A landlocked, rural nation in southern Africa, Swaziland has significant problems. Nearly a third of the country's population lives in extreme poverty, and about as many are infected with H.I.V., one of the world's highest prevalence rates for the virus. Life expectancy is low, around 50. A recent drought and an infestation of armyworms, an invasive species, devastated crops.
So the kingdom's 1.4 million residents might have been surprised on Thursday when King Mswati III, one of the world's few remaining absolute monarchs, announced the news: The country will henceforth be known as eSwatini, the kingdom's name in the local language. (It means "land of the Swazis" in the Swazi — or siSwati — tongue.)
The king, who has reigned since 1986, announced the name change — an adjustment, really — during a ceremony in the city of Manzini on Thursday to mark his 50th birthday.
Many African countries upon independence "reverted to their ancient, native names," The Associated Press quoted the king as saying. "We no longer shall be called Swaziland from today forward."
According to Reuters, Mswati argued that the kingdom's name had long caused confusion. "Whenever we go abroad, people refer to us as Switzerland," the king said, according to Reuters.
Also at BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43821512.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday April 25 2018, @12:14PM
There are of course even more confusing ones that aren't on that list, it's just that their international footprint is small enough to slip under most people's radar. I'm sure many people confuse the various Guineas (including the Papuan one), ditto Congos. I'm sure if you were to drop two pins onto a map in Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan, and ask people which was which, the result would be little different from a coin toss.
And the final one's not the worst town name confusion, mostly because there are too many towns with identical names. Many being European towns whose names have been liften wholesale to name early and pre-US settlements. Yanks who think that St. Petersburg is in Florida really piss me off. (My revenge is to refer to all US-ians as "yanks".)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves