AIDS-hit Swaziland population drops

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

PIGG'S PEAK, Swaziland (AFP) — The population of the AIDS-riven kingdom of Swaziland, already one of the smallest countries in Africa, has fallen by around a fifth in the last decade, figures showed Friday.

Announcing the findings of a census conducted last year, Economic Planning and Development Minister Absalom Dlamini said the population now stands at 1,018,449, made up of 481,428 males and 537,021 females.

The figure represents a fall of 218,672 on the last census conducted in 1997 when the official tally stood at 1,237,121.

Swaziland has been particularly badly hit by southern Africa's AIDS pandemic, with close to 40 percent of the adult population affected by the virus, according to UN figures.

Dlamini, in a speech on World Population Day, said...