Lesotho (2001) | Monaco (2005) | |
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Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka | none; there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are four quarters (quartiers, singular - quartier); Fontvieille, La Condamine, Monaco-Ville, Monte-Carlo |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
39.28% (male 430,147; female 424,994) 15-64 years: 56.03% (male 588,440; female 631,404) 65 years and over: 4.69% (male 43,033; female 59,044) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 15.5% (male 2,563/female 2,445)
15-64 years: 62.1% (male 9,909/female 10,217) 65 years and over: 22.4% (male 2,972/female 4,303) (2005 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock | none |
Airports | 29 (2000 est.) | none; linked to the airport at Nice, France by helicopter service (2004 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
4 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
- |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
25 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 21 (2000 est.) |
- |
Area | total:
30,355 sq km land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 1.95 sq km
land: 1.95 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | about three times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC |
Background | Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after 23 years of military rule. | Economic development was spurred in the late 19th century with a railroad linkup to France and the opening of a casino. Since then, the principality's mild climate, splendid scenery, and gambling facilities have made Monaco world famous as a tourist and recreation center. |
Birth rate | 31.24 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 9.26 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$76 million expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million (FY99/00 est.) |
revenues: $518 million
expenditures: $531 million, including capital expenditures of NA (1995) |
Capital | Maseru | Monaco |
Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers | Mediterranean with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 4.1 km |
Constitution | 2 April 1993 | 17 December 1962 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Kingdom of Lesotho conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
conventional long form: Principality of Monaco
conventional short form: Monaco local long form: Principaute de Monaco local short form: Monaco |
Currency | loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) | - |
Death rate | 15.7 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 12.71 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
Debt - external | $720 million (2000 est.) | $18 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Katherine H. PETERSON embassy: 254 Kingsway, Maseru West (Consular Section) mailing address: P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho telephone: [266] 312666 FAX: [266] 310116 |
the US does not have an embassy in Monaco; the US Consul General in Marseille (France) is accredited to Monaco |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Lebohang Kenneth MOLEKO chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 797-5533 through 5536 FAX: [1] (202) 234-6815 |
Monaco does not have an embassy in the US
consulate(s) general: New York |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $123.7 million (1995) | NA |
Economy - overview | Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho's primary natural resource is water. Its economy is based on subsistence agriculture, livestock, and remittances from miners employed in South Africa. The number of such 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 substantial 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. | Monaco, bordering France on the Mediterranean coast, is a popular resort, attracting tourists to its casino and pleasant climate. In 2001, a major construction project extended the pier used by cruise ships in the main harbor. The principality has successfully sought to diversify into services and small, high-value-added, nonpolluting industries. The state has no income tax and low business taxes and thrives as a tax haven both for individuals who have established residence and for foreign companies that have set up businesses and offices. The state retains monopolies in a number of sectors, including tobacco, the telephone network, and the postal service. Living standards are high, roughly comparable to those in prosperous French metropolitan areas. Monaco does not publish national income figures; the estimates below are extremely rough. |
Electricity - consumption | 55 million kWh (1999) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | - |
Electricity - imports | 55 million kWh
note: electricity supplied by South Africa (1999) |
NA kWh
note: electricity supplied by France |
Electricity - production | 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (1999) | - |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
0% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m |
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mont Agel 140 m |
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 | NA |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping |
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
Ethnic groups | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, | French 47%, Monegasque 16%, Italian 16%, other 21% |
Exchange rates | maloti per US dollar - 7.78307 (January 2001), 6.93983 (2000), 6.10948 (1999), 5.52828 (1998), 4.60796 (1997), 4.29935 (1996); note - the Lesotho loti is at par with the South African rand which is also legal tender; maloti is the plural form of loti | euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000) |
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 |
chief of state: Prince ALBERT II (since 6 April 2005)
head of government: Minister of State Jean-Paul PROUST (since 1 June 2005) cabinet: Council of Government is under the authority of the monarch elections: none; the monarchy is hereditary; minister of state appointed by the monarch from a list of three French national candidates presented by the French Government |
Exports | $175 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $NA; full customs integration with France, which collects and rebates Monegasque trade duties; also participates in EU market system through customs union with France |
Exports - commodities | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (1998) | - |
Exports - partners | South African Customs Union 65%, North America 34% (1998) | - |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
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 | two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and white; similar to the flag of Indonesia which is longer and the flag of Poland which is white (top) and red |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $5.1 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
18% industry: 38% services: 44% (1999) |
agriculture: 17%
industry: NA% services: NA% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,400 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $27,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.5% (2000 est.) | 0.9% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E | 43 44 N, 7 24 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; surrounded by South Africa | second-smallest independent state in the world (after Holy See); almost entirely urban |
Heliports | - | 1 (shuttle service between the international airport at Nice, France, and Monaco's heliport at Fontvieille) (2004 est.) |
Highways | total:
4,955 km paved: 887 km unpaved: 4,068 km (1996) |
total: 50 km
paved: 50 km unpaved: 0 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
0.9% highest 10%: 43.4% (1986-87) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | $700 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $NA; full customs integration with France, which collects and rebates Monegasque trade duties; also participates in EU market system through customs union with France |
Imports - commodities | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products (1995) | - |
Imports - partners | South African Customs Union 90%, Asia 7% (1998) | - |
Independence | 4 October 1966 (from UK) | 1419 (beginning of the rule by the House of Grimaldi) |
Industrial production growth rate | 15.5% (1999 est.) | NA% |
Industries | food, beverages, textiles, handicrafts; construction; tourism | tourism, construction, small-scale industrial and consumer products |
Infant mortality rate | 82.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 5.43 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 6.29 deaths/1,000 live births female: 4.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6% (2000 est.) | 1.9% (2000) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACCT, CE, FAO, IAEA, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IFRCS, IHO, IMO, Interpol, IOC, ITU, OPCW, OSCE, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 30 sq km (1993 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court | Supreme Court or Tribunal Supreme (judges appointed by the monarch on the basis of nominations by the National Council) |
Labor force | 700,000 economically active | 30,540 (January 1994) |
Labor force - by occupation | 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa | - |
Land boundaries | total:
909 km border countries: South Africa 909 km |
total: 4.4 km
border countries: France 4.4 km |
Land use | arable land:
11% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 66% forests and woodland: 0% other: 23% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (urban area) (2001) |
Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa | French (official), English, Italian, Monegasque |
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 | based on French law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (33 members - 22 principal chiefs and 11 other members appointed by the ruling party) and the Assembly (80 seats; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms); note - number of seats in the Assembly rose from 65 to 80 in the May 1998 election; on 28 February 2001, the Senate approved expansion of the Assembly by a further 50 seats in the next election, which may be held as early as January 2002
elections: last held 23 May 1998 (next to be held NA March 2001) election results: percent of vote by party - LCD 60.7%, BNP 24.5%, other 14.8%; seats by party - LCD 79, BNP 1 note: results contested; opposition parties claimed the election was fraudulent and staged a coup; Southern African Development Community (SADC) forces intervened in September 1998 and restored order; the Interim Political Authority (IPA) was set up in December 1998 to create a new electoral system and conduct new elections. |
unicameral National Council or Conseil National (24 seats; 16 members elected by list majority system, 8 by proportional representation; to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 9 February 2003 (next to be held February 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UNAM 21, UND 3 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
48.84 years male: 47.97 years female: 49.74 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 79.57 years
male: 75.7 years female: 83.63 years (2005 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 83% male: 72% female: 93% (1999 est.) |
definition: NA
total population: 99% male: NA% female: NA% |
Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa | Western Europe, bordering the Mediterranean Sea on the southern coast of France, near the border with Italy |
Map references | Africa | Europe |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm |
Merchant marine | - | registered in other countries: 54 (2005) |
Military - note | 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. | defense is the responsibility of France; the Palace Guard performs ceremonial duties (2003) |
Military branches | Lesotho Defense Force (LDF; includes Army and Air Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police (RLMP) | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $34 million (1999) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
515,464 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
277,369 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) | National Day (Prince of Monaco Holiday), 19 November |
Nationality | noun:
Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural) adjective: Basotho |
noun: Monegasque(s) or Monacan(s)
adjective: Monegasque or Monacan |
Natural hazards | periodic droughts | NA |
Natural resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals | none |
Net migration rate | -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 7.71 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) |
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; Dr. Pakalitha MOSISILI, leader] - the governing party; 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] | National and Democratic Union or UND [Jean-Louis CAMPORA]; Union for Monaco or UPM (including National Union for the Future of Monaco or UNAM) [leader NA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 2,177,062
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 2001 est.) |
32,409 (July 2005 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 49.2% (1999 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.49% (2001 est.) | 0.43% (2005 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Monaco |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 1, FM NA, shortwave 8 (1998) |
Radios | 104,000 (1997) | - |
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) |
- |
Religions | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% | Roman Catholic 90% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.91 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 21 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
rudimentary system domestic: consists of a few landlines, a small microwave radio relay system, and a minor radiotelephone communication system international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: modern automatic telephone system
domestic: NA international: country code - 377; no satellite earth stations; connected by cable into the French communications system |
Telephones - main lines in use | 20,000 (1997) | 33,700 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1,262 (1996) | 19,300 (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 5 (1998) |
Terrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains | hilly, rugged, rocky |
Total fertility rate | 4.08 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 1.76 children born/woman (2005 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 45% (2000 est.) | 22% (1999) |
Waterways | none | - |