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.

Geographic coordinates: 29 30 S 28 30 E

Map reference: Africa

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

Land boundaries
Total: 909 km
Border countries: (1) 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
Extremes 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 km² (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: periodic droughts

Geography
Note: landlocked completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous more than 80% of the country is 1800 meters above sea level

Population
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.)
Growth rate: 1.33% (2002 est.)
Below poverty line: 49% (1999 est.)

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

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

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

Religions: Christian 80% indigenous beliefs 20%

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/1000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 16.81 deaths/1000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.63 migrant(s)/1000 population (2002 est.)

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, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection
International agreements signed but not ratified: Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.03 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.01 male/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male/female
65 years and over: 0.73 male/female
Total population: 0.95 male/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 82.57 deaths/1000 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.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 23.57% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: 240,000 (1999 est.)
Deaths: 16,000 (1999 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 83%
Male: 72%
Female: 93% (1999 est.)

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
Elections: last held 25 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]

International organization participation: ACP AfDB C CCC ECA FAO G-77 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 Dr. Lebohang Kenneth MOLEKO
In the us fax: [1] (202) 234-6,815
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 797-5,533 through 5,536
In the us chancery: 2,511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,008
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Robert G. LOFTIS
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

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.

Real gdp growth rate: 2.6% (2001 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,450 (2001 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 18%
Industry: 38%
Services: 44% (2001)

Agriculture products: corn wheat pulses sorghum barley; livestock

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

Industrial production growth rate: 15.5% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 700,000 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: 45% (2000 est.)

Population below poverty line: 49% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 1%
Highest 10: 43% (1986-87)

Distribution of family income gini index: 56 (1986-87 )

Budget
Revenues: $76 million
Expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million

Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March

Inflation rate consumer prices: 6.9% (2001 est.)

Exports: $250 million f.o.b. (2001 est.)
Commodities: manufactures 75% (clothing footwear road vehicles) wool and mohair food and live animals
Partners: South African Customs Union 53.9% North America 45.6% (1999)

Imports: $720 million f.o.b. (2001 est.)
Commodities: food; building materials vehicles machinery medicines petroleum products
Partners: South African Customs Union 89.5% Asia 7% (1999)

Debt external: $715 million (2001 est.)

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

Electricity
Production: 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2000)
Consumption: 100 million kWh (2000)
Exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Imports note: electricity supplied by South Africa (2000)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 22,200 (2000)
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; a cellular mobile telephone system is growing
International: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Internet
Country code: .ls
Service providers isps: 1 (2000)
Users: 5,000 (2002)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $34 million (1999)
Percent of gdp: NA%

Airports: 28 (2001)
With paved runways total: 4
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1
With paved runways under 914 m: 2 (2002)
With unpaved runways total: 24
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 4
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 20 (2002)

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)

Waterways: none

Disputes international: none