Lesotho (2002) | Burundi (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka | 16 provinces; Bubanza, Bujumbura, Bururi, Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Gitega, Karuzi, Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba, Muramvya, Muyinga, Mwaro, Ngozi, Rutana, Ruyigi |
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:
46.82% (male 1,472,618; female 1,441,548) 15-64 years: 50.37% (male 1,541,131; female 1,593,743) 65 years and over: 2.81% (male 71,984; female 102,873) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock | coffee, cotton, tea, corn, sorghum, sweet potatoes, bananas, manioc (tapioca); beef, milk, hides |
Airports | 28 (2001) | 4 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
total:
1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 20 (2002) |
total:
3 914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 30,355 sq km
land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
27,830 sq km land: 25,650 sq km water: 2,180 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. | Between 1993 and 2000, wide-spread, often intense ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions in Burundi created hundreds of thousands of refugees and left tens of thousands dead. Although some refugees have returned from neighboring countries, continued ethnic strife has forced many others to flee. Burundian troops, seeking to secure their borders, have intervened in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. |
Birth rate | 30.72 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 40.13 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $76 million
expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million |
revenues:
$125 million expenditures: $176 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.) |
Capital | Maseru | Bujumbura |
Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers | equatorial; high plateau with considerable altitude variation (772 m to 2,670 m above sea level); average annual temperature varies with altitude from 23 to 17 degrees centigrade but is generally moderate as the average altitude is about 1,700 m; average annual rainfall is about 150 cm; wet seasons from February to May and September to November, and dry seasons from June to August and December to January |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 2 April 1993 | 13 March 1992; provided for establishment of a plural political system; supplanted on 6 June 1998 by a Transitional Constitution which enlarged the National Assembly and created two vice presidents |
Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho
conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
conventional long form:
Republic of Burundi conventional short form: Burundi local long form: Republika y'u Burundi local short form: Burundi former: Urundi |
Currency | loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) | Burundi franc (BIF) |
Death rate | 16.81 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 16.36 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $715 million (2001 est.) | $1.12 billion (1999 est.) |
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 Mary Carlin YATES embassy: Avenue des Etats-Unis, Bujumbura mailing address: B. P. 1720, Bujumbura telephone: [257] 223454 FAX: [257] 222926 |
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 Thomas NDIKUMANA chancery: Suite 212, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 342-2574 FAX: [1] (202) 342-2578 |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $123.7 million (1995) (1995) | $1.344 billion (1999 est.) |
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. | Burundi is a landlocked, resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The economy is predominantly agricultural with roughly 90% of the population dependent on subsistence agriculture. Its economic health depends on the coffee crop, which accounts for 80% of foreign exchange earnings. The ability to pay for imports therefore rests largely on the vagaries of the climate and the international coffee market. Since October 1993 the nation has suffered from massive ethnic-based violence which has resulted in the death of perhaps 250,000 persons and the displacement of about 800,000 others. Only one in four children go to school, and one in nine adults has HIV/AIDS. Foods, medicines, and electricity remain in short supply. |
Electricity - consumption | 100 million kWh (2000) | 160.1 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 100 million kWh
note: electricity supplied by South Africa (2000) |
29 million kWh
note: supplied by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1999) |
Electricity - production | 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2000) | 141 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
0.71% hydro: 99.29% 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:
Lake Tanganyika 772 m highest point: Mount Heha 2,670 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 erosion as a result of overgrazing and the expansion of agriculture into marginal lands; deforestation (little forested land remains because of uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel); habitat loss threatens wildlife populations |
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:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban |
Ethnic groups | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, | Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%, Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000 |
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 | Burundi francs per US dollar - 782.36 (January 2001), 720.67 (2000), 563.56 (1999), 477.77 (1998), 352.35 (1997), 302.75 (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 Pierre BUYOYA (interim president since 27 September 1996, officially sworn in 11 June 1998), First Vice President Frederic BAMVUGINYUMVIRA (since NA June 1998), Second Vice President Mathias SINAMENYE (since NA June 1998); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government head of government: President Pierre BUYOYA (interim president since 27 September 1996, officially sworn in 11 June 1998), First Vice President Frederic BAMVUGINYUMVIRA (since NA June 1998), Second Vice President Mathias SINAMENYE (since NA June 1998); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by president elections: NA; current president assumed power following a coup on 25 July 1996 in which former President NTIBANTUNGANYA was overthrown |
Exports | $250 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $32 million (f.o.b., 2000) |
Exports - commodities | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals | coffee, tea, sugar, cotton, hides |
Exports - partners | South African Customs Union 53.9%, North America 45.6% (1999) | Germany 17%, Belgium 14%, US 8%, France 6%, Switzerland 4% (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 | divided by a white diagonal cross into red panels (top and bottom) and green panels (hoist side and outer side) with a white disk superimposed at the center bearing three red six-pointed stars outlined in green arranged in a triangular design (one star above, two stars below) |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $5.3 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $4.4 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 18%
industry: 38% services: 44% (2001) |
agriculture:
50% industry: 18% services: 32% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,450 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $720 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.6% (2001 est.) | 1.8% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E | 3 30 S, 30 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; straddles crest of the Nile-Congo watershed |
Highways | total: 4,955 km
paved: 887 km unpaved: 4,068 km (1996) |
total:
14,480 km paved: 1,028 km unpaved: 13,452 km (1996) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 43% (1986-87) |
lowest 10%:
3.4% highest 10%: 26.6% (1992) |
Imports | $720 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $110 million (f.o.b., 2000) |
Imports - commodities | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products | capital goods, petroleum products, foodstuffs |
Imports - partners | South African Customs Union 89.5%, Asia 7% (1999) | Belgium 20%, Zambia 11%, Kenya 8%, South Africa 5%, France 4% (1999) |
Independence | 4 October 1966 (from UK) | 1 July 1962 (from UN trusteeship under Belgian administration) |
Industrial production growth rate | 15.5% (1999 est.) | 6.3% (1999 est.) |
Industries | food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts; construction; tourism | light consumer goods such as blankets, shoes, soap; assembly of imported components; public works construction; food processing |
Infant mortality rate | 82.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 70.74 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.9% (2001 est.) | 22% (2000 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 | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEEAC, CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 10 sq km (1998 est.) | 140 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 or Cour Supreme; Constitutional Court; Courts of Appeal (there are three in separate locations); Tribunals of First Instance (17 at the province level and 123 small local tribunals) |
Labor force | 700,000 economically active | 1.9 million |
Labor force - by occupation | 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa | NA |
Land boundaries | total: 909 km
border countries: South Africa 909 km |
total:
974 km border countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo 233 km, Rwanda 290 km, Tanzania 451 km |
Land use | arable land: 10.71%
permanent crops: 0% other: 89.29% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
44% permanent crops: 9% permanent pastures: 36% forests and woodland: 3% other: 8% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa | Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area) |
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 German and Belgian civil codes and customary 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 (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 or Assemblee Nationale (121 seats; note - new Transitional Constitution expanded the number of seats from 81 to 121 in 1998; members are elected by popular vote on a proportional basis to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 29 June 1993 (next was scheduled to be held in 1998, but suspended by presidential decree in 1996) election results: percent of vote by party - FRODEBU 71.04%, UPRONA 21.4%, other 7.56%; seats by party - FRODEBU 65, UPRONA 16, various other parties 40 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 47 years
male: 46.3 years female: 47.8 years (2002 est.) |
total population:
46.06 years male: 45.15 years female: 46.99 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: 35.3% male: 49.3% female: 22.5% (1995 est.) |
Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa | Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
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 (includes naval and air units), paramilitary Gendarmerie |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $34 million (1999) | $57 million (FY97) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 6.1% (FY97) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 526,332 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
1,394,273 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 283,203 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49:
728,326 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 16 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
79,360 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) | Independence Day, 1 July (1962) |
Nationality | noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho |
noun:
Burundian(s) adjective: Burundi |
Natural hazards | periodic droughts | flooding, landslides, drought |
Natural resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals | nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum (not yet exploited), vanadium, arable land, hydropower |
Net migration rate | -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 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; 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] | Two national, mainstream governing parties are: Unity for National Progress or UPRONA [Luc RUKINGAMA, president]; Burundi Democratic Front or FRODEBU [Jean MINANI, president]
note: A multiparty system was introduced after 1998, included are: Burundi African Alliance for the Salvation or ABASA [Terrence NSANZE]; Rally for Democracy and Economic and Social Development or RADDES [Joseph NZENZIMANA]; Party for National Redress or PARENA [Jean-Baptiste BAGAZA]; People's Reconciliation Party or PRP [Mathias HITIMANA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Loosely organized Tutsi militias, often affiliated with Tutsi extremist parties |
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.) |
6,223,897
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.) |
Population below poverty line | 49% (1999 est.) | 36.2% (1990 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.33% (2002 est.) | 2.38% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Bujumbura |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 2, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | NA (2002) | 440,000 (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) |
0 km |
Religions | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% | Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 23%, Muslim 10% |
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:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | NA years of age; universal adult |
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:
primitive system domestic: sparse system of open wire, radiotelephone communications, and low-capacity microwave radio relay international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 22,200 (2000) | 16,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 21,600 (2000) | 619 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 1 (1999) |
Terrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains | hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in east, some plains |
Total fertility rate | 4.01 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 6.16 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 45% (2000 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | none | Lake Tanganyika |