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Compare Lesotho (2001) - West Bank (2006)
Compare Lesotho (2001) z West Bank (2006)
| Lesotho (2001) | West Bank (2006) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka | - |
| 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: 42.9% (male 541,110/female 515,202)
15-64 years: 53.7% (male 676,427/female 644,347) 65 years and over: 3.4% (male 35,440/female 47,966) (2006 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock | olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy products |
| Airports | 29 (2000 est.) | 3 (2006) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total:
4 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2006) |
| 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: 5,860 sq km
land: 5,640 sq km water: 220 sq km note: includes West Bank, Latrun Salient, and the northwest quarter of the Dead Sea, but excludes Mt. Scopus; East Jerusalem and Jerusalem No Man's Land are also included only as a means of depicting the entire area occupied by Israel in 1967 |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | slightly smaller than Delaware |
| 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. | The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington on 13 September 1993, provided for a transitional period not exceeding five years of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Under the DOP, Israel agreed to transfer certain powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority (PA) as part of the interim self-governing arrangements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities for the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4 May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and in additional areas of the West Bank pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28 September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997 Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23 October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm el-Sheikh Agreement. The DOP provided that Israel would retain responsibility during the transitional period for external and internal security and for public order of settlements and Israeli citizens. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of Gaza and West Bank began in September 1999 after a three-year hiatus, but were derailed by a second intifada that broke out in September 2000. In April 2003 the Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) presented a roadmap to a final settlement of the conflict by 2005 based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to two states, Israel and a democratic Palestine. The proposed date for a permanent status agreement has been postponed indefinitely due to violence and accusations that both sides have not followed through on their commitments. Longtime Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT died in November 2004 and Mahmud ABBAS was elected PA President in January 2005, bringing hope of a turning point in the conflict. Israel and the PA agreed in February 2005 to the Sharm el-Sheikh Commitments, focused on security issues, in an effort to move the peace process forward. Progress has been slow because of different interpretations of the verbal agreement by the two sides. |
| Birth rate | 31.24 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 31.67 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Budget | revenues:
$76 million expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million (FY99/00 est.) |
revenues: $964 million
expenditures: $1.34 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA; note - these budget data include Gaza Strip (2004) |
| Capital | Maseru | - |
| Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers | temperate; temperature and precipitation vary with altitude, warm to hot summers, cool to mild winters |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Constitution | 2 April 1993 | - |
| Country name | conventional long form:
Kingdom of Lesotho conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: West Bank |
| Currency | loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) | - |
| Death rate | 15.7 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 3.92 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
| Debt - external | $720 million (2000 est.) | $0; note - includes Gaza Strip (2002) |
| 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 |
- |
| 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 |
- |
| Disputes - international | none | West Bank and Gaza Strip are Israeli-occupied with current status subject to the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement - permanent status to be determined through further negotiation; Israel continues construction of a "seam line" separation barrier along parts of the Green Line and within the West Bank; Israel withdrew from four settlements in the northern West Bank in August 2005; since 1948, about 350 peacekeepers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), headquartered in Jerusalem, monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating, and assist other UN personnel in the region |
| Economic aid - recipient | $123.7 million (1995) | $1.14 billion; note - includes Gaza Strip (2004 est.) |
| 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. | The West Bank - the larger of the two areas under the Palestinian Authority (PA)- has experienced a general decline in economic growth and a degradation in economic conditions made worse since the second intifadah began in September 2000. The downturn has been largely the result of the Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border closures in response to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted labor and commodity market relationships. In 2001, and even more severely in 2002, Israeli military measures in PA areas resulted in the destruction of much capital plant, the disruption of administrative structure, and widespread business closures. Including the Gaza Strip, the UN estimates that more than 100,000 Palestinians out of the 125,000 who used to work in Israeli settlements, or in joint industrial zones, have lost their jobs. International aid of $2 billion to the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2004 prevented the complete collapse of the economy and allowed some reforms in the government's financial operations. In 2005, high unemployment and limited trade opportunities, due to continued closures both within the West Bank and externally, stymied growth. |
| 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 |
| Electricity - production | 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (1999) | NA kWh; note - most electricity imported from Israel; East Jerusalem Electric Company buys and distributes electricity to Palestinians in East Jerusalem and its concession in the West Bank; the Israel Electric Company directly supplies electricity to most Jewish residents and military facilities; some Palestinian municipalities, such as Nablus and Janin, generate their own electricity from small power plants |
| 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: Dead Sea -408 m
highest point: Tall Asur 1,022 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 | adequacy of fresh water supply; sewage treatment |
| 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 |
- |
| Ethnic groups | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, | Palestinian Arab and other 83%, Jewish 17% |
| 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 | new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.4877 (2005), 4.482 (2004), 4.5541 (2003), 4.7378 (2002), 4.2057 (2001) |
| 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 |
- |
| Exports | $175 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | $270 million f.o.b.; note - includes Gaza Strip (2003) |
| Exports - commodities | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (1998) | olives, fruit, vegetables, limestone |
| Exports - partners | South African Customs Union 65%, North America 34% (1998) | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2004) |
| 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 | - |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $5.1 billion (2000 est.) | - |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
18% industry: 38% services: 44% (1999) |
agriculture: 9%
industry: 28% services: 63% note: includes Gaza Strip (2002 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,400 (2000 est.) | - |
| GDP - real growth rate | 2.5% (2000 est.) | 6.2% (2004 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E | 32 00 N, 35 15 E |
| Geography - note | landlocked; surrounded by South Africa | landlocked; highlands are main recharge area for Israel's coastal aquifers; there are 242 West Bank settlements and 29 East Jerusalem settlements in addition to at least 20 occupied outposts (August 2005 est.) |
| Highways | total:
4,955 km paved: 887 km unpaved: 4,068 km (1996) |
- |
| 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.) | $1.952 billion c.i.f.; note - includes Gaza Strip (2003) |
| Imports - commodities | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products (1995) | food, consumer goods, construction materials |
| Imports - partners | South African Customs Union 90%, Asia 7% (1998) | Israel, Jordan, Gaza Strip (2004) |
| Independence | 4 October 1966 (from UK) | - |
| Industrial production growth rate | 15.5% (1999 est.) | NA% |
| Industries | food, beverages, textiles, handicrafts; construction; tourism | generally small family businesses that produce cement, textiles, soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis have established some small-scale, modern industries in the settlements and industrial centers |
| Infant mortality rate | 82.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 19.15 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 21.12 deaths/1,000 live births female: 17.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6% (2000 est.) | 7% (includes Gaza Strip) (2003 est.) |
| 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 | - |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
| Irrigated land | 30 sq km (1993 est.) | 150 sq km; note - includes Gaza Strip (2003) |
| Judicial branch | High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court | - |
| Labor force | 700,000 economically active | 614,000 (April-June 2005) |
| Labor force - by occupation | 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa | agriculture: 18.4%
industry: 24% services: 57.6% (April-June 2005) |
| Land boundaries | total:
909 km border countries: South Africa 909 km |
total: 404 km
border countries: Israel 307 km, Jordan 97 km |
| Land use | arable land:
11% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 66% forests and woodland: 0% other: 23% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 16.9%
permanent crops: 18.97% other: 64.13% (2001) |
| Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa | Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood) |
| 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 | - |
| 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. |
- |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population:
48.84 years male: 47.97 years female: 49.74 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 73.27 years
male: 71.5 years female: 75.15 years (2006 est.) |
| Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 83% male: 72% female: 93% (1999 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 91.9% male: 96.3% female: 87.4% (2003 est.) |
| Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa | Middle East, west of Jordan |
| Map references | Africa | Middle East |
| Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | none (landlocked) |
| 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. | - |
| Military branches | Lesotho Defense Force (LDF; includes Army and Air Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police (RLMP) | - |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $34 million (1999) | NA |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 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) | - |
| Nationality | noun:
Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural) adjective: Basotho |
noun: NA
adjective: NA |
| Natural hazards | periodic droughts | droughts |
| Natural resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals | arable land |
| Net migration rate | -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 2.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 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] | - |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | 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.) |
2,460,492
note: in addition, there are about 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and fewer than 177,000 in East Jerusalem (July 2004 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 49.2% (1999 est.) | 46% including Gaza Strip (2004 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 1.49% (2001 est.) | 3.06% (2006 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | none | - |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 1, FM 20, shortwave 0 (2005) |
| 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% | Muslim 75% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 17%, Christian and other 8% |
| 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: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
| Suffrage | 18 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: NA
domestic: Israeli company BEZEK and the Palestinian company PALTEL are responsible for fixed line services in the Gaza Strip; the Palestinian JAWAL company provides cellular services international: country code - 970 |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 20,000 (1997) | 357,300 (includes Gaza Strip) (2004) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 1,262 (1996) | 1.095 million (includes Gaza Strip) (2005) |
| Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 8 (2005) |
| Terrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains | mostly rugged dissected upland, some vegetation in west, but barren in east |
| Total fertility rate | 4.08 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 4.28 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 45% (2000 est.) | 19.9% (includes Gaza Strip) (January-September 2005) |
| Waterways | none | - |
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