Mbabane is the capital of Swaziland. With a population of around 50,000 people, it is also Swaziland's largest city. It is located in the Highveld in the western part of Swaziland.

Modern-day Swaziland had been inhabited by humans for a long time - 110,000-year old human remains have been found in the area. However, the Swazi people inhabited the area only in the 19th century. While Mbabane started developing in the late 19th century, the actual city was founded in 1902, when the British established it as their administrative headquarters in Swaziland. It remained the capital of the country even after Swaziland gained its independence in 1968. In the 1960's, the Mozambican railway established a link near Mbabane for the extraction of iron ore from the nearby Ngwenya iron-ore mine. However, production of the ore had almost stopped by the late 1970's.

[ Western Africa - Northern Africa - Eastern Africa ]
[ Central Africa - Southern Africa - the African Islands ]

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