The king of Swaziland, one of the world’s few absolute monarchs, announced on Thursday that his country had changed its name to eSwatini to mark 50 years since independence from British rule.

Meaning “place of the Swazi”, eSwatini is the Swazi language name for the tiny nation landlocked between South Africa and Mozambique.

Unlike some countries, Swaziland did not change its name when it gained independence in 1968 after being a British protectorate for more than 60 years.

King Mswati III has declared a name change at events celebrating independence and his 50th birthday, at a packed sports stadium in the second city of Manzini.

Below are some reactions on twitter;

His Majesty King Mswati III has spoken. We are no more Swaziland. We are now the Kingdom of Eswatini.!! 🙌🙌 Bayethe! #Swazitwitter #Eswatini

— HlengiweK🇸🇿 (@khushuHD) April 19, 2018

Swaziland or Eswatini, we're still hungry.

Good night.

— Notsile Nkambule (@brownskinnono) April 19, 2018

We have a new name for a country, that is eSwatini. That's former Swaziland. The e- prefix is different from e- for electronic we love

— Robert Ngalu (@mobyah) April 19, 2018

From today I won't be confusing Swaziland and Switzerland courtesy of King Mswati III . Eswatini is simple

— BARRY NICHOLAS (@Barryipapo) April 19, 2018

Took him long enough! Swaziland was the name given to it by the colonizers. Just like Lesotho was Basotuland and Botswana was Bechuanaland. The Kingdom of Eswatini has a lovely ring to it.

— Kendrick Lamar (@UltimateGnasher) April 19, 2018

It makes sense. After all it's the Europeans who referred to eSwatini as Swaziland just as they did with Lesotho (Basotoland) and Botswana (Bechuanaland). This was supposed to have been done long time ago.

— Khalimeshe Ka Zulu (@ThobelaniNcapai) April 19, 2018

So what do you call a person from eSwatini ?

eSwatinian 😕

— Karabo Choshi ⭕ (@Meekwest97_) April 19, 2018