Hydrogeology of Swaziland

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Africa Groundwater Atlas >> Hydrogeology by country >> Hydrogeology of Swaziland


This page has limited information and needs to be updated. If you have more information on the hydrogeology of Swaziland, please get in touch!


Compilers

Dr Kirsty Upton and Brighid Ó Dochartaigh, British Geological Survey, UK

Please cite this page as: Upton & Ó Dochartaigh, 2016.

Bibliographic reference: Upton, K. & Ó Dochartaigh, B.É. 2016. Africa Groundwater Atlas: Hydrogeology of Swaziland. British Geological Survey. Accessed [date you accessed the information]. https://earthwise.bgs.ac.uk/index.php/Hydrogeology_of_Swaziland

Terms and conditions

The Africa Groundwater Atlas is hosted by the British Geological Survey (BGS) and includes information from third party sources. Your use of information provided by this website is at your own risk. If reproducing diagrams that include third party information, please cite both the Africa Groundwater Atlas and the third party sources. Please see the Terms of use for more information.

Geographical Setting

Swaziland. Map developed from USGS GTOPOPO30; GADM global administrative areas; and UN Revision of World Urbanization Prospects. For more information on the map development and datasets see the geography resource page.

General

Estimated Population in 2013* 1,249,514
Rural Population (% of total) (2013)* 78.7%
Total Surface Area* 17,200 sq km
Agricultural Land (% of total area) (2012)* 71%
Capital City Lobamba (royal / legislative); Mbabane (administrative)
Region Southern Africa
Border Countries Mozambique, South Africa
Annual Freshwater Withdrawal (2013)* 1,042 Million cubic metres
Annual Freshwater Withdrawal for Agriculture (2013)* 96.6%
Annual Freshwater Withdrawal for Domestic Use (2013)* 2.6%
Annual Freshwater Withdrawal for Industry (2013)* 1.2%
Rural Population with Access to Improved Water Source (2012)* 68.9%
Urban Population with Access to Improved Water Source (2012)* 93.6%

* Source: World Bank


Climate

Koppen Geiger Climate ZonesAverage Annual PrecipitationAverage Temperature

Average monthly precipitation for Swaziland showing minimum and maximum (light blue), 25th and 75th percentile (blue), and median (dark blue) rainfall Average monthly temperature for Swaziland showing minimum and maximum (orange), 25th and 75th percentile (red), and median (black) temperature Quarterly precipitation over the period 1950-2012 Monthly precipitation (blue) over the period 2000-2012 compared with the long term monthly average (red)

More information on average rainfall and temperature for each of the climate zones in Swaziland can be seen at the Swaziland climate page.

These maps and graphs were developed from the CRU TS 3.21 dataset produced by the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, UK. For more information see the climate resource page.

Surface water


major surface water features of Swaziland. Map developed from World Wildlife Fund HydroSHEDS; Digital Chart of the World drainage; and FAO Inland Water Bodies. For more information on the map development and datasets see the surface water resource page.

Soil

Soil Map of Swaziland, from the European Commission Joint Research Centre: European Soil Portal. For more information on the map see the soil resource page.

Land cover

Land Cover Map of Swaziland, from the European Space Agency GlobCover 2.3, 2009. For more information on the map see the land cover resource page.


Geology

The geology map shows a simplified overview of the geology at a national scale (see the Geology resource page for more details). More information is available in the report UN (1989) (see References section, below).


Geology of Swaziland at 1:5 million scale. Developed from USGS map (Persits et al. 2002). For more information on the map development and datasets see the geology resource page.

Hydrogeology

The hydrogeology map below shows a simplified overview of the type and productivity of the main aquifers at a national scale (see the Hydrogeology map resource page for more details).

More information on the hydrogeology of Swaziland is available in the report United Nations (1989) (see References section, below).

Swaziland is also covered by the SADC hydrogeological map and atlas (2010), available through the SADC Groundwater Information Portal.



Transboundary aquifers

For further information about transboundary aquifers, please see the Transboundary aquifers resources page.

References

Online resources

SADC Groundwater Information Portal

General information on surface water and groundwater resources in SADC


References with more information on the geology and hydrogeology of Swaziland can be accessed through the Africa Groundwater Literature Archive.

United Nations. 1989. Groundwater in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa: Swaziland. United Nations Department of Technical Cooperation for Development.

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Africa Groundwater Atlas >> Hydrogeology by country >> Hydrogeology of Swaziland