying a meal or a cup of coffee, are able to take the beautiful glass creations home with them.
I personally own a little family of glass hippos, which sit on my desk; as well as a glass warthog; all from the Ngwenya Glass Factory.