Statistical information Lesotho 1998

Lesotho in the World
top of pageBackground: 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.
top of pageLocation: Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa
Geographic coordinates: 29 30 S, 28 30 E
Map reference:
AfricaAreaTotal: 30,350 km²
Land: 30,350 km²
Water: 0 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland
Land boundariesTotal: 909 km
Border countries: (1) South Africa 909 kmCoastline: 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
ElevationExtremes lowest point: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m
Extremes highest point: Mount Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m
Natural resources: water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals
Land useArable land: 11%
Permanent crops: NA%
Permanent pastures: 66%
Forests and woodland: NA%
Other: 23% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 30 km² (1993 est.)
Major riversMajor watersheds area km²Total water withdrawalTotal renewable water resourcesNatural hazards: periodic droughts
GeographyNote: landlocked; surrounded by South Africa
top of pagePopulation: 2,089,829 (July 1998 est.)
Growth rate: 1.91% (1998 est.)
NationalityNoun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
Adjective: Basotho
Ethnic groups: Sotho 99.7%, Europeans 1,600, Asians 800
Languages: Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa
Religions: Christian 80%, rest indigenous beliefs
Demographic profileAge structure0-14 years: 40% (male 420,526; female 419,059)
15-64 years: 55% (male 558,068; female 596,598)
65 years and over: 5% (male 39,782; female 55,796) (July 1998 est.)
Dependency ratiosMedian agePopulation growth rate: 1.91% (1998 est.)
Birth rate: 31.84 births/1000 population (1998 est.)
Death rate: 12.76 deaths/1000 population (1998 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1998 est.)
Population distributionUrbanizationMajor urban areasEnvironmentCurrent 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
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping
Air pollutantsSex ratioAt birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female (1998 est.)
Mothers mean age at first birthMaternal mortality ratioInfant mortality rate: 78.3 deaths/1000 live births (1998 est.)
Life expectancy at birthTotal population: 53.97 years
Male: 52.18 years
Female: 55.81 years (1998 est.)
Total fertility rate: 4.13 children born/woman (1998 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rateDrinking water sourceCurrent health expenditurePhysicians densityHospital bed densitySanitation facility accessHiv/AidsMajor infectious diseasesObesity adult prevalence rateAlcohol consumptionTobacco useChildren under the age of 5 years underweightEducation expendituresLiteracyDefinition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 71.3%
Male: 81.1%
Female: 62.3% (1995 est.)
School life expectancy primary to tertiary educationYouth unemploymenttop of pageCountry nameConventional 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, Mohale's Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka
Dependent areasIndependence: 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
International law organization participationCitizenshipSuffrage: 18 years of age; universal (constitutional amendment, July 1997)
Executive branchChief of state: King LETSIE III (since 7 February 1996, succeeded to the throne following the death of his father, King MOSHOESHOE II, on 16 January 1996); note_King LETSIE III formerly occupied the throne (November 1990 to February 1995) while his father was in exile: ead of
Government: Prime Minister Ntsu MOKHEHLE (since 2 April 1993)
Cabinet: Cabinet
Elections: none; the king is a hereditary monarch, but, under the terms of the constitution which came into effect after the March 1993 election, he has no executive or legislative powers; moreover, under traditional law the king can be elected or deposed by a majority vote of the College of Chiefs; following legislative elections, the leader of the party that wins the most seats usually becomes prime minister
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 (65 seats; members elected for a five-year term by popular vote)
Elections: last held 27 March 1993 (next to be held in May 1998)
Election results: percent of vote by party_NA; seats by party_BCP 65
Note: due to a schism in the BCP, Prime Minister Ntsu MOKHEHLE formed the new Lesotho Congress for Democracy or LCD in June 1997, taking 42 seats away from the BCP, reducing it to 23 seats and the role of an opposition party
Judicial branch: High Court, Chief Justice appointed by the king; Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court
Political parties and leadersInternational organization participation: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFCTU, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representationIn the us chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Eunice M. BULANE
In the us chancery: 2,511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 797-5,533 through 5,536
In the us fax: [1] (202) 234-6,815
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Bismarck MYRICK
From the us embassy: 254 Kingsway, Maseru West (Consular Section)
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho
From the us telephone: [266] 312,666
From the us fax: [266] 310,116
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
National symbolsNational anthemNational heritagetop of pageEconomy overview: Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho has no important natural resources other than water. Its economy is based on agriculture, light manufacturing, and remittances from miners employed in South Africa. The number of such mine workers has declined steadily over the past five years; in 1996 their remittances added about 33% to GDP compared with the addition of roughly 67% in 1990. Manufacturing depends largely on farm products which support the milling, canning, leather, and jute industries. Recent foreign investments will enable Lesotho to export garments made from imported textiles. 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 and will support the economy's continued expansion. The pace of the privatization of state-owned firms increased toward the end of 1994.
Real gdp purchasing power parityReal gdp growth rate: 9% (1997 est.)
Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity: $2,500 (1997 est.)
Gross national savingGdp composition by sector of origin
Gdp composition by end useGdp composition by sector of originAgriculture: 10%
Industry: 53%
Services: 37% (1997)
Agriculture products: corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock
Industries: food, beverages, textiles, handicrafts; construction; tourism
Industrial production growth rate: 19.7% (1995)
Labor forceTotal: 689,000 economically active
By occupation: 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa
Unemployment rate: substantial unemployment and underemployment effecting more than half of the labor force (1996 est.)
Youth unemploymentPopulation below poverty lineGini indexHousehold income or consumption by percentage shareDistribution of family income gini indexBudgetRevenues: $507 million
Expenditures: $487 million, including capital expenditures of $170 million (FY96/97 est.)
Taxes and other revenuesPublic debtRevenueFiscal year: 1 April_31 March
Inflation rate consumer pricesCentral bank discount rateCommercial bank prime lending rateStock of narrow moneyStock of broad moneyStock of domestic creditMarket value of publicly traded sharesCurrent account balanceExports: total value:$218 million (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
Commodoties: clothing, wool, footwear, road vehicles, mohair (1995)
Partners: South African Customs Union 52%, North America 38%, EU 9% (1995)
Imports: total value:$1.1 billion (c.i.f., 1996 est.)
Commodoties: corn, clothing, building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products (1993)
Partners: South African Customs Union 90%, Asia 6%, EU 2% (1995)
Reserves of foreign exchange and goldDebt external: $517 million (FY95/96 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment at homeStock of direct foreign investment abroadExchange rates: maloti (M) per US$1_4.94193 (January 1998), 4.60796 (1997), 4.29935 (1996), 3.62709 (1995), 3.55080 (1994), 3.26774 (1993; note_the Basotho loti is at par with the South African rand
top of pageElectricityCapacity: 0 kW (1995)
Capacity note: electricity supplied by South Africa
Production: 0 kWh (1995)
Production note: electricity supplied by South Africa
Consumption per capita: 163 kWh (1995)
CoalPetroleumCrude oilRefined petroleumNatural gasCarbon dioxide emissionsEnergy consumption per capitatop of pageTelephones: 12,000 (1991 est.)
Telephone system: 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)
Broadcast mediaInternetBroadband fixed subscriptionstop of pageMilitary expendituresDollar figure: $NA
Percent of gdp: NA%
Military and security forcesMilitary service age and obligationSpace programTerrorist groupstop of pageNational air transport systemCivil aircraft registration country code prefixAirports: 29 (1997 est.)
With paved runways total: 3
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1
With paved runways under 914 m: 1 (1997 est.)
With unpaved runways total: 26
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 4
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 22 (1997 est.)
HeliportsPipelinesRailwaysTotal: 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)
RoadwaysWaterwaysMerchant marinePorts and terminalsLesotho - Transnational issues 1998
top of pageDisputes international: none
Refugees and internally displaced personsIllicit drugs