Lesotho (2002) | Norfolk Island (2006) | |
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Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka | none (territory of Australia) |
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: 20.2%
15-64 years: 63.9% 65 years and over: 15.9% (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock | Norfolk Island pine seed, Kentia palm seed, cereals, vegetables, fruit; cattle, poultry |
Airports | 28 (2001) | 1 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2006) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 20 (2002) |
- |
Area | total: 30,355 sq km
land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 34.6 sq km
land: 34.6 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | about 0.2 times the size of Washington, DC |
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. | Two British attempts at establishing the island as a penal colony (1788-1814 and 1825-55) were ultimately abandoned. In 1856, the island was resettled by Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of the Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions. |
Birth rate | 30.72 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA |
Budget | revenues: $76 million
expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million |
revenues: $4.6 million
expenditures: $4.8 million; including capital expenditures of $2 million (FY99/00) |
Capital | Maseru | name: Kingston
geographic coordinates: 29 03 S, 167 58 E time difference: UTC+11.5 (16.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers | subtropical; mild, little seasonal temperature variation |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 32 km |
Constitution | 2 April 1993 | Norfolk Island Act of 1979 |
Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho
conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
conventional long form: Territory of Norfolk Island
conventional short form: Norfolk Island |
Currency | loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) | - |
Death rate | 16.81 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA deaths/1,000 population |
Debt - external | $715 million (2001 est.) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | territory of Australia; Canberra administers Commonwealth responsibilities on Norfolk Island through the Department of Environment, Sport, and Territories |
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 |
none (territory of Australia) |
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 |
none (territory of Australia) |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $123.7 million (1995) (1995) | $NA |
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. | Tourism, the primary economic activity, has steadily increased over the years and has brought a level of prosperity unusual among inhabitants of the Pacific islands. The agricultural sector has become self-sufficient in the production of beef, poultry, and eggs. |
Electricity - consumption | 100 million kWh (2000) | NA kWh |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - imports | 100 million kWh
note: electricity supplied by South Africa (2000) |
- |
Electricity - production | 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2000) | NA kWh |
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: Mount Bates 319 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 | NA |
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 |
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Ethnic groups | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, | descendants of the Bounty mutineers, Australian, New Zealander, Polynesian |
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 | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001) |
Executive branch | chief of state: King LETSIE III (since 7 February 1996); note - King LETSIE III formerly occupied the throne from November 1990 to February 1995, while his father was in exile
head of government: Prime Minister Pakalitha MOSISILI (since 23 May 1998) cabinet: Cabinet elections: none; according to the constitution, the leader of the majority party in the Assembly automatically becomes prime minister; the monarch is hereditary, but, under the terms of the constitution which came into effect after the March 1993 election, the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law the college of chiefs has the power to determine who is next in the line of succession, who shall serve as regent in the event that the successor is not of mature age, and may even depose the monarch |
chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); the UK and Australia are represented by Administrator Grant TAMBLING (since 1 November 2003)
head of government: Assembly President and Chief Minister Geoffrey Robert GARDNER (since 5 December 2001) cabinet: Executive Council is made up of four of the nine members of the Legislative Assembly; the council devises government policy and acts as an advisor to the administrator elections: the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the governor general of Australia; chief minister elected by the Legislative Assembly for a term of not more than three years; election last held 20 October 2004 (next to be held by December 2007) election results: Geoffrey Robert GARDNER elected chief minister; percent of Legislative Assembly vote - 17.2% |
Exports | $250 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $1.5 million f.o.b. (FY91/92) |
Exports - commodities | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals | postage stamps, seeds of the Norfolk Island pine and Kentia palm, small quantities of avocados |
Exports - partners | South African Customs Union 53.9%, North America 45.6% (1999) | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe (2004) |
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 | three vertical bands of green (hoist side), white, and green with a large green Norfolk Island pine tree centered in the slightly wider white band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $5.3 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 18%
industry: 38% services: 44% (2001) |
- |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,450 (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 2.6% (2001 est.) | - |
Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E | 29 02 S, 167 57 E |
Geography - note | landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level | most of the 32 km coastline consists of almost inaccessible cliffs, but the land slopes down to the sea in one small southern area on Sydney Bay, where the capital of Kingston is situated |
Highways | total: 4,955 km
paved: 887 km unpaved: 4,068 km (1996) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 43% (1986-87) |
- |
Imports | $720 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $17.9 million c.i.f. (FY91/92) |
Imports - commodities | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products | NA |
Imports - partners | South African Customs Union 89.5%, Asia 7% (1999) | Australia, other Pacific island countries, NZ, Asia, Europe (2004) |
Independence | 4 October 1966 (from UK) | none (territory of Australia) |
Industrial production growth rate | 15.5% (1999 est.) | - |
Industries | food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts; construction; tourism | tourism, light industry, ready mixed concrete |
Infant mortality rate | 82.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.9% (2001 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 | UPU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 10 sq km (1998 est.) | NA |
Judicial branch | High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court | Supreme Court; Court of Petty Sessions |
Labor force | 700,000 economically active | 1,345 |
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 and services: 90% |
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: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005) |
Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa | English (official), Norfolk a mixture of 18th century English and ancient Tahitian |
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 the laws of Australia, local ordinances and acts; English common law applies in matters not covered by either Australian or Norfolk Island law |
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 Legislative Assembly (9 seats; members elected by electors who have nine equal votes each but only four votes can be given to any one candidate; members serve three-year terms)
elections: last held 20 October 2004 (next to be held by December 2007) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 9 (note - no political parties) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 47 years
male: 46.3 years female: 47.8 years (2002 est.) |
total population: NA
male: NA female: NA |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83% male: 72% female: 93% (1999 est.) |
NA |
Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa | Oceania, island in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Australia |
Map references | Africa | Oceania |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm |
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. | defense is the responsibility of Australia |
Military branches | Lesotho Defense Force (LDF; including Army and Air Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $34 million (1999) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | NA% | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 526,332 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 283,203 (2002 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) | Bounty Day (commemorates the arrival of Pitcairn Islanders), 8 June (1856) |
Nationality | noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho |
noun: Norfolk Islander(s)
adjective: Norfolk Islander(s) |
Natural hazards | periodic droughts | typhoons (especially May to July) |
Natural resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals | fish |
Net migration rate | -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | NA |
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] | none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | none |
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.) |
1,828 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 49% (1999 est.) | - |
Population growth rate | 1.33% (2002 est.) | -0.01% (2006 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 1, FM 3, shortwave 0 (2005) |
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) |
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Religions | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% | Anglican 34.9%, Roman Catholic 11.7%, Uniting Church in Australia 11.2%, Seventh-Day Adventist 2.8%, Australian Christian 2.4%, Jehovah's Witness 0.9%, other 2.7%, unspecified 15.3%, none 18.1% (2001 census) |
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.) |
NA |
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: adequate
domestic: free local calls international: country code - 672; undersea coaxial cable links with Australia, New Zealand, and Canada; satellite earth station |
Telephones - main lines in use | 22,200 (2000) | 2,532; note - a mix of analog (2500) and digital (32) circuits (2004) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 21,600 (2000) | 0 (proposed cellular service disallowed in August 2002 island referendum) (2002) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 1 (local programming station plus two repeaters that bring in Australian programs by satellite) (2005) |
Terrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains | volcanic formation with mostly rolling plains |
Total fertility rate | 4.01 children born/woman (2002 est.) | NA |
Unemployment rate | 45% (2000 est.) | 0% |
Waterways | none | - |