Lesotho
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Current Environmental 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
Geography
Location: Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa
Geographic Coordinates: 29 30 S, 28 30 E
Area:
total: 30,355 sq km
land: 30,355 sq km
water: 0 sq km
Land Boundaries:
total: 909 km
border countries: South Africa 909 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime Claims: none (landlocked)
Natural Hazards: periodic droughts
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
Climate
Temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers
Government
Government Type: parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Capital: Maseru
Independence Date: 4 October 1966 (from UK)
Legal System: based on English common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
International Government
Environmental-international Agreement:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
People and Society
Population: 2,128,180
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 35.3% (male 377,784/female 372,840)
15-64 years: 59.8% (male 621,687/female 649,981)
65 years and over: 5% (male 42,348/female 63,540) (2008 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 0.129% (2008 est.)
Birth Rate: 24.41 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 22.33 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net Migration Rate: -0.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth:
total population: 40.17 years
male: 40.97 years
female: 39.34 years (2008 est.)
Total Fertility Rate: 3.13 children born/woman (2008 est.)
Languages: Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 84.8%
male: 74.5%
female: 94.5% (2003 est.)
Water
Total Renewable Water Resources: 5.2 cu km (1987)
Freshwater Withdrawal (domestic, industrial, agricultural):
total: 0.05 cu km/yr (40%/40%/20%)
per capita: 28 cu m/yr (2000)
Agriculture
Agricultural Products: corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock
Irrigated Land: 30 sq km (2003)
Resources
Natural Resources: water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand, clay, building stone
Land Use:
arable land: 10.87%
permanent crops: 0.13%
other: 89% (2005)
Energy
| Energy in Lesotho | |||||
| Production | Consumption | Exports | Imports | Reserves | |
| Electricity | 350 million kWh | 338.5 million kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) | 13 million kWh | |
| Oil | 0 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 1,400 bbl/day (2005) | 0 bbl/day (2004) | 1,400 bbl/day (2004) | 0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Natural Gas | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005) | 0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Source: CIA Factbook | |||||
Health
Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 28.9% (2003 est.)
Conflict
International Disputes: none
Economy
Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho relies on remittances from miners employed in South Africa and customs duties from the Southern Africa Customs Union for the majority of government revenue. However, the government has recently strengthened its tax system to reduce dependency on customs duties. Completion of a major hydropower facility in January 1998 permitted the sale of water to South Africa and generated royalties for Lesotho. Lesotho produces about 90% of its own electrical power needs. As the number of mineworkers has declined steadily over the past several years, a small manufacturing base has developed based on farm products that support the milling, canning, leather, and jute industries, as well as a rapidly expanding apparel-assembly sector. The latter has grown significantly mainly due to Lesotho qualifying for the trade benefits contained in the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. The economy is still primarily based on subsistence agriculture, especially livestock, although drought has decreased agricultural activity. The extreme inequality in the distribution of income remains a major drawback. Lesotho has signed an Interim Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility with the IMF. In July 2007, Lesotho signed a Millennium Challenge Account Compact with the US worth $362.5 million.
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $3.092 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $1.6 billion (2007 est.)
GDP- real growth rate: 4.9% (2007 est.)
GDP- per capita (PPP): $1,300 (2007 est.)
GDP- composition by sector:
agriculture: 15.2%
industry: 45%
services: 39.7% (2007 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line: 49% (1999)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share:
lowest 10%: 0.9%
highest 10%: 43.4% (2002 est.)
Industries: food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts, construction, tourism
Exports: manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (2000)
Export Partners: US 79.8%, Belgium 14.5%, Canada 1.7% (2006)
Imports: food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products
Import Partners: Hong Kong 26.2%, Taiwan 24.7%, China 24.5%, Germany 6.2%, South Korea 4.1% (2006)
Economic Aid Recipient: $68.82 million (2005)
Currency: loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR)
Communications
Telephones- main line in use: 48,000 (2005)
Telephones- mobile/cellular: 456,000 (2007)
Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998)
Television Broadcast Stations: 1 (2000)
Internet Hosts: 66 (2007)
Internet Users: 51,500 (2005)
Transportation
Airports: 28 (2007)
Roadways:
total: 5,940 km
paved: 1,087 km
unpaved: 4,853 km (2000)