Map of Lesotho | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: Paramount chief MOSHOESHOE I consolidated what would become Basutoland in the early 19th century and made himself king in 1822. Continuing encroachments by Dutch settlers from the neighboring Orange Free State caused the king to enter into an 1868 agreement with the UK by which Basutoland became a British protectorate, and after 1884, a crown colony. Upon independence in 1966, the country was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho. The Basotho National Party ruled the country during its first two decades. King MOSHOESHOE II was exiled in 1990, but returned to Lesotho in 1992 and was reinstated in 1995 and subsequently succeeded by his son, King LETSIE III, in 1996. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after seven years of military rule. In 1998, violent protests and a military mutiny following a contentious election prompted a brief but bloody intervention by South African and Batswana military forces under the aegis of the Southern African Development Community. Subsequent constitutional reforms restored relative political stability. Peaceful parliamentary elections were held in 2002, but the National Assembly elections in 2007 were hotly contested and aggrieved parties disputed how the electoral law was applied to award proportional seats in the Assembly. In 2012, competitive elections involving 18 parties saw Prime Minister Motsoahae Thomas THABANE form a coalition government - the first in the country's history - that ousted the 14-year incumbent, Pakalitha MOSISILI, who peacefully transferred power the following month. MOSISILI returned to power in snap elections in February 2015 after the collapse of THABANE’s coalition government and an alleged attempted military coup. In June 2017, THABANE returned to become prime minister.


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Location: Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa

Geographic coordinates: 29 30 S, 28 30 E

Map reference: Africa

Area
Total: 30,355 km²
Land: 30,355 km²
Water: 0 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Maryland

Land boundaries
Total: 1,106 km
Border countries: (1) South Africa 1,106 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
Highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m
Lowest point: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m
Mean elevation: 2,161 m

Natural resources: water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand, clay, building stone

Land use
Agricultural land: 76.1% (2018 est.)
Forest: 1.5% (2018 est.)
Other: 22.4% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land: 12 km² (2013)

Major rivers
By length in km: Orange river source (shared with South Africa and Namibia [m]) - 2,092 km


Major watersheds area km²: Atlantic Ocean drainage: Orange (941,351 km²)

Total water withdrawal
Municipal: 20 million cubic meters (2017 est.)
Industrial: 20 million cubic meters (2017 est.)
Agricultural: 3.8 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources: 3.022 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Natural hazards: periodic droughts

Geography
Note: landlocked, an enclave of (completely surrounded by) South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 m above sea level


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Population
Distribution: relatively higher population density in the western half of the nation, with the capital of Maseru, and the smaller cities of Mafeteng, Teyateyaneng, and Leribe attracting the most people : 2,193,970 (2022 est.)
Growth rate: 0.76% (2022 est.)
Below poverty line: 49.7% (2017 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
Adjective: Basotho

Ethnic groups: Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%

Languages: Sesotho (official) (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa

Religions: Protestant 47.8% (Pentecostal 23.1%, Lesotho Evangelical 17.3%, Anglican 7.4%), Roman Catholic 39.3%, other Christian 9.1%, non-Christian 1.4%, none 2.3% (2014 est.)

Demographic profile: Lesotho faces great socioeconomic challenges. More than half of its population lives below the poverty line, and the country’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is the second highest in the world. In addition, Lesotho is a small, mountainous, landlocked country with little arable land, leaving its population vulnerable to food shortages and reliant on remittances. Lesotho’s persistently high infant, child, and maternal mortality rates have been increasing during the last decade, according to the last two Demographic and Health Surveys. Despite these significant shortcomings, Lesotho has made good progress in education; it is on-track to achieve universal primary education and has one of the highest adult literacy rates in Africa.

Age structure
0-14 years: 31.3% (male 309,991/female 306,321)
15-24 years: 19.26% (male 181,874/female 197,452)
25-54 years: 38.86% (male 373,323/female 391,901)
55-64 years: 4.98% (male 52,441/female 45,726)
65 years and over: 5.6% (male 57,030/female 53,275) (2020 est.)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 62.1
Youth dependency ratio: 55.3
Elderly dependency ratio: 6.8
Potential support ratio: 14.7 (2021 est.)

Median age
Total: 24.7 years
Male: 24.7 years
Female: 24.7 years (2020 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.76% (2022 est.)

Birth rate: 23.15 births/1000 population (2022 est.)

Death rate: 11.05 deaths/1000 population (2022 est.)

Net migration rate: -4.55 migrant(s)/1000 population (2022 est.)

Population distribution: relatively higher population density in the western half of the nation, with the capital of Maseru, and the smaller cities of Mafeteng, Teyateyaneng, and Leribe attracting the most people

Urbanization
Urban population: 30.4% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 2.77% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: 202,000 MASERU (capital) (2018)

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
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants
Particulate matter emissions: 27.78 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: 2.51 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane emissions: 2.56 megatons (2020 est.)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.74 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.48 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2022 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 20.9 years (2014 est.)
Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49

Maternal mortality ratio: 544 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 48.44 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 54 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 42.72 deaths/1000 live births (2022 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 59.57 years
Male: 57.57 years
Female: 61.64 years (2022 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.92 children born/woman (2022 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 64.9% (2018)

Drinking water source
Improved:
Unimproved:

Current health expenditure: 11.3% of GDP (2019)

Physicians density: 0.47 physicians/1000 population (2018)

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access
Improved:
Unimproved:

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 20.9% (2021 est.)

Major infectious diseases
Degree of risk: intermediate (2020)
Food or water borne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 16.6% (2016)

Alcohol consumption
Per capita total: 3.56 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita beer: 1.98 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita wine: 0.44 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita spirits: 0.31 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita other alcohols: 0.82 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Tobacco use
Total: 24.3% (2020 est.)
Male: 43.1% (2020 est.)
Female: 5.4% (2020 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 10.5% (2018)

Education expenditures: 8.7% of GDP (2021 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 79.4%
Male: 70.1%
Female: 88.3% (2015)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 12 years
Male: 12 years
Female: 13 years (2017)

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15-24 total: 25.6%
Rate ages 15-24 male: 18.6% NA
Rate ages 15-24 female: 38.1% (2019 est.) NA


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Country name
Conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho
Conventional short form: Lesotho
Local long form: Kingdom of Lesotho
Local short form: Lesotho
Former: Basutoland
Etymology: the name translates as "Land of the Sesotho Speakers"

Government type: parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Capital
Name: Maseru
Geographic coordinates: 29 19 S, 27 29 E
Time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Etymology: in the Sesotho language the name means "[place of] red sandstones"

Administrative divisions: 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohale's Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka

Dependent areas

Independence: 4 October 1966 (from the UK)

National holiday: Independence Day, 4 October (1966)

Constitution
History: previous 1959, 1967; latest adopted 2 April 1993 (effectively restoring the 1967 version)
Amendments: proposed by Parliament; passage of amendments affecting constitutional provisions, including fundamental rights and freedoms, sovereignty of the kingdom, the office of the king, and powers of Parliament, requires a majority vote by the National Assembly, approval by the Senate, approval in a referendum by a majority of qualified voters, and assent of the king; passage of amendments other than those specified provisions requires at least a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of Parliament; amended several times, last in 2011

Legal system: mixed legal system of English common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal

International law organization participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship
Citizenship by birth: yes
Citizenship by descentonly: yes
Dual citizenship recognized: no
Residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

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 Ntsokoane Samuel MATEKANE (4 November 2022)
Cabinet: consists of the prime minister, appointed by the King on the advice of the Council of State, the deputy prime minister, and 26 other ministers
Elections and appointments: the monarchy is hereditary, but under the terms of the constitution that 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 depose the monarch, to determine next in line of succession, or to serve as regent in the event that a successor is not of mature age; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition in the Assembly automatically becomes prime minister

Legislative branch
Description: bicameral Parliament consists of:
Senate (33 seats; 22 principal chiefs and 11 other senators nominated by the king with the advice of the Council of State, a 13-member body of key government and non-government officials; members serve 5-year terms)
National Assembly (120 seats; 80 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 40 elected through proportional representation; members serve 5-year terms)
Elections: Senate - last nominated by the king on July 2022 (next in late July 2,027)
National Assembly - last held on 7 October 2022 (next to be held on October 2,027)
Election results: Senate - percent of votes by party - NA, seats by party - NA; composition - men 26, women 7, percent of women 21.2%
National Assembly - percent of votes by party - RFP 38.9%, DC 24.7%, ABC 7.1%, BAP 5.4%, AD 4.0%, MEC 3.2%, LCD 2.3%, SR 2.1%, BNP 1.4%, PFD 0.9%, BCM 0.8%, MPS 0.8%, MIP 0.7%; seats by party - RFP 56, DC 29, ABC 8, BAP 6, AD 5, MEC 4, LCD 3, SR 2, BNP 1, PFD 1,BCM 1, MPS 1, NIP 1, HOPE 1, TBD 1; composition - men 87, women 28, percent of women 23.3%; note - total Parliament percent of women 22.9%

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Court of Appeal (consists of the court president, such number of justices of appeal as set by Parliament, and the Chief Justice and the puisne judges of the High Court ex officio); High Court (consists of the chief justice and such number of puisne judges as set by Parliament); note - both the Court of Appeal and the High Court have jurisdiction in constitutional issues
Judge selection and term of office: Court of Appeal president and High Court chief justice appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister; puisne judges appointed by the monarch on advice of the Judicial Service Commission, an independent body of judicial officers and officials designated by the monarch; judges of both courts can serve until age 75
Subordinate courts: Magistrate Courts; customary or traditional courts; military courts

Political parties and leaders: All Basotho Convention or ABC [Nkaku KABI]
Alliance of Democrats or AD [Monyane MOLELEKI]
Basotho Action Party or BAP [Nqosa MAHAO]
Basotho National Party or BNP [Thesele MASERIBANE]
Democratic Congress or DC [Mathibeli MOKHOTHU]
Democratic Party of Lesotho or DPL [Limpho TAU]
Lesotho Congress for Democracy or LCD [Mothetjoa METSING]
Movement of Economic Change or MEC [Selibe MOCHOBOROANE]
National Independent Party or NIP [Kimetso MATHABA]
Popular Front for Democracy of PFD [Lekhetho RAKUOANE]
Reformed Congress of Lesotho or RCL [Keketso RANTSO]

International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, AU, C, CD, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d’Affaires Masopha Phoofolo Moses KAO, Counselor (28 May 2021)
In the us chancery: 2,511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 797-5,533
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 234-6,815
In the us email address and website:

Flag description: three horizontal stripes of blue (top), white, and green in the proportions of 3:4:3; the colors represent rain, peace, and prosperity respectively; centered in the white stripe is a black mokorotlo, a traditional Basotho straw hat and national symbol; the redesigned flag was unfurled in October 2006 to celebrate 40 years of independence

National symbols: mokorotio (Basotho hat); national colors: blue, white, green, black

National anthem
Name: "Lesotho fatse la bo ntat'a rona" (Lesotho, Land of Our Fathers)
Lyrics and music: Francois COILLARD/Ferdinand-Samuel LAUR
Note: adopted 1967; music derives from an 1823 Swiss songbook

National heritage
Total world heritage sites: 1 (mixed)
Selected world heritage site locales:


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Economy overview

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real gdp growth rate:

Real gdp per capita:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 69.2% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 26.4% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 31.4% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: -13.4% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 40.8% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -54.4% (2017 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 5.8% (2016 est.)
Industry: 39.2% (2016 est.)
Services: 54.9% (2017 est.)

Agriculture products: milk, potatoes, maize, vegetables, fruit, beef, game meat, mutton, beans, wool

Industries: food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts, construction, tourism

Industrial production growth rate: 12.5% (2017 est.)

Labor force: 930,800 (2017 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 86%
By occupation industry and services: 14% (2002 est.)
By occupation note: most of the resident population is engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa

Unemployment rate:

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15-24 total: 25.6%
Rate ages 15-24 male: 18.6% NA
Rate ages 15-24 female: 38.1% (2019 est.) NA

Population below poverty line: 49.7% (2017 est.)

Gini index
Coefficient distribution of family income:

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 1%
Highest 10: 39.4% (2003)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $1.09 billion (2017 est.)
Expenditures: $1.255 billion (2017 est.)
Surplus or deficit: $-6% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Taxes and other revenues: 39.7% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Public debt:

Revenue
From forest resources forest revenues: 3.34% of GDP (2018 est.)
From coal coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices:

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance:

Exports:
Partners: United States 29%, Belgium 26%, South Africa 25%, Switzerland 6% (2019)
Commodities: diamonds, clothing and apparel, low-voltage protection equipment, wheat products, footwear (2019)

Imports:
Partners: South Africa 85%, China 5% (2019)
Commodities: refined petroleum, clothing and apparel, packaged medicines, delivery trucks, poultry meats (2019)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

Debt external:

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates:


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Electricity
Access electrification total population: 36% (2019)
Access electrification urban areas: 63% (2019)
Access electrification rural areas: 26% (2019)
Installed generating capacity: 74,000 kW (2020 est.)
Consumption: 912.8 million kWh (2019 est.)
Exports: 0 kWh (2019 est.)
Imports: 541.7 million kWh (2019 est.)
Transmission distribution losses: 129.9 million kWh (2019 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources solar: 0.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources wind: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 99.8% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources biomass and waste: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

Coal
Production: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Consumption: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Imports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
Proven reserves: 0 metric tons (2019 est.)

Petroleum
Total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2021 est.)
Refined petroleum consumption: 5,100 bbl/day (2019 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate imports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil estimated reserves: 0 barrels (2021 est.)

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products exports: 0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
Products imports: 5,118 bbl/day (2015 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Consumption: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Exports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
Proven reserves: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions: 736,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From coal and metallurgical coke: 0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From petroleum and other liquids: 736,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From consumed natural gas: 0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

Energy consumption per capita: 7.823 million Btu/person (2019 est.)


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Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 11,574 (2020 est.)
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 1 (2020 est.)
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 1,562,648 (2020 est.)
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 73 (2020 est.)

Telephone system

Broadcast media: 1 state-owned TV station and 2 state-owned radio stations; government controls most private broadcast media; satellite TV subscription service available; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters obtainable (2019)

Internet
Country code: .ls
Users total: 921,168 (2020 est.)
Users percent of population: 43% (2020 est.)

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 5,060 (2020 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 0.2 (2020 est.)


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Military expenditures:

Military and security forces: Lesotho Defense Force (LDF): Army (includes Air Wing) (2022)
Note: the Lesotho Mounted Police Service is responsible for internal security and reports to the Minister of Police and Public Safety

Military service age and obligation: 20-30 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2022)

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: 7P

Airports
Total: 24 (2021)
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 (2021)
With unpaved runways total: 21
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 16 (2021)

Heliports

Pipelines

Railways

Roadways
Total: 5,940 km (2011)
Paved: 1,069 km (2011)
Unpaved: 4,871 km (2011)

Waterways

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals


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Disputes international: Lesotho-South Africa: South Africa has placed military units to assist police operations along the border of Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique to control smuggling, poaching, and illegal migration

Refugees and internally displaced persons

Illicit drugs