eSwatini QRV in October/November 2024
The multi-operator 3DA0DL DXpedition from the landlocked, southern African Kingdom of eSwatini is scheduled to be on the air from October 25 to November 9. The team will be operating five stations employing three Icom IC-7300s and two IC-705s covering the HF bands on CW, SSB, and digital.
Formerly known as Swaziland, eSwatini is bordered by Mozambique to the northeast and South Africa to the north, west, south, and southeast. It stands as the 155th Most-Wanted DXCC Entity per Clublog as of October 2024.
About eSwatini
The 6,704-square-mile country (slightly smaller than New Jersey) has a population of 1.2 million, mostly composed of ethnic Swazis, a Bantu group native to southern Africa. It ranks 48th out of 54 African nations in terms of size and 49th based on population.
eSwatini’s government is an “absolute monarchy,” defined as a monarchy that is not limited by laws or a constitution, giving the sovereign unrestricted political power. At the age of 18, Mswati III was crowned King of Swaziland (or “iNgwenyama,” the title of the male monarch in eSwatini) in 1986 and has ruled the country since. eSwatini is Africa’s only remaining absolute monarchy and one of the few remaining natural or subnational absolute monarchies in the world.
Two sovereign African nations are constitutional monarchies: Lesotho and Morocco.
In 2018, Mswati III marked the 50th anniversary of Swazi independence from British rule by renaming the country eSwatini, translated to “land of the Swazis” in the Swazi language. Mswati III, who had already been referring to Swaziland as eSwatini for some years, also gave this reason for the name change:
“Whenever we go abroad, people refer to us as Switzerland,” he said.
eSwatini is a richly biodiverse nation, featuring more than 800 species of vertebrates and 2,400 species of plants—many of which are endemic. Its 107 mammal species include the endangered south-central black rhinoceros. The country has multiple wildlife sanctuaries where vulnerable animals are protected.
eSwatini’s economy, which is dependent on exporting/importing with South Africa, is largely based on agriculture, forestry, mining, manufacturing of textiles, and sugar-related processing.
Geography Question of the Day
eSwatini is Africa’s only remaining absolute monarchy. Can you name the world’s longest-standing absolute monarchy? Answer below.
Can’t wait a few seconds to get to the end of the article? Find the answer in this OnAllBands post.
QSL Cards
The active hams at DX Engineering have had great success contacting eSwatini/Swaziland over the years (a good reason to contact them for help with your gear if you’d like to do the same). Here are a few of the QSL cards from their collections.
Scotty, KG9Z, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, earned this card from 3D6AN back in November 1984.
Mark, W8BBQ, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, received this card from the 3DA0TM DXpedition in September 2010. The bottom right corner shows eSwatini’s flag. It features horizontal blue, crimson, and yellow stripes with a traditional black-and-white ox-hide Swazi shield, two spears, and a feathered fighting stick in the center.
Tom, KB8UUZ, DX Engineering technical writer, reached the multinational 3DA0ET DXpedition in November 2013, 3DA0NJ in October 2012, and 3DA0TM in December 2015.
I’ll take “Absolute Monarchies” for $1,000, Ken.
There aren’t too many absolute monarchies left in the world. Can you name the current monarch who has ruled an absolute monarchy the longest? If you answered Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei, you would be correct. Born on July 15, 1946, he took the throne of Brunei at age 21 after his father abdicated in October 1967, becoming the 29th Sultan of Brunei. Brunei is the only absolute monarchy still in existence in Asia.
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Editor’s Note: Every month, DX Engineering features QSL cards from our team members’ personal collections. To highlight upcoming DXpeditions, we’ll be displaying a few of our favorite cards along with details about what it took to make these contacts. We’re excited to share some of the special cards pulled from the thousands we’ve received over the years. We look forward to seeing your cards as well!
