Getting your questions ready
Getting your questions ready
Beat the crowd
10 questions No timer
50 free Eswatini trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Eswatini trivia quiz covers the small landlocked kingdom formerly known as Swaziland: how the Swazi people got their name, the British protectorate years, independence in 1968, King Sobhuza II's record 82-year reign, his son Mswati III's absolute rule and the 2018 renaming. It takes in the Reed Dance and the Incwala, the two capitals, the currency pegged to the rand, the Sibebe monolith and Hlane's lions, the sugar economy and the sobering HIV statistics. The first questions suit anyone who noticed the name change on the map; the last ones test people who know how many wives Sobhuza had and what the flag's shield stands for. Every question is multiple choice with a short explanation after you answer. Every answer has been checked against a primary source, and each question links to the page that confirms it.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01By what name was Eswatini officially known until 2018?
Swaziland
The king switched to the Swazi-language name for the country's 50th anniversary of independence.
Q 02Eswatini's government is described as the last of what kind in Africa?
An absolute monarchy
The king can veto any legislation and dissolve parties; political parties are barred from running in elections.
Q 03Who became King of Eswatini in 1986?
Mswati III
Crowned six days after turning 18, he was then the youngest reigning monarch in the world.
Q 04Eswatini is bordered on all sides by South Africa except to the east, where it meets which country?
Mozambique
It is landlocked and no more than 200 km north to south.
Q 05Eswatini has two capitals: Mbabane, the executive capital, and which legislative capital?
Lobamba
Lobamba, in the 'Valley of Heaven', houses parliament and the Queen Mother's royal village.
Q 06Eswatini regained full independence from Britain on 6 September of which year?
1968
It had been a British high commission territory since 1903, after the Second Boer War.
Q 07King Sobhuza II holds what record?
Longest verifiable reign of any monarch
He reigned 82 years and 254 days from 1899 to 1982, having succeeded as a four-month-old.
Q 08How many wives did King Sobhuza II have during his life?
70
His son Mswati III was born to one of them, Ntfombi, in 1968.
Q 09The country and its people take their name from which 19th-century king?
Mswati II
The kingdom itself was founded in the mid-18th century under Ngwane III.
Q 10The annual Umhlanga ceremony held in late August or early September is better known in English as what?
The Reed Dance
It revives the older umcwasho custom, and a version was introduced among the Zulus in 1991.
Q 11The Incwala, Eswatini's most important cultural event, is best translated as what?
Kingship Ceremony
It is often called the first fruits ceremony, but when there is no king there is no Incwala; it runs for about a month around the summer solstice.
Q 12The Ndlovukati, who rules jointly with the king, is what?
The Queen Mother
The title means She-Elephant; Ntfombi has held it since 1983 and was regent until her son's coronation.
Q 13Eswatini's currency, the lilangeni, is pegged one-to-one to which currency?
South African rand
The rand is also accepted in the country; the plural of lilangeni is emalangeni.
Q 21Eswatini measures no more than how far from north to south?
200 km
That makes it the second-smallest country in Africa.
Q 22Eswatini's national football team is nicknamed Sihlangu Semnikati, meaning what?
King's Shield
The team has never qualified for the World Cup or the Africa Cup of Nations.
Q 23Eswatini's largest export is what?
Sugar and soft-drink concentrate
The 2015-16 drought hit output hard, showing how exposed the economy is to climate.
Roughly what share of Eswatini's imports come from South Africa?
Q 14Eswatini is Africa's only country with diplomatic ties to which government rather than Beijing?
Taiwan
Taiwan's president made a surprise visit in May 2026, to Chinese fury.
Q 15As of 2019, Eswatini had the world's highest prevalence of which disease among 15-49-year-olds?
HIV
About 27% of adults were living with the virus, and life expectancy stood at just 58.
Q 16In 2001 the king revived the umcwasho chastity rite, asking Swazi maidens to abstain for how long?
Five years
It was an attempt to slow the HIV pandemic; two months later he took a 17-year-old fiancée himself.
Q 17On 12 April 1973, King Sobhuza II did what?
Annulled the constitution and took supreme power
He ruled by decree until his death in 1982, and parties remain barred from elections.
Q 18Eswatini's flag features a black-and-white Nguni shield with a staff and how many spears?
Two
King Sobhuza II designed it, basing it on the flag he gave the Swazi Pioneer Corps in 1941.
Q 19On Eswatini's flag, what does the red band stand for?
Past battles
Blue is for peace and stability and yellow for the country's resources.
Q 20Sibebe, 10 km from Mbabane, is the world's second-largest what?
Monolith
The granite dome is the largest exposed pluton on Earth, rising 350 m above the Mbuluzi valley.
Over 90%
About 70% of its exports go the other way, and it belongs to the Southern African Customs Union.
Q 25Eswatini's biggest protected area, Hlane Royal National Park, has a name meaning what?
Wilderness
It was named by Sobhuza II and is home to lion, elephant, giraffe and white rhino.
Q 26Ezulwini, the 30-kilometre vale that holds the legislative capital, has a name meaning what?
Valley of Heaven
It runs for about 30 km, bounded by the Mdzimba hills.
Q 27Eswatini's second-largest city, formerly Bremersdorp and nicknamed 'The Hub', is which?
Manzini
The current king was born at its Raleigh Fitkin Memorial Hospital in 1968.
Q 28The 1881 convention in which Britain recognised Swazi independence came despite what wider event?
The Scramble for Africa
The London Convention of 1884 recognised it again before the Boers and then Britain took control.
Q 29King Ngwane V died in December 1899 during the Incwala, shortly after the outbreak of which war?
Second Boer War
His successor, Sobhuza II, was four months old.
Q 30Roughly what share of Eswatini's population is Christian?
83%
African Zionist churches account for 37.6% and Catholics only 3.7%.