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| Info
on Lesotho |
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| Background: |
Basutoland was
renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in
1966. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after 23
years of military rule. |
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| Location: |
Southern Africa, an
enclave of South Africa |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
29 30 S, 28 30 E |
| Area: |
total: 30,355
sq km
land: 30,355 sq km
water: 0 sq km |
| Area
- comparative: |
slightly smaller than
Maryland |
| Land
boundaries: |
total: 909 km
border countries: South Africa 909 km |
| Coastline: |
0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime
claims: |
none (landlocked) |
| Climate: |
temperate; cool to
cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers |
| Terrain: |
mostly highland with
plateaus, hills, and mountains |
| Elevation
extremes: |
lowest point:
junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m
highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m |
| Natural
resources: |
water, agricultural
and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals |
| Land
use: |
arable land:
11%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 66%
forests and woodland: 0%
other: 23% (1993 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
30 sq km (1993 est.) |
| Natural
hazards: |
periodic droughts |
| Environment
- current issues: |
population pressure
forcing settlement in marginal areas results in overgrazing,
severe soil erosion, and soil exhaustion; desertification;
Highlands Water Project controls, stores, and redirects water to
South Africa |
| Environment
- international agreements: |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone
Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Endangered Species, Law of the
Sea, Marine Dumping |
| Geography
- note: |
landlocked;
surrounded by South Africa |
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| Population: |
2,177,062
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into
account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can
result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death
rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the
distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be
expected (July 2001 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years:
39.28% (male 430,147; female 424,994)
15-64 years: 56.03% (male 588,440; female 631,404)
65 years and over: 4.69% (male 43,033; female 59,044) (2001
est.) |
| Population
growth rate: |
1.49% (2001 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
31.24 births/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
15.7 deaths/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
-0.63 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth: 1.03
male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
82.77 deaths/1,000
live births (2001 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total population:
48.84 years
male: 47.97 years
female: 49.74 years (2001 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
4.08 children
born/woman (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: |
23.57% (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with HIV/AIDS: |
240,000 (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- deaths: |
16,000 (1999 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Mosotho
(singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho |
| Ethnic
groups: |
Sotho 99.7%,
Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, |
| Religions: |
Christian 80%,
indigenous beliefs 20% |
| Languages: |
Sesotho (southern
Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa |
| Literacy: |
definition: age
15 and over can read and write
total population: 83%
male: 72%
female: 93% (1999 est.) |
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| Country
name: |
conventional long
form: Kingdom of Lesotho
conventional short form: Lesotho
former: Basutoland |
| Government
type: |
parliamentary
constitutional monarchy |
| Administrative
divisions: |
10 districts; Berea,
Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong,
Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka |
| Independence: |
4 October 1966 (from
UK) |
| National
holiday: |
Independence Day, 4
October (1966) |
| Constitution: |
2 April 1993 |
| Legal
system: |
based on English
common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative
acts in High Court and Court of Appeal; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Suffrage: |
18 years of age;
universal |
| Executive
branch: |
chief of state:
King LETSIE III (since 7 February 1996); note - King LETSIE III
formerly occupied the throne from November 1990 to February 1995,
while his father was in exile
head of government: Prime Minister Pakalitha MOSISILI (since
23 May 1998)
cabinet: Cabinet
elections: none; according to the constitution, the leader
of the majority party in the assembly automatically becomes prime
minister; the monarch is hereditary, but, under the terms of the
constitution which came into effect after the March 1993 election,
the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with
no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law the
college of chiefs has the power to determine who is next in the
line of succession, who shall serve as regent in the event that
the successor is not of mature age, and may even depose the
monarch |
| Legislative
branch: |
bicameral Parliament
consists of the Senate (33 members - 22 principal chiefs and 11
other members appointed by the ruling party) and the Assembly (80
seats; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms); note
- number of seats in the Assembly rose from 65 to 80 in the May
1998 election; on 28 February 2001, the Senate approved expansion
of the Assembly by a further 50 seats in the next election, which
may be held as early as January 2002
elections: last held 23 May 1998 (next to be held NA March
2001)
election results: percent of vote by party - LCD 60.7%, BNP
24.5%, other 14.8%; seats by party - LCD 79, BNP 1
note: results contested; opposition parties claimed the
election was fraudulent and staged a coup; Southern African
Development Community (SADC) forces intervened in September 1998
and restored order; the Interim Political Authority (IPA) was set
up in December 1998 to create a new electoral system and conduct
new elections. |
| Judicial
branch: |
High Court (chief
justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's
Court; customary or traditional court |
| Political
parties and leaders: |
Basotho Congress
Party or BCP [Tseliso MAKHAKHE]; Basotho National Party or BNP
[Maj. Gen. Justine Metsing LEKHANYA]; Lesotho Congress for
Democracy or LCD [Phebe MOTEBANO, chairwoman; Dr. Pakalitha
MOSISILI, leader] - the governing party; United Democratic Party
or UDP [Charles MOFELI]; Marematlou Freedom Party or MFP and
Setlamo Alliance [Vincent MALEBO]; Progressive National Party or
PNP [Chief Peete Nkoebe PEETE]; Sefate Democratic Party or SDP [Bofihla
NKUEBE] |
| Political
pressure groups and leaders: |
NA |
| International
organization participation: |
ACP, AfDB, C, CCC,
ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF,
Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU,
NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
| Diplomatic
representation in the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Lebohang Kenneth MOLEKO
chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 797-5533 through 5536
FAX: [1] (202) 234-6815 |
| Diplomatic
representation from the US: |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Katherine H. PETERSON
embassy: 254 Kingsway, Maseru West (Consular Section)
mailing address: P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho
telephone: [266] 312666
FAX: [266] 310116 |
| Flag
description: |
divided diagonally
from the lower hoist side corner; the upper half is white, bearing
the brown silhouette of a large shield with crossed spear and
club; the lower half is a diagonal blue band with a green triangle
in the corner |
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| Economy
- overview: |
Small, landlocked,
and mountainous, Lesotho's primary natural resource is water. Its
economy is based on subsistence agriculture, livestock, and
remittances from miners employed in South Africa. The number of
such mineworkers has declined steadily over the past several
years. A small manufacturing base depends largely on farm products
that support the milling, canning, leather, and jute industries.
Agricultural products are exported primarily to South Africa.
Proceeds from membership in a common customs union with South
Africa form the majority of government revenue. Although drought
has decreased agricultural activity over the past few years,
completion of a major hydropower facility in January 1998 now
permits the sale of water to South Africa, generating royalties
for Lesotho. The pace of substantial privatization has increased
in recent years. In December 1999, the government embarked on a
nine-month IMF staff-monitored program aimed at structural
adjustment and stabilization of macroeconomic fundamentals. The
government is in the process of applying for a three-year
successor program with the IMF under its Poverty Reduction and
Growth Facility. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power
parity - $5.1 billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
2.5% (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power
parity - $2,400 (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture:
18%
industry: 38%
services: 44% (1999) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
49.2% (1999 est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
0.9%
highest 10%: 43.4% (1986-87) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
6% (2000 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
700,000 economically
active |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
86% of resident
population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the
active male wage earners work in South Africa |
| Unemployment
rate: |
45% (2000 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $76
million
expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of
$15 million (FY99/00 est.) |
| Industries: |
food, beverages,
textiles, handicrafts; construction; tourism |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
15.5% (1999 est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
0 kWh; note -
electricity supplied by South Africa (1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel: 0%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
55 million kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
0 kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
55 million kWh
note: electricity supplied by South Africa (1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
corn, wheat, pulses,
sorghum, barley; livestock |
| Exports: |
$175 million (f.o.b.,
2000 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
manufactures 75%
(clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and
live animals (1998) |
| Exports
- partners: |
South African Customs
Union 65%, North America 34% (1998) |
| Imports: |
$700 million (f.o.b.,
2000 est.) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
food; building
materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products
(1995) |
| Imports
- partners: |
South African Customs
Union 90%, Asia 7% (1998) |
| Debt
- external: |
$720 million (2000
est.) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$123.7 million (1995) |
| Currency: |
loti (LSL); South
African rand (ZAR) |
| Exchange
rates: |
maloti per US dollar
- 7.78307 (January 2001), 6.93983 (2000), 6.10948 (1999), 5.52828
(1998), 4.60796 (1997), 4.29935 (1996); note - the Lesotho loti is
at par with the South African rand which is also legal tender;
maloti is the plural form of loti |
| Fiscal
year: |
1 April - 31 March |
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| Telephones
- main lines in use: |
20,000 (1997) |
| Telephones
- mobile cellular: |
1,262 (1996) |
| Telephone
system: |
general assessment:
rudimentary system
domestic: consists of a few landlines, a small microwave
radio relay system, and a minor radiotelephone communication
system
international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat
(Atlantic Ocean) |
| Radio
broadcast stations: |
AM 1, FM 2, shortwave
1 (1998) |
| Television
broadcast stations: |
1 (2000) |
| Televisions: |
54,000 (1997) |
| Internet
country code: |
.ls |
| Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): |
1 (2000) |
| Internet
users: |
1,000 (2000) |
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| Railways: |
total: 2.6 km;
note - owned by, operated by, and included in the statistics of
South Africa
narrow gauge: 2.6 km 1.067-m gauge (1995) |
| Highways: |
total: 4,955 km
paved: 887 km
unpaved: 4,068 km (1996) |
| Airports
- with paved runways: |
total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with unpaved runways: |
total: 25
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 21 (2000 est.) |
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| Military
branches: |
Lesotho Defense Force (LDF;
includes Army and Air Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police (RLMP) |
| Military
manpower - availability: |
males age
15-49: 515,464 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - fit for military service: |
males age 15-49:
277,369 (2001 est.) |
| Military
expenditures - dollar figure: |
$34 million (1999) |
| Military
expenditures - percent of GDP: |
NA% |
| Military
- note: |
The Lesotho
Government in 1999 began an open debate on the future structure,
size, and role of the armed forces, especially considering the
Lesotho Defense Force's (LDF) history of intervening in political
affairs. |
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| Disputes
- international: |
none |
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