Swaziland is a landlocked country bordered by South Africa and Mozambique.

The tiny country is an absolute monarchy ruled by King Mswati who calls all of the shots. The king holds all of the power with no other branch of government there to check or question his decisions… including renaming the country!

A couple of days back the king announced that he was changing the name of Swaziland to the Kingdom of eSwatini. (The name eSwatini means “land of the Swazis”.)

The change was officially announced at a “stadium during celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Swazi independence,” according to the BBC. The festivities also celebrated the king’s 50th birthday.

According to the BBC, the king has referred to Swaziland as eSwatini for years. Some examples given were when the king addressed the UN general assembly last year and at the opening of the country’s parliament in 2014.

So why the need to change the country’s name? It’s basically to avoid confusion! The king said that “Whenever we go abroad, people refer to us as Switzerland.” 

I don’t know about you but I prefer the name Swaziland to eSwatini. When I look at the country’s new name, I wonder if its a website or an e-commerce company.

Find out more about the newly named eSwatini here.