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Travel to Lesotho — Unbiased reviews and great deals
from TripAdvisorLesotho
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Kingdom of Lesotho
Sovereign: King Letsie III (1996)
Prime Minister: Pakalitha Mosisili
(1998)
Current government officials
Total area: 11,718 sq mi (30,350 sq km)
Population (2007 est.): 2,012,649
(growth rate: –0.5%); birth rate: 24.5/1000; infant mortality
rate: 85.9/1000; life expectancy: 34.5; density per sq mi: 172
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Maseru 173,700
Monetary unit: Maluti
Languages:
English, Sesotho (both official); Zulu,
Xhosa
Ethnicity/race:
Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other
0.3%
Religions:
Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20%
Literacy rate: 85% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2005
est.): $6.064 billion; per capita $3,000. Real growth rate:
0.8%. Inflation: 4.7%. Unemployment: 45% (2002).
Arable land: 11%. Agriculture: corn, wheat, pulses,
sorghum, barley; livestock. Labor force: 838,000 (2000); 86%
of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly
35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa; industry
and services 14%. Industries: food, beverages, textiles,
apparel assembly, handicrafts, construction, tourism. Natural
resources: water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand,
clay, building stone. Exports: $602.8 million f.o.b. (2005
est.): manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool
and mohair, food and live animals (2000). Imports: $1.166
billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): food; building materials, vehicles,
machinery, medicines, petroleum products (2000). Major trading
partners: U.S., Canada, UK, Hong Kong, China, India, South
Korea, Germany (2004).
Member of Commonwealth of Nations
Communications: Telephones: main lines
in use: 22,200 (2000); mobile cellular: 21,600 (2000). Radio
broadcast stations: AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998).
Radios: n.a. (2002). Television broadcast stations: 1
(2000). Televisions: n.a. Internet Service Providers
(ISPs): 1 (2000). Internet users: 5,000 (2002).
Transportation: Railways: total: 2.6 km;
note: owned by, operated by, and included in the statistics of South
Africa (1995). Highways: total: 5,940 km; paved: 1,087 km;
unpaved: 4,853 km (1999). Ports and harbors: none.
Airports: 28 (2002).
International disputes: none.
Major sources and definitions
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Geography
Mountainous Lesotho, the size of Maryland, is surrounded by the
Republic of South Africa.
Government
Parliamentary constitutional monarchy.
History
Lesotho (formerly Basutoland) was constituted a native state under
British protection by a treaty signed with the native chief Moshoeshoe in
1843. It was annexed to Cape Colony in 1871, but in 1884 it was restored
to direct control by the Crown. The colony of Basutoland became the
independent nation of Lesotho on Oct. 4, 1966, with King Moshoeshoe II as
sovereign.
In the 1970 elections, Ntsu Mokhehle, head of the Basutoland Congress
Party, claimed a victory, but Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan declared a
state of emergency, suspended the constitution, and arrested Mokhehle.
King Moshoeshoe II was briefly exiled, but he returned after a compromise
with Jonathan: the new constitution would name him head of state but
forbid his participation in politics.
After the king refused to approve the replacement in Feb. 1990 of
individuals dismissed by Justin Metsino Lekhanya, the chairman of the
military council, the latter stripped the king of his executive power.
Then in early March, Lekhanya sent the king into exile. In November, the
king was dethroned, and his son was sworn in as King Letsie III.
Lekhanya was himself forced to resign in April 1991, and Col. Ramaema
became the new chairman in May. In Jan. 1995, the crown reverted to the
father of Letsie III, Moshoeshoe II. Letsie again became crown prince. In
1996, however, King Moshoeshoe died in an automobile accident, and Letsie
again assumed the throne.
In fall 1998, hundreds of demonstrators protested for weeks in front of
the king's palace, claiming voting fraud in the May elections that put
Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili in power. They demanded that the
government step down and hold new elections. Troops from South Africa and
Botswana entered the country to stop the riots and put down an army
mutiny. In 2002, Mosisili was reelected under a revised political system
that gave opposition parties a larger role in parliament.
Lesotho faces one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the
world.
See also Encyclopedia: Lesotho.
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes:
Lesotho
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson
Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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