Lesotho (2002) | New Zealand (2004) | |
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Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka | 13 regions; Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Gisborne-Hawke's Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui, Nelson-Marlborough, Northland, Otago, Southland, Taranaki, Waikato, Wellington, West Coast |
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: 21.7% (male 443,211; female 422,507)
15-64 years: 66.7% (male 1,337,383; female 1,325,683) 65 years and over: 11.6% (male 203,084; female 261,949) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock | wheat, barley, potatoes, pulses, fruits, vegetables; wool, beef, dairy products; fish |
Airports | 28 (2001) | 113 (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: 46
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11 914 to 1,523 m: 27 under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 20 (2002) |
total: 70
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 29 under 914 m: 39 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 30,355 sq km
land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 268,680 sq km
land: NA sq km water: NA sq km note: includes Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, Bounty Islands, Campbell Island, Chatham Islands, and Kermadec Islands |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | about the size of Colorado |
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. | The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year, the British began the first organized colonial settlement. A series of land wars between 1843 and 1872 ended with the defeat of the native peoples. The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both World Wars. New Zealand's full participation in a number of defense alliances lapsed by the 1980s. In recent years, the government has sought to address longstanding Maori grievances. |
Birth rate | 30.72 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 14.04 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $76 million
expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million |
revenues: $32.14 billion
expenditures: $30.13 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2003) |
Capital | Maseru | Wellington |
Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers | temperate with sharp regional contrasts |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 15,134 km |
Constitution | 2 April 1993 | consists of a series of legal documents, including certain acts of the UK and New Zealand Parliaments and The Constitution Act 1986 which is the principal formal charter |
Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho
conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: New Zealand abbreviation: NZ |
Currency | loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) | New Zealand dollar (NZD) |
Death rate | 16.81 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 7.54 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $715 million (2001 est.) | $37.46 billion (2003 est.) |
Dependent areas | - | Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau |
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 Charles J. SWINDELLS
embassy: 29 Fitzherbert Terrace, Thorndon, Wellington mailing address: P. O. Box 1190, Wellington; PSC 467, Box 1, APO AP 96531-1034 telephone: [64] (4) 462-6000 FAX: [64] (4) 499-0490 consulate(s) general: Auckland |
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 L. John WOOD
chancery: 37 Observatory Circle NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 328-4800 FAX: [1] (202) 667-5227 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, New York |
Disputes - international | none | territorial claim in Antarctica (Ross Dependency) |
Economic aid - donor | - | ODA, $99.7 million |
Economic aid - recipient | $123.7 million (1995) (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. | Over the past 20 years the government has transformed New Zealand from an agrarian economy dependent on concessionary British market access to a more industrialized, free market economy that can compete globally. This dynamic growth has boosted real incomes (but left behind many at the bottom of the ladder), broadened and deepened the technological capabilities of the industrial sector, and contained inflationary pressures. Per capita income has been rising and is now 80% of the level of the four largest EU economies. New Zealand is heavily dependent on trade - particularly in agricultural products - to drive growth, and it has been affected by the global economic slowdown and the slump in commodity prices. Thus far the economy has been resilient, and growth should continue at the same level in 2004. Expenditures on health, education, and pensions will increase proportionately. |
Electricity - consumption | 100 million kWh (2000) | 34.88 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) | 37.51 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: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Aoraki-Mount Cook 3,754 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 | deforestation; soil erosion; native flora and fauna hard-hit by species introduced from outside |
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: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Antarctic Seals, Marine Life Conservation |
Ethnic groups | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, | New Zealand European 74.5%, Maori 9.7%, other European 4.6%, Pacific Islander 3.8%, Asian and others 7.4% |
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 | New Zealand dollars per US dollar - 1.7229 (2003), 2.1622 (2002), 2.3788 (2001), 2.2012 (2000), 1.8896 (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 Dame Silvia CARTWRIGHT (since 4 April 2001)
head of government: Prime Minister Helen CLARK (since 10 December 1999) and Deputy Prime Minister Michael CULLEN (since NA July 2002) cabinet: Executive Council appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; deputy prime minister appointed by the governor general |
Exports | $250 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | 30,220 bbl/day (2001) |
Exports - commodities | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals | dairy products, meat, wood and wood products, fish, machinery |
Exports - partners | South African Customs Union 53.9%, North America 45.6% (1999) | Australia 21.8%, US 14.6%, Japan 11%, China 4.9%, UK 4.8% (2003) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | 1 July - 30 June |
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 | blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant with four red five-pointed stars edged in white centered in the outer half of the flag; the stars represent the Southern Cross constellation |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $5.3 billion (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $85.34 billion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 18%
industry: 38% services: 44% (2001) |
agriculture: 4.8%
industry: 27.4% services: 67.8% (2003 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,450 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $21,600 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.6% (2001 est.) | 3.5% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E | 41 00 S, 174 00 E |
Geography - note | landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level | about 80% of the population lives in cities; Wellington is the southernmost national capital in the world |
Highways | total: 4,955 km
paved: 887 km unpaved: 4,068 km (1996) |
total: 92,053 km
paved: 57,809 km (including at least 190 km of expressways) unpaved: 34,244 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 43% (1986-87) |
lowest 10%: 0.3%
highest 10%: 29.8% (1991 est.) |
Imports | $720 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | 119,700 bbl/day (2001) |
Imports - commodities | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products | machinery and equipment, vehicles and aircraft, petroleum, electronics, textiles, plastics |
Imports - partners | South African Customs Union 89.5%, Asia 7% (1999) | Australia 22.2%, US 11.8%, Japan 11.8%, China 9%, Germany 5.3% (2003) |
Independence | 4 October 1966 (from UK) | 26 September 1907 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 15.5% (1999 est.) | 1.3% (2003 est.) |
Industries | food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts; construction; tourism | food processing, wood and paper products, textiles, machinery, transportation equipment, banking and insurance, tourism, mining |
Infant mortality rate | 82.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: 5.96 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 6.83 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.9% (2001 est.) | 1.8% (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 | ANZUS (US suspended security obligations to NZ on 11 August 1986), APEC, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, C, CP, EBRD, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NSG, OECD, OPCW, PCA, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIK, UNMISET, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 10 sq km (1998 est.) | 2,850 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court | High Court; Court of Appeal |
Labor force | 700,000 economically active | 2.008 million (2003 est.) |
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 10%, industry 25%, services 65% (1995) |
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: 5.6%
permanent crops: 6.99% other: 87.41% (2001) |
Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa | English (official), Maori (official) |
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 law, with special land legislation and land courts for the Maori; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
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 House of Representatives - commonly called Parliament (120 seats; 69 members elected by popular vote in single-member constituencies including 7 Maori constituencies, and 51 proportional seats chosen from party lists, all to serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 27 July 2002 (next to be held NA 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NZLP 52, NP 27, NZFP 13, ACT New Zealand 9, Green Party 9, UF 8, other 2 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 47 years
male: 46.3 years female: 47.8 years (2002 est.) |
total population: 78.49 years
male: 75.5 years female: 81.61 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 can read and write
total population: 99% (1980 est.) male: NA female: NA |
Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa | Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of Australia |
Map references | Africa | Oceania |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
Merchant marine | - | total: 10 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 77,523 GRT/108,352 DWT
by type: bulk 3, cargo 2, container 1, petroleum tanker 2, roll on/roll off 2 foreign-owned: Australia 1, Isle of Man 1 registered in other countries: 8 (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 | New Zealand Army, Royal New Zealand Navy, Royal New Zealand Air Force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $34 million (1999) | $1.147 billion (FY03/04) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | 1% (FY02) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 526,332 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 1,033,464 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 283,203 (2002 est.) | males age 15-49: 868,984 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 27,157 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) | Waitangi Day (Treaty of Waitangi established British sovereignty over New Zealand), 6 February (1840) |
Nationality | noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho |
noun: New Zealander(s)
adjective: New Zealand |
Natural hazards | periodic droughts | earthquakes are common, though usually not severe; volcanic activity |
Natural resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals | natural gas, iron ore, sand, coal, timber, hydropower, gold, limestone |
Net migration rate | -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 4.05 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 2,213 km; liquid petroleum gas 79 km; oil 160 km; refined products 304 km (2004) |
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] | ACT New Zealand [Richard PREBBLE]; Green Party [Jeanette FITZSIMONS and Rod DONALD]; National Party or NP [Don BRASH]; New Zealand First Party or NZFP [Winston PETERS]; New Zealand Labor Party or NZLP [Helen CLARK]; Progressive Coalition [James (Jim) ANDERTON]; United Future or UF [Peter DUNNE] |
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.) |
3,993,817 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 49% (1999 est.) | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.33% (2002 est.) | 1.05% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Tauranga, Wellington |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 124, FM 290, shortwave 4 (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: 3,898 km
narrow gauge: 3,898 km 1.067-m gauge (506 km electrified) (2003) |
Religions | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% | Anglican 24%, Presbyterian 18%, Roman Catholic 15%, Methodist 5%, Baptist 2%, other Protestant 3%, unspecified or none 33% (1986) |
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: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 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: excellent domestic and international systems
domestic: NA international: country code - 64; submarine cables to Australia and Fiji; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Pacific Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 22,200 (2000) | 1.765 million (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 21,600 (2000) | 2.599 million (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 41 (plus 52 medium-power repeaters and over 650 low-power repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains | predominately mountainous with some large coastal plains |
Total fertility rate | 4.01 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 1.79 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 45% (2000 est.) | 4.7% (2003 est.) |
Waterways | none | - |