Lesotho
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Lesotho is a landlocked nation in southern-Africa, completely surrounded by the nation of South Africa. Lesotho is mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains; more than 80% of the country is 1,800 m above sea level.
Lesotho's major environmental issues include: population pressure forcing settlement in marginal areas results in overgrazing, severe soil erosion, and soil exhaustion; desertification; and the Highlands Water Project which controls, stores, and redirects water to South Africa.
Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. The Basuto National Party ruled for the first two decades. King Moshoeshoe was exiled in 1990, but returned to Lesotho in 1992 and was reinstated in 1995. 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 Botswanan 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 of February 2007 were hotly contested and aggrieved parties continue to periodically demonstrate their distrust of the results.
Geography
Location: Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa
Geographic Coordinates: 29 30 S, 28 30 E
Area: 30,355 km2 (30,355 km2 land and 0 km2 water)
arable land: 10.87%
permanent crops: 0.13%
other: 89% (2005)
Land Boundaries: 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. Its lowest point is the junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers (1,400 metres) and its highest point is Thabana Ntlenyana (3,482 metres).
Climate: Because of its high altitude, the climate is temperate; with cool to cold, dry winters and with 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 International Court of Justice jurisdiction with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
International Environmental Agreements
Lesotho is party to international agreements on: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, and Wetlands.
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: 40.17 years (2008 est.)
Total Fertility Rate: 3.13 children born/woman (2008 est.)
Languages: Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa
Literacy (2003 est.): 84.8% (male: 74.5% - female: 94.5%)
Water
Total Renewable Water Resources: 5.2 cu km (1987)
Freshwater Withdrawal: Total: 0.05 cu km/yr (40% domestic, 40% industrial, 20% agricultural). 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.
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.)
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)
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)