1.
[syn: Lesotho, Kingdom of Lesotho, Basutoland]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Lesotho
n 1: a landlocked constitutional monarchy in southern Africa;
achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1966 [syn:
Lesotho, Kingdom of Lesotho, Basutoland]
CIA World Factbook 2002:
Lesotho
Introduction Lesotho
--------------------
Background: Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom
of Lesotho upon independence from
the UK in 1966. King MOSHOESHOE was
exiled in 1990. Constitutional
government was restored in 1993
after 23 years of military rule.
Geography Lesotho
-----------------
Location: Southern Africa, an enclave of South
Africa
Geographic coordinates: 29 30 S, 28 30 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 30,355 sq km
water: 0 sq km
land: 30,355 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: 10.71%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 89.29% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 10 sq km (1998 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 party to: Biodiversity, Climate
agreements: 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, completely surrounded by
South Africa; mountainous, more than
80% of the country is 1,800 meters
above sea level
People Lesotho
--------------
Population: 2,207,954
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 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 39% (male 433,229;
female 427,926)
15-64 years: 56.3% (male 600,476;
female 642,538)
65 years and over: 4.7% (male
43,691; female 60,094) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.33% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 30.72 births/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Death rate: 16.81 deaths/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Net migration rate: -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2002 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 (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 82.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2002
est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 47 years
female: 47.8 years (2002 est.)
male: 46.3 years
Total fertility rate: 4.01 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 23.57% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ 240,000 (1999 est.)
AIDS:
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.)
Government Lesotho
------------------
Country name: conventional long form: Kingdom of
Lesotho
conventional short form: Lesotho
former: Basutoland
Government type: parliamentary constitutional
monarchy
Capital: Maseru
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 (120 seats, 80 by
direct popular vote and 40 by
proportional vote; members elected
by popular vote for five-year
terms); note - number of seats in
the Assembly rose from 80 to 120 in
the May 2002 election
elections: last held NA May 2002
(next to be held NA May 2007)
election results: percent of vote by
party - LCD 54%, BNP 21%, LPC 7%,
other 18%; seats by party - LCD 76,
BNP 21, LPC 5, other 18
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; Pakalitha
MOSISILI, leader] - the governing
party; Lesotho People's Congress or
LPC [Kelebone MAOPE]; 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 NA
leaders:
International organization ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77,
participation: IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC,
IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO
(subscriber), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW,
SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Molelekeng Ernestina RAPOLAKI
FAX: [1] (202) 234-6815
telephone: [1] (202) 797-5533
through 5536
chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue
NW, Washington, DC 20008
Diplomatic representation from the chief of mission: Ambassador Robert
US: G. LOFTIS
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
Economy Lesotho
---------------
Economy - overview: Small, landlocked, and mountainous,
Lesotho's primary natural resource
is water. Its economy is based on
subsistence agriculture, livestock,
remittances from miners employed in
South Africa, and a rapidly growing
apparel-assembly sector. The number
of 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
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. Lesotho has a
marked inequality in income
distribution and serious
unemployment/underemployment
problems that will not yield to
short-run solutions.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $5.3
billion (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2.6% (2001 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,450
(2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 18%
industry: 38%
services: 44% (2001)
Population below poverty line: 49.2% (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: 0.9%
percentage share: highest 10%: 43.4% (1986-87)
Distribution of family income - Gini 56 (1986-87)
index:
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6.9% (2001 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, apparel
assembly, handicrafts; construction;
tourism
Industrial production growth rate: 15.5% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production: 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied
by South Africa (2000)
Electricity - consumption: 100 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 100 million kWh
note: electricity supplied by South
Africa (2000)
Agriculture - products: corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum,
barley; livestock
Exports: $250 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Exports - commodities: manufactures 75% (clothing,
footwear, road vehicles), wool and
mohair, food and live animals
Exports - partners: South African Customs Union 53.9%,
North America 45.6% (1999)
Imports: $720 million (f.o.b., 2001 est.)
Imports - commodities: food; building materials, vehicles,
machinery, medicines, petroleum
products
Imports - partners: South African Customs Union 89.5%,
Asia 7% (1999)
Debt - external: $715 million (2001 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $123.7 million (1995)
Currency: loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR)
Currency code: LSL; ZAR
Exchange rates: maloti per US dollar - 11.58786
(January 2002), 8.60918 (2001),
6.93983 (2000), 6.10948 (1999),
5.52828 (1998), 4.60796 (1997); 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
Communications Lesotho
----------------------
Telephones - main lines in use: 22,200 (2000)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 21,600 (2000)
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)
Radios: NA (2002)
Television broadcast stations: 1 (2000)
Televisions: NA
Internet country code: .ls
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 1 (2000)
Internet users: 4,000 (2000)
Transportation Lesotho
----------------------
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)
Waterways: none
Ports and harbors: none
Airports: 28 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 2 (2001)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 20 (2001)
Military Lesotho
----------------
Military branches: Lesotho Defense Force (LDF;
including Army and Air Wing), Royal
Lesotho Mounted Police
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 526,332 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military males age 15-49: 283,203 (2002 est.)
service:
Military expenditures - dollar $34 million (1999)
figure:
Military expenditures - percent of NA%
GDP:
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.
Transnational Issues Lesotho
----------------------------
Disputes - international: none