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Compare Lesotho (2002) - Jamaica (2004)
Compare Lesotho (2002) z Jamaica (2004)
| Lesotho (2002) | Jamaica (2004) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka | 14 parishes; Clarendon, Hanover, Kingston, Manchester, Portland, Saint Andrew, Saint Ann, Saint Catherine, Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Trelawny, Westmoreland
note: for local government purposes, Kingston and Saint Andrew were amalgamated in 1923 into the present single corporate body known as the Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation |
| 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: 28.2% (male 390,966; female 372,961)
15-64 years: 65% (male 883,053; female 880,296) 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 82,788; female 103,066) (2004 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock | sugarcane, bananas, coffee, citrus, yams, vegetables, poultry, goats, milk, crustaceans, and mollusks |
| Airports | 28 (2001) | 35 (2003 est.) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
total: 11
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 20 (2002) |
total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 22 (2004 est.) |
| Area | total: 30,355 sq km
land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 10,991 sq km
land: 10,831 sq km water: 160 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | slightly smaller than Connecticut |
| 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. | Jamaica gained full independence within the British Commonwealth in 1962. Deteriorating economic conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent violence and a drop off in tourism. Elections in 1980 saw the democratic socialists voted out of office. Political violence marred elections during the 1990s. |
| Birth rate | 30.72 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 16.94 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $76 million
expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million |
revenues: $2.596 billion
expenditures: $3.111 billion, including capital expenditures of $236 million (2003 est.) |
| Capital | Maseru | Kingston |
| Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers | tropical; hot, humid; temperate interior |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 1,022 km |
| Constitution | 2 April 1993 | 6 August 1962 |
| Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho
conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Jamaica |
| Currency | loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) | Jamaican dollar (JMD) |
| Death rate | 16.81 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 5.4 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
| Debt - external | $715 million (2001 est.) | $4.962 billion (2003 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 Sue McCourt COBB
embassy: Jamaica Mutual Life Center, 2 Oxford Road, 3rd floor, Kingston 5 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [1] (876) 929-4850 through 4859 FAX: [1] (876) 935-6001 |
| 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 Gordon SHIRLEY
chancery: 1520 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 452-0660 FAX: [1] (202) 452-0081 consulate(s) general: Miami and New York |
| Disputes - international | none | none |
| Economic aid - recipient | $123.7 million (1995) (1995) | $16 million (2003) |
| 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. | The Jamaican economy is heavily dependent on services, which now account for 70% of GDP. The country continues to derive most of its foreign exchange from tourism, remittances, and bauxite/alumina. The global economic slowdown, particularly after the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001, stunted economic growth; the economy rebounded moderately in 2003, with one of the best tourist seasons on record. But the economy faces serious long-term problems: high interest rates; increased foreign competition; a pressured, sometimes sliding, exchange rate; a sizable merchandise trade deficit; large-scale unemployment; and a growing internal debt, the result of government bailouts to ailing sectors of the economy. The ratio of debt to GDP is close to 150%. Inflation, previously a bright spot, is expected to remain in the double digits. Depressed economic conditions have led to increased civil unrest, including gang violence fueled by the drug trade. In 2004, the government faces the difficult prospect of having to achieve fiscal discipline in order to maintain debt payments while simultaneously attacking a serious and growing crime problem that is hampering economic growth. |
| Electricity - consumption | 100 million kWh (2000) | 5.833 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | 0 kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - imports | 100 million kWh
note: electricity supplied by South Africa (2000) |
0 kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - production | 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2000) | 6.272 billion kWh (2001) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m
highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m |
lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Blue Mountain Peak 2,256 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 | heavy rates of deforestation; coastal waters polluted by industrial waste, sewage, and oil spills; damage to coral reefs; air pollution in Kingston results from vehicle emissions |
| 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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Ethnic groups | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, | black 90.9%, East Indian 1.3%, white 0.2%, Chinese 0.2%, mixed 7.3%, other 0.1% |
| 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 | Jamaican dollars per US dollar - 57.7409 (2003), 48.4159 (2002), 45.9962 (2001), 42.7011 (2000), 39.0435 (1999) |
| 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: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Sir Howard Felix COOKE (since 1 August 1991)
head of government: Prime Minister Percival James PATTERSON (since 30 March 1992) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition in the House of Representatives is appointed prime minister by the governor general; the deputy prime minister is recommended by the prime minister |
| Exports | $250 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | NA (2001) |
| Exports - commodities | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals | alumina, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams, beverages, chemicals, wearing apparel, mineral fuels |
| Exports - partners | South African Customs Union 53.9%, North America 45.6% (1999) | US 29.6%, UK 11%, Canada 10.8%, France 7.9%, Norway 6.8%, Germany 6.2%, China 6%, Netherlands 4.4% (2003) |
| Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | 1 April - 31 March |
| 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 | diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles - green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and outer side) |
| GDP | purchasing power parity - $5.3 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $10.61 billion (2003 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 18%
industry: 38% services: 44% (2001) |
agriculture: 6.7%
industry: 37.2% services: 56.2% (2003 est.) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,450 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $3,900 (2003 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 2.6% (2001 est.) | 1.9% (2003 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E | 18 15 N, 77 30 W |
| Geography - note | landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level | strategic location between Cayman Trench and Jamaica Channel, the main sea lanes for the Panama Canal |
| Highways | total: 4,955 km
paved: 887 km unpaved: 4,068 km (1996) |
total: 18,700 km
paved: 13,109 km unpaved: 5,591 km (1999 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 43% (1986-87) |
lowest 10%: 2.7%
highest 10%: 30.3% (2000) |
| Illicit drugs | - | major transshipment point for cocaine from South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation of cannabis; government has an active manual cannabis eradication program; corruption is a major concern; substantial money-laundering activity; Colombian narcotics traffickers favor Jamaica for illicit financial transactions |
| Imports | $720 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | NA (2001) |
| Imports - commodities | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products | food and other consumer goods, industrial supplies, fuel, parts and accessories of capital goods, machinery and transport equipment, construction materials |
| Imports - partners | South African Customs Union 89.5%, Asia 7% (1999) | US 39.8%, Trinidad and Tobago 9.7%, Germany 5.6%, Venezuela 4.5%, France 4.5%, Japan 4.2% (2003) |
| Independence | 4 October 1966 (from UK) | 6 August 1962 (from UK) |
| Industrial production growth rate | 15.5% (1999 est.) | -2% (2000 est.) |
| Industries | food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts; construction; tourism | tourism, bauxite/alumina, textiles, agro processing, wearing apparel, light manufactures, rum, cement, metal, paper, chemical products, telecommunications |
| Infant mortality rate | 82.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 12.81 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 13.82 deaths/1,000 live births female: 11.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.9% (2001 est.) | 10.3% (2003 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 | ACP, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
| Irrigated land | 10 sq km (1998 est.) | 250 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Judicial branch | High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court | Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal |
| Labor force | 700,000 economically active | 1.13 million (2003) |
| 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 21%, industry 19%, services 60% (1998) |
| Land boundaries | total: 909 km
border countries: South Africa 909 km |
0 km |
| Land use | arable land: 10.71%
permanent crops: 0% other: 89.29% (1998 est.) |
arable land: 16.07%
permanent crops: 10.16% other: 73.77% (2001) |
| Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa | English, patois English |
| 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 English common 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 |
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (a 21-member body appointed by the governor general on the recommendations of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; ruling party is allocated 13 seats, and the opposition is allocated eight seats) and the House of Representatives (60 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 16 October 2002 (next to be held in October 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - PNP 52%, JLP 47.3%; seats by party - PNP 34, JLP 26 |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 47 years
male: 46.3 years female: 47.8 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 76.07 years
male: 74.04 years female: 78.21 years (2004 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 has ever attended school
total population: 87.9% male: 84.1% female: 91.6% (2003 est.) |
| Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa | Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba |
| Map references | Africa | Central America and the Caribbean |
| Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to edge of the continental margin |
| Merchant marine | - | total: 6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 74,881 GRT/100,682 DWT
by type: bulk 2, petroleum tanker 1, refrigerated cargo 2, short-sea/passenger 1 foreign-owned: Greece 2, Iceland 1, Latvia 1, United States 2 (2004 est.) |
| 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 | Jamaica Defense Force: Ground Forces, Coast Guard, Air Wing |
| Military expenditures - dollar figure | $34 million (1999) | $31 million (2003) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 0.4% (2003) |
| Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 526,332 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 764,266 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 283,203 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 533,768 (2004 est.) |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 27,126 (2004 est.) |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) | Independence Day, first Monday in August (1962) |
| Nationality | noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho |
noun: Jamaican(s)
adjective: Jamaican |
| Natural hazards | periodic droughts | hurricanes (especially July to November) |
| Natural resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals | bauxite, gypsum, limestone |
| Net migration rate | -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | -4.92 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 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] | Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Edward SEAGA]; National Democratic Movement or NDM [Hyacinth BENNETT]; People's National Party or PNP [Percival James PATTERSON] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists) |
| 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.) |
2,713,130 (July 2004 est.) |
| Population below poverty line | 49% (1999 est.) | 19.7% (2002 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 1.33% (2002 est.) | 0.66% (2004 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | none | Alligator Pond, Discovery Bay, Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Port Antonio, Rocky Point, Port Esquivel (Longswharf) |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 10, FM 13, shortwave 0 (1998) |
| Radios | NA (2002) | - |
| 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: 272 km
standard gauge: 272 km 1.435-m gauge note: 207 of these km belonging to the Jamaica Railway Corporation had been in common carrier service until 1992 but are no longer operational; 57 km of the remaining track is privately owned and used by ALCAN to transport bauxite (2003) |
| Religions | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% | Protestant 61.3% (Church of God 21.2%, Baptist 8.8%, Anglican 5.5%, Seventh-Day Adventist 9%, Pentecostal 7.6%, Methodist 2.7%, United Church 2.7%, Brethren 1.1%, Jehovah's Witness 1.6%, Moravian 1.1%), Roman Catholic 4%, other including some spiritual cults 34.7% |
| 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: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 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: fully automatic domestic telephone network
domestic: NA international: country code - 1-876; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); 3 coaxial submarine cables |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 22,200 (2000) | 444,400 (2002) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 21,600 (2000) | 1.4 million (2002) |
| Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 7 (1997) |
| Terrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains | mostly mountains, with narrow, discontinuous coastal plain |
| Total fertility rate | 4.01 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 1.98 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 45% (2000 est.) | 15.9% (2003 est.) |
| Waterways | none | - |
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