Lesotho (2002) | Armenia (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka | 10 provinces (marzer, singular - marz) and 1 city* (k'aghak'ner, singular - k'aghak'); Aragatsotn, Ararat, Armavir, Geghark'unik', Kotayk', Lorri, Shirak, Syunik', Tavush, Vayots' Dzor, Yerevan* |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 39% (male 433,229; female 427,926)
15-64 years: 56.3% (male 600,476; female 642,538) 65 years and over: 4.7% (male 43,691; female 60,094) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years:
23.23% (male 394,194; female 380,911) 15-64 years: 67.04% (male 1,094,646; female 1,141,760) 65 years and over: 9.73% (male 135,477; female 189,112) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock | fruit (especially grapes), vegetables; livestock |
Airports | 28 (2001) | 7 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
- |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 20 (2002) |
total:
7 over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 30,355 sq km
land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
29,800 sq km land: 28,400 sq km water: 1,400 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | slightly smaller than Maryland |
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. | An Orthodox Christian country, Armenia was incorporated into Russia in 1828 and the USSR in 1920. Armenian leaders remain preoccupied by the long conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily Armenian-populated exclave, assigned to Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by Moscow. Armenia and Azerbaijan began fighting over the exclave in 1988; the struggle escalated after both countries attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By May 1994, when a cease-fire took hold, Armenian forces held not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also a significant portion of Azerbaijan proper. The economies of both sides have been hurt by their inability to make substantial progress toward a peaceful resolution. |
Birth rate | 30.72 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 11.47 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $76 million
expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million |
revenues:
$360 million expenditures: $566 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999 est.) |
Capital | Maseru | Yerevan |
Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers | highland continental, hot summers, cold winters |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 2 April 1993 | adopted by nationwide referendum 5 July 1995 |
Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho
conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
conventional long form:
Republic of Armenia conventional short form: Armenia local long form: Hayastani Hanrapetut'yun local short form: Hayastan former: Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic; Armenian Republic |
Currency | loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) | dram (AMD) |
Death rate | 16.81 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 9.74 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $715 million (2001 est.) | $836 million (January 2001) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Robert G. LOFTIS
embassy: 254 Kingsway, Maseru West (Consular Section) mailing address: P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho telephone: [266] 312666 FAX: [266] 310116 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Michael C. LEMMON embassy: 18 Marshal Bagramian Avenue, Yerevan mailing address: American Embassy Yerevan, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-7020 telephone: [374] (2) 52-16-11 FAX: [374] (2) 151-550 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Dr. Lebohang Kenneth MOLEKO
chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 797-5533 through 5536 FAX: [1] (202) 234-6815 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Arman KIRAKOSIAN chancery: 2225 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 319-1976 FAX: [1] (202) 319-2982 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles |
Disputes - international | none | Armenia supports ethnic Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan in the longstanding, separatist conflict against the Azerbaijani Government; traditional demands regarding former Armenian lands in Turkey have subsided |
Economic aid - recipient | $123.7 million (1995) (1995) | $245.5 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho's primary natural resource is water. Its economy is based on subsistence agriculture, livestock, remittances from miners employed in South Africa, and a rapidly growing apparel-assembly sector. The number of 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 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. Lesotho has a marked inequality in income distribution and serious unemployment/underemployment problems that will not yield to short-run solutions. | Under the old Soviet central planning system, Armenia had developed a modern industrial sector, supplying machine tools, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics in exchange for raw materials and energy. Since the implosion of the USSR in December 1991, Armenia has switched to small-scale agriculture away from the large agroindustrial complexes of the Soviet era. The agricultural sector has long-term needs for more investment and updated technology. The privatization of industry has been at a slower pace, but has been given renewed emphasis by the current administration. Armenia is a food importer, and its mineral deposits (gold, bauxite) are small. The ongoing conflict with Azerbaijan over the ethnic Armenian-dominated region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the breakup of the centrally directed economic system of the former Soviet Union contributed to a severe economic decline in the early 1990s. By 1994, however, the Armenian Government had launched an ambitious IMF-sponsored economic program that has resulted in positive growth rates in 1995-2000. Armenia also managed to slash inflation and to privatize most small- and medium-sized enterprises. The chronic energy shortages Armenia suffered in recent years have been largely offset by the energy supplied by one of its nuclear power plants at Metsamor. Armenia's severe trade imbalance, importing three times its exports, has been offset somewhat by international aid, domestic restructuring of the economy, and foreign direct investment. |
Electricity - consumption | 100 million kWh (2000) | 6.201 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 100 million kWh
note: electricity supplied by South Africa (2000) |
0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2000) | 6.668 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
45.56% hydro: 23.25% nuclear: 31.19% 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:
Debed River 400 m highest point: Aragats Lerr 4,095 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 | soil pollution from toxic chemicals such as DDT; energy blockade, the result of conflict with Azerbaijan, has led to deforestation when citizens scavenged for firewood; pollution of Hrazdan (Razdan) and Aras Rivers; the draining of Sevana Lich (Lake Sevan), a result of its use as a source for hydropower, threatens drinking water supplies; restart of Metsamor nuclear power plant without adequate (IAEA-recommended) safety and backup systems |
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, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants |
Ethnic groups | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, | Armenian 93%, Azeri 3%, Russian 2%, other (mostly Yezidi Kurds) 2% (1989)
note: as of the end of 1993, virtually all Azeris had emigrated from Armenia |
Exchange rates | maloti per US dollar - 11.58786 (January 2002), 8.60918 (2001), 6.93983 (2000), 6.10948 (1999), 5.52828 (1998), 4.60796 (1997); note - the Lesotho loti is at par with the South African rand which is also legal tender; maloti is the plural form of loti | drams per US dollar - 554.29 (1 February 2001), 539.53 (2000), 535.06 (1999), 504.92 (1998), 490.85 (1997), 414.04 (1996) |
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:
President Robert KOCHARIAN (since 30 March 1998) head of government: Prime Minister Andranik MARKARYAN (since 12 May 2000) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; special election last held 30 March 1998 (next to be held NA March 2003); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Robert KOCHARIAN elected president; percent of vote - Robert KOCHARIAN 59.5%, Karen DEMIRCHYAN 40.5% |
Exports | $250 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $284 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals | diamonds, scrap metal, machinery and equipment, brandy, copper ore |
Exports - partners | South African Customs Union 53.9%, North America 45.6% (1999) | Belgium 36%, Iran 15%, Russia 14%, US 7%, Turkmenistan, Georgia (1999) |
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 | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), blue, and orange |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $5.3 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $10 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 18%
industry: 38% services: 44% (2001) |
agriculture:
40% industry: 25% services: 35% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,450 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $3,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.6% (2001 est.) | 5% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E | 40 00 N, 45 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level | landlocked |
Highways | total: 4,955 km
paved: 887 km unpaved: 4,068 km (1996) |
total:
8,431 km () paved: NA unpaved: NA (1997) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 43% (1986-87) |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | - | illicit cultivator of cannabis mostly for domestic consumption; increasingly used as a transshipment point for illicit drugs - mostly opium and hashish - to Western Europe and the US via Iran, Central Asia, and Russia |
Imports | $720 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $913 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products | natural gas, petroleum, tobacco products, foodstuffs, diamonds |
Imports - partners | South African Customs Union 89.5%, Asia 7% (1999) | Russia 17%, US 11%, Belgium 11%, Iran 10%, UK, Turkey (1999) |
Independence | 4 October 1966 (from UK) | 21 September 1991 (from Soviet Union) |
Industrial production growth rate | 15.5% (1999 est.) | 5% (2000 est.) |
Industries | food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts; construction; tourism | metal-cutting machine tools, forging-pressing machines, electric motors, tires, knitted wear, hosiery, shoes, silk fabric, chemicals, trucks, instruments, microelectronics, gem cutting, jewelry manufacturing, software development, brandy |
Infant mortality rate | 82.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 41.27 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.9% (2001 est.) | 1% (1999 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | BSEC, CCC, CE, CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ESCAP, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 1 (1999) |
Irrigated land | 10 sq km (1998 est.) | 2,870 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court | Supreme Court; Constitutional Court |
Labor force | 700,000 economically active | 1.5 million (1999) |
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 55%, services 25%, industry 20% (1999 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 909 km
border countries: South Africa 909 km |
total:
1,254 km border countries: Azerbaijan-proper 566 km, Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave 221 km, Georgia 164 km, Iran 35 km, Turkey 268 km |
Land use | arable land: 10.71%
permanent crops: 0% other: 89.29% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
17% permanent crops: 3% permanent pastures: 24% forests and woodland: 15% other: 41% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa | Armenian 96%, Russian 2%, other 2% |
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 civil law system |
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 (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
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 |
unicameral National Assembly (Parliament) or Azgayin Zhoghov (131 seats; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 30 May 1999 (next to be held in the spring of 2003) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - unity bloc 61 (Republican Party 41, People's Party of Armenia 20), Stability Group (independent Armenian deputies who have formed a bloc) 21, ACP 10, ARF (Dashnak) 8, Law and Unity Party 7, NDU 6, Law-Governed Party 6, independents 10, unfilled 2; note - seats by party change frequently |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 47 years
male: 46.3 years female: 47.8 years (2002 est.) |
total population:
66.49 years male: 62.12 years female: 71.08 years (2001 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: 99% male: 99% female: 98% (1989 est.) |
Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa | Southwestern Asia, east of Turkey |
Map references | Africa | Commonwealth of Independent States |
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; including Army and Air Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police | Army, Air Force and Air Defense Aviation, Air Defense Force, Security Forces (internal and border troops) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $34 million (1999) | $75 million (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 4% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 526,332 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
905,154 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 283,203 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
715,734 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
34,998 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) | Independence Day, 21 September (1991) |
Nationality | noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho |
noun:
Armenian(s) adjective: Armenian |
Natural hazards | periodic droughts | occasionally severe earthquakes; droughts |
Natural resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals | small deposits of gold, copper, molybdenum, zinc, alumina |
Net migration rate | -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | -3.87 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | natural gas 900 km (1991) |
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; 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] | Armenia Party [Myasnik ALKHASYAN]; Armenian Communist Party or ACP [Vladimir DARBINYAN]; Armenian Revolutionary Federation ("Dashnak" Party) or ARF [Hrant MARKARYAN]; Christian Democratic Union or CDU [Azat ARSHAKYN, chairman]; Democratic Liberal Party [Ramkavar AZATAKAN, chairman]; Free Armenian's Mission [Ruben MNATSANIAN, chairman]; Law and Unity Party [Artashes GEGAMIAN, chairman]; Law-Governed Party [Artur BAGDASARIAN, chairman]; Mission Party [Artush PAPOIAN, chairman]; National Democratic Union or NDU [Vazgen MANUKIAN]; National State Party [Samvel SHAGINIAN]; Pan-Armenian National Movement or PANM [Vano SIRADEGHYAN]; People's Party of Armenia [Stepan DEMIRCHYAN]; Republican Party or RPA [Andranik MARKARYAN]; Shamiram Women's Movement or SWM [Gayane SARUKHYAN]; Social Democratic (Hnchakian) Party [Ernst SOGOMONYAN]; Stability Group [Vartan AYVAZIAN, chairman]; Union of National Self-Determination or NSDU [Paruir HAIRIKIAN, chairman]; Unity Bloc [Stepan DEMIRCHIAN and Andranik MARKARYAN] (a coalition of the Republican Party and People's Party of Armenia) |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 2,207,954
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 2002 est.) |
3,336,100 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 49% (1999 est.) | 45% (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.33% (2002 est.) | -0.21% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | none |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 9, FM 6, shortwave 1 (1998) |
Radios | NA (2002) | 850,000 (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) |
total:
852 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines broad gauge: 852 km 1.520-m gauge (779 km electrified) (2001) |
Religions | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% | Armenian Orthodox 94% |
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 (2002 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 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; a cellular mobile telephone system is growing international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment:
system inadequate; now 90% privately owned and undergoing modernization and expansion domestic: the majority of subscribers and the most modern equipment are in Yerevan (this includes paging and mobile cellular service) international: Yerevan is connected to the Trans-Asia-Europe fiber-optic cable through Iran; additional international service is available by microwave radio relay and landline connections to the other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and through the Moscow international switch and by satellite to the rest of the world; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat |
Telephones - main lines in use | 22,200 (2000) | 568,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 21,600 (2000) | 6,220 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 4 (1998) |
Terrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains | Armenian Highland with mountains; little forest land; fast flowing rivers; good soil in Aras River valley |
Total fertility rate | 4.01 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 1.5 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 45% (2000 est.) | 20% (1998 est.)
note: official rate is 9.3% for 1998 |
Waterways | none | NA km |