CIA World Fact Book, 2004/Lesotho


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!| 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. In 1998, violent protests and a military mutiny following a contentious election prompted a brief but bloody South African military intervention. Constitutional reforms have since restored political stability; peaceful parliamentary elections were held in 2002.
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!| Location: !| Geographic coordinates: !| Map references: !| Area: water: 0 sq km land: 30,355 sq km !| Area - comparative: !| Land boundaries: border countries: South Africa 909 km !| Coastline: !| Maritime claims: !| Climate: !| Terrain: !| Elevation extremes: highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m !| Natural resources: !| Land use: permanent crops: 0.13% other: 89% (2001) !| Irrigated land: !| Natural hazards: !| Environment - current issues: !| Environment - international agreements: signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea !| Geography - note:
 * Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa
 * 29 30 S, 28 30 E
 * Africa
 * total: 30,355 sq km
 * slightly smaller than Maryland
 * total: 909 km
 * 0 km (landlocked)
 * none (landlocked)
 * temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers
 * mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains
 * lowest point: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m
 * water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals
 * arable land: 10.87%
 * 10 sq km (1998 est.)
 * periodic droughts
 * 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
 * party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection
 * landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level
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!| 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 2004 est.) !| Age structure: 15-64 years: 57.2% (male 521,434; female 545,183) 65 years and over: 5.5% (male 41,903; female 60,417) (2004 est.) !| Median age: male: 19.5 years female: 20.6 years (2004 est.) !| Population growth rate: !| Birth rate: !| Death rate: !| Net migration rate: !| Sex ratio: under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2004 est.) !| Infant mortality rate: female: 80.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) male: 90.19 deaths/1,000 live births !| Life expectancy at birth: male: 36.81 years female: 36.81 years (2004 est.) !| Total fertility rate: !| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: !| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: !| HIV/AIDS - deaths: !| Nationality: adjective: Basotho !| Ethnic groups: !| Religions: !| Languages: !| Literacy: total population: 84.8% male: 74.5% female: 94.5% (2003 est.)
 * 1,865,040
 * 0-14 years: 37.3% (male 350,288; female 345,815)
 * total: 20 years
 * 0.14% (2004 est.)
 * 26.91 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * 24.79 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * -0.74 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)
 * at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
 * total: 85.22 deaths/1,000 live births
 * total population: 36.81 years
 * 3.44 children born/woman (2004 est.)
 * 28.9% (2003 est.)
 * 320,000 (2003 est.)
 * 29,000 (2003 est.)
 * noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
 * Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%,
 * Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20%
 * Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa
 * definition: age 15 and over can read and write
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!| Country name: conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland !| Government type: !| Capital: !| Administrative divisions: !| Independence: !| National holiday: !| Constitution: !| Legal system: !| Suffrage: !| Executive branch: 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: !| Political parties and leaders: !| Political pressure groups and leaders: !| International organization participation: !| Diplomatic representation in the US: FAX: [1] (202) 234-6815 telephone: [1] (202) 797-5533 through 5536 chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 !| Diplomatic representation from the US: embassy: 254 Kingsway, Maseru West (Consular Section) mailing address: P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho telephone: [266] 312666 FAX: [266] 310116 !| Flag description:
 * conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho
 * parliamentary constitutional monarchy
 * Maseru
 * 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohale's Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka
 * 4 October 1966 (from UK)
 * Independence Day, 4 October (1966)
 * 2 April 1993
 * 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
 * 18 years of age; universal
 * 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
 * bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (33 members - 22 principal chiefs and 11 other members appointed by the ruling party) and the Assembly (120 seats, 80 by direct popular vote and 40 by proportional vote; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms); note - number of seats in the Assembly rose from 80 to 120 in the May 2002 election
 * High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court
 * 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]
 * NA
 * ACP, AfDB, AU, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
 * chief of mission: Ambassador Molelekeng E. RAPOLAKI
 * chief of mission: Ambassador Robert G. LOFTIS
 * 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
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!| Economy - overview: !| GDP: !| GDP - real growth rate: !| GDP - per capita: !| GDP - composition by sector: industry: 43.3% services: 41.4% (2003) !| Investment (gross fixed): !| Population below poverty line: !| Household income or consumption by percentage share: highest 10%: 43.4% !| Distribution of family income - Gini index: !| Inflation rate (consumer prices): !| Labor force: !| Labor force - by occupation: !| Unemployment rate: !| Budget: expenditures: $675.2 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million (2003 est.) !| Agriculture - products: !| Industries: !| Industrial production growth rate: !| Electricity - production: !| Electricity - consumption: !| Electricity - exports: !| Electricity - imports: !| Oil - production: !| Oil - consumption: !| Oil - exports: !| Oil - imports: !| Current account balance: !| Exports: !| Exports - commodities: !| Exports - partners: !| Imports: !| Imports - commodities: !| Imports - partners: !| Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: !| Debt - external: !| Economic aid - donor: !| Economic aid - recipient: !| Currency: !| Currency code: !| Exchange rates: !| Fiscal year:
 * 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, but the government has strengthened its tax system to reduce dependency on customs duties. Completion of a major hydropower facility in January 1998 now permits the sale of water to South Africa, also generating royalties for Lesotho. 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 and a rapidly growing apparel-assembly sector. 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.
 * purchasing power parity - $5.583 billion (2003 est.)
 * 4% (2003 est.)
 * purchasing power parity - $3,000 (2003 est.)
 * agriculture: 15.3%
 * 34.1% of GDP (2003)
 * 49% (1999)
 * lowest 10%: 0.9%
 * 56 (1986-87)
 * 6.1% (2003 est.)
 * 838,000 (2000)
 * 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa
 * 45% (2002)
 * revenues: $625.4 million
 * corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock
 * food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts; construction; tourism
 * 15.5% (1999)
 * 0 kWh NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2001)
 * 40 million kWh (2001)
 * 0 kWh (2001)
 * 40 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2001)
 * 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
 * 1,500 bbl/day (2001)
 * NA (2001)
 * NA (2001)
 * $-112 million (2003)
 * $450 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)
 * manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (2000)
 * US 97.6%, Canada 1.5%, France 0.5% (2003)
 * $661 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)
 * food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products (2000)
 * Hong Kong 36.6%, Taiwan 36.2%, China 12%, Germany 9.9% (2003)
 * $460 million (2003)
 * $735 million (2002)
 * ODA $4.4 million
 * $41.5 million (2000)
 * loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR)
 * LSL; ZAR
 * maloti per US dollar - 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002), 8.6092 (2001), 6.9398 (2000), 6.1095 (1999)
 * 1 April - 31 March
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!| Telephones - main lines in use: !| Telephones - mobile cellular: !| Telephone 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: country code - 266; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) !| Radio broadcast stations: !| Radios: !| Television broadcast stations: !| Televisions: !| Internet country code: !| Internet hosts: !| Internet Service Providers (ISPs): !| Internet users:
 * 28,600 (2002)
 * 92,000 (2002)
 * general assessment: rudimentary system
 * AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998)
 * NA (2002)
 * 1 (2000)
 * NA
 * .ls
 * 119 (2003)
 * 1 (2000)
 * 21,000 (2002)
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!| Highways: paved: 1,087 km unpaved: 4,853 km (1999) !| Ports and harbors: !| Airports: !| Airports - with paved runways: over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) !| Airports - with unpaved runways: 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.)
 * total: 5,940 km
 * none
 * 28 (2003 est.)
 * total: 3
 * total: 25
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!| Military branches: !| Military manpower - military age and obligation: !| Military manpower - availability: !| Military manpower - fit for military service: !| Military expenditures - dollar figure: !| Military expenditures - percent of GDP: !| Military - note:
 * Lesotho Defense Force (LDF; with Army and Air Wing)
 * 18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001)
 * males age 15-49: 465,827 (2004 est.)
 * males age 15-49: 253,974 (2004 est.)
 * $32.5 million (2003)
 * 2.6% (2003)
 * the Lesotho Government in 1999 began an open debate on the future structure, size, and role of the armed forces, especially considering the Lesotho Defense Force's (LDF) history of intervening in political affairs
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