During the country’s 50/50 celebrations last month – marking 50 years of independence from British colonial rule – King Mswati III announced that the country’s name would change to The Kingdom of Eswatini, meaning "place of the Swati people".
Eswatini reverts to the siSwati language name for the kingdom.
In his speech, the king said: "As we are aware, the name Swaziland was inherited from the British.
“If we are to give true meaning to our independence, time has come to give our country a name of its people.
“It must be said that this process is long overdue.”
Most former colonies in Africa changed their names immediately on gaining Independence, with the Gold Coast becoming Ghana, Basutoland becoming Lesotho and Nyasaland changing to Malawi.
“Those of us responsible for promoting the country’s tourism will be adopting Eswatini from now on,” said the tourist board.
“Though it will take time for those changes to be implemented across all platforms, so please bear with us while that happens.”
In the coming months, a brand new, mobile-friendly website will be launched on www.thekingdomofeswatini.com and new Eswatini promotional literature will replace existing stocks as they are used up.
