The king of Swaziland has announced that his country had changed its name to eSwatini to mark 50 years since independence from British rule.
He said the move was also necessary to stop the country from being confused with Switzerland.
Meaning ‘place of the Swazi’, eSwatini is the Swazi language name for the tiny nation landlocked betweenSouth Africa and Mozambique.
King Mswati III declared the name change during independence day celebrations at a packed sports stadium he said he did not want his country to be confused with Switzerland.
The king said the name ‘Swaziland’ had caused confusion.
‘Whenever we go abroad, people refer to us as Switzerland,’ he said.
Unlike some countries, Swaziland did not change its name when it gained independence in 1968 after being a British protectorate for more than 60 years.
King Mswati III declared the name change during independence day celebrations at a packed sports stadium in the second city of Manzini.
‘I would like to announce that Swaziland will now revert to its original name,’ he said, wearing red military uniform.’
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.’
The country, which has a population of about 1.3 million people.
The name change could mean that the country’s constitution is re-written, as well as changes for the Royal Swaziland Police Force, the Swaziland Defence Force and the University of Swaziland.
After independence, Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, Nyasaland became Malawi, and Bechuanal and became Botswana.
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