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Swaziland King Renames Country ‘eSwatini’ To Stop People Confusing It With Switzerland

Swaziland King Renames Country ‘eSwatini’ To Stop People Confusing It With Switzerland

King Mswati III of Swaziland decided to change the actual name of the country from Swaziland to 'the Kingdom of eSwatini'

EMS 7

EMS 7

There aren't many places left in the world with powerful monarchs, let alone ones in which the king holds absolute power over the entire country.

However, Swaziland remains in the small percentage that does, with King Mswati III of Swaziland able to make the country's decisions.

Flexing his power this week, King Mswati decided to change the actual name of the country from Swaziland to 'the Kingdom of eSwatini'.

The name change marks the 50th anniversary of Swaziland's independence from British rule (although it also marked Mswati's 50th birthday, making the occasion doubly special to the King).

The Guardian reports that King Mswati declared the name change during the independence day celebrations at a packed sports stadium in the second city of Manzini.

PA

He said: "I would like to announce that Swaziland will now revert to its original name.

"African countries, on getting independence, reverted to their ancient names before they were colonised. So from now on, the country will be officially be known as the Kingdom of eSwatini."

Although the announcement came as a bit of a shock to the citizens of Swaziland, the King has been referring to it as eSwatini for years: it was the name he used to address the UN general assembly in 2017 and during the state opening of the country's parliament in 2014.

Pixabay

One of the key reasons he wanted to change the name was because there had been a lot of confusion over the years. "Whenever we go abroad, people refer to us as Switzerland."

Despite the reasoning, the announcement has received some angry reactions in the country. According to the BBC's Nomsa Maseko, some believe the King should focus on boosting the nation's economy rather than changing its title.

However, others believe it's about time, as the name Swaziland angered some citizens due to it being a mix of Swazi and English.

King Mswati meets the Queen of the United Kingdom in 2003.
PA

Regardless of the reactions, it's up to King Mswati what goes down and what doesn't. Since being crowned in 1986 at aged 18, he's been the person in charge of the country - in which political parties are banned from taking part in elections and only candidates approved by chiefs loyal to the king can stand for office.

So that's that. What Mswati says, Mswati does and if he wants to change the name of an entire country, he can. Imagine if the Queen had the same level of power . . . Corgiland just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: World News, Africa