ABSTRACT
Swaziland is a small kingdom situated in southeastern Africa, lying between the Republic of South Africa and Mozambique. Swaziland's position in the region has always had a central effect on its history. It lay across the major migration route of Bantu speakers from central into southern Africa in prehistoric times; these migrants were the ancestors of Swaziland's present population. In the 1980s Swaziland must look to all four compass points in attending to its future. In truth, Swaziland is an extraordinarily rich and beautiful country. Parts of it are as lush and well watered as any in the world, and beneath the ground lies a wealth of certain minerals. Swaziland, in responding to those market forces, had by the early 1980s paid a heavy price in terms of an economy heavily dependent on foreign capital and a badly skewed income distribution.
