Service Contract No 2007 / 147-446 Strategic ... - Swaziland

4 STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT INSWAZILAND 54.1 Location and demographyThe Kingdom of Swaziland is a landlocked country located in South Eastern Africa betweenlatitudes 25° and 28° South and longitudes 31° and 32° East. It has a total surface of 17,360km 2 and shares borders with the Republic of South Africa (RSA) in the north, west and southand Mozambique in the east. According to the 2007 census, Swaziland has a total populationof 1,018,449 out of which 22% is urban and 78% rural, and a population density of about 58people per km 2 .Administratively Swaziland is divided into four administrative regions (also known asadministrative districts): Hhohho in the north, Manzini in the centre, Shiselweni in the southand Lubombo in the east (see Figure 1). A Regional Administrator administers each of thefour regions. The headquarters of the regions are Mbabane, Manzini, Nhlangano and Sitekifor Hhohho, Manzini, Shiselweni and Lubombo regions, respectively.Geologically, Swaziland is located at the transition of the South African Plateau to theMozambican coastal plain. The western part of the country lies in the escarpment zone andthe eastern part in the coastal plains. The Lubombo range separates the coastal plains ofSwaziland and Mozambique.Swaziland is classified into six Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ), taking into account elevation,landforms, geology, soils, climate and vegetation: the Highveld, the Upper Middleveld, theLower Middleveld, the Western Lowveld, the Eastern Lowveld and the Lubombo Range.Landforms range from plateaus, hills and mountains, to foot slopes and plains.Figure 1:Administrative regions in Swaziland5 Information taken to a large extent from the State of Environment Report for Swaziland (2001) and the CountryEnvironmental Profile (2006).RDMU (Strategic Environmental Assessment of the National Adaptation Strategy) - Page 20