Lesotho (2004) | Saint Helena (2002) | |
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Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohale's Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka | 1 administrative area and 2 dependencies*; Ascension*, Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha* |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 37.3% (male 350,288; female 345,815)
15-64 years: 57.2% (male 521,434; female 545,183) 65 years and over: 5.5% (male 41,903; female 60,417) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: 18.8% (male 698; female 678)
15-64 years: 71.9% (male 2,727; female 2,531) 65 years and over: 9.3% (male 296; female 387) (2002 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock | corn, potatoes, vegetables; timber; fish, crawfish (on Tristan da Cunha) |
Airports | 28 (2003 est.) | 1 (2001) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 3
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2002) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 25
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.) |
- |
Area | total: 30,355 sq km
land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 410 sq km
land: 410 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes St. Helena Island, Ascension, and the island group of Tristan da Cunha, which consists of Tristan da Cunha Island, Gough Island, Inaccessible Island, and the three Nightingale Islands |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland | slightly more than twice 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. In 1998, violent protests and a military mutiny following a contentious election prompted a brief but bloody South African military intervention. Constitutional reforms have since restored political stability; peaceful parliamentary elections were held in 2002. | Uninhabited when first discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, Saint Helena was garrisoned by the British during the 17th century. It acquired fame as the place of Napoleon BONAPARTE's exile, from 1815 until his death in 1821, but its importance as a port of call declined after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Ascension Island is the site of a US Air Force auxiliary airfield; Gough Island has a meteorological station. |
Birth rate | 26.91 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 13.26 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $625.4 million
expenditures: $675.2 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million (2003 est.) |
revenues: $11.2 million
expenditures: $11 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY92) |
Capital | Maseru | Jamestown |
Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers | Saint Helena - tropical; marine; mild, tempered by trade winds; Tristan da Cunha - temperate; marine, mild, tempered by trade winds (tends to be cooler than Saint Helena) |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 60 km |
Constitution | 2 April 1993 | 1 January 1989 |
Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho
conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Saint Helena |
Currency | loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) | Saint Helenian pound (SHP) |
Death rate | 24.79 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 6.29 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
Debt - external | $735 million (2002) | $NA |
Dependency status | - | overseas territory of the UK |
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 (overseas territory of the UK) |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Molelekeng E. RAPOLAKI
chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 797-5533 through 5536 FAX: [1] (202) 234-6815 |
none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - donor | ODA $4.4 million | - |
Economic aid - recipient | $41.5 million (2000) | $12.6 million (1995); note - $5.3 million from UK (1997) |
Economy - overview | Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho relies on remittances from miners employed in South Africa and customs duties from the Southern Africa Customs Union for the majority of government revenue, but the government has strengthened its tax system to reduce dependency on customs duties. Completion of a major hydropower facility in January 1998 now permits the sale of water to South Africa, also generating royalties for Lesotho. As the number of mineworkers has declined steadily over the past several years, a small manufacturing base has developed based on farm products that support the milling, canning, leather, and jute industries and a rapidly growing apparel-assembly sector. The economy is still primarily based on subsistence agriculture, especially livestock, although drought has decreased agricultural activity. The extreme inequality in the distribution of income remains a major drawback. Lesotho has signed an Interim Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility with the IMF. | The economy depends largely on financial assistance from the UK, which amounted to about $5 million in 1997 or almost one-half of annual budgetary revenues. The local population earns income from fishing, the raising of livestock, and sales of handicrafts. Because there are few jobs, 25% of the work force has left to seek employment on Ascension Island, on the Falklands, and in the UK. |
Electricity - consumption | 40 million kWh (2001) | 4.65 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - imports | 40 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2001) | 0 kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production | 0 kWh NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2001) | 5 million kWh (2000) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m
highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Queen Mary's Peak on Tristan da Cunha 2,060 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, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
- |
Ethnic groups | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, | African descent 50%, white 25%, Chinese 25% |
Exchange rates | maloti per US dollar - 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002), 8.6092 (2001), 6.9398 (2000), 6.1095 (1999) | Saint Helenian pounds per US dollar - 0.6981 (January 2002), 0.6944 (2001), 0.6596 (2000), 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998), 0.6047 (1997); note - the Saint Helenian pound is at par with the British pound |
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)
head of government: Governor and Commander in Chief David HOLLAMBY (since NA June 1999) cabinet: Executive Council consists of the governor, two ex officio officers, and six elected members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor is appointed by the monarch |
Exports | NA (2001) | $704,000 f.o.b. (1995) |
Exports - commodities | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (2000) | fish (frozen, canned, and salt-dried skipjack, tuna), coffee, handicrafts |
Exports - partners | US 97.6%, Canada 1.5%, France 0.5% (2003) | South Africa, UK |
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 | blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Saint Helenian shield centered on the outer half of the flag; the shield features a rocky coastline and three-masted sailing ship |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $5.583 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $18 million (1998 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 15.3%
industry: 43.3% services: 41.4% (2003) |
agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $3,000 (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2,500 (1998 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4% (2003 est.) | NA% |
Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E | 15 56 S, 5 42 W |
Geography - note | landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level | harbors at least 40 species of plants unknown anywhere else in the world; Ascension is a breeding ground for sea turtles and sooty terns |
Highways | total: 5,940 km
paved: 1,087 km unpaved: 4,853 km (1999) |
total: 158 km (Saint Helena 118 km, Ascension 40 km, Tristan da Cunha 0 km)
paved: 138 km (Saint Helena 98km, Ascension 40 km, Tristan da Cunha 0 km) unpaved: 20 km (Saint Helena 20 km, Ascension 0 km, Tristan da Cunha 0 km) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 0.9%
highest 10%: 43.4% |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | NA (2001) | $14.434 million c.i.f. (1995) |
Imports - commodities | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products (2000) | food, beverages, tobacco, fuel oils, animal feed, building materials, motor vehicles and parts, machinery and parts |
Imports - partners | Hong Kong 36.6%, Taiwan 36.2%, China 12%, Germany 9.9% (2003) | UK, South Africa |
Independence | 4 October 1966 (from UK) | none (overseas territory of the UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | 15.5% (1999) | NA% |
Industries | food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts; construction; tourism | construction, crafts (furniture, lacework, fancy woodwork), fishing |
Infant mortality rate | total: 85.22 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 90.19 deaths/1,000 live births female: 80.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
21.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 6.1% (2003 est.) | 3.2% (1997 est.) |
International organization participation | ACP, AfDB, AU, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO | ICFTU |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 10 sq km (1998 est.) | NA sq km |
Judicial branch | High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court | Supreme Court; Magistrate's Court; Small Debts Court; Juvenile Court |
Labor force | 838,000 (2000) | 3,500
note: 1,200 work offshore (1998 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 and fishing 6%, industry (mainly construction) 48%, services 46% (1987 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 909 km
border countries: South Africa 909 km |
0 km |
Land use | arable land: 10.87%
permanent crops: 0.13% other: 89% (2001) |
arable land: 12.9%
permanent crops: 0% other: 87.1% (1998 est.) |
Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa | 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 | NA |
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 Council (16 seats, including the speaker, 3 ex officio and 12 elected members; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 27 June 2001 (next to be held NA June 2005) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 15 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 36.81 years
male: 36.81 years female: 36.81 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 77.2 years
male: 74.31 years female: 80.23 years (2002 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 84.8% male: 74.5% female: 94.5% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 20 and over can read and write
total population: 97% male: 97% female: 98% (1987 est.) |
Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa | islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, about midway between South America and Africa |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | none (2002 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 | defense is the responsibility of the UK |
Military branches | Lesotho Defense Force (LDF; with Army and Air Wing) | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $32.5 million (2003) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2.6% (2003) | - |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 465,827 (2004 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 253,974 (2004 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) | Birthday of Queen ELIZABETH II, second Saturday in June (1926) |
Nationality | noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho |
noun: Saint Helenian(s)
adjective: Saint Helenian |
Natural hazards | periodic droughts | active volcanism on Tristan da Cunha |
Natural resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals | fish |
Net migration rate | -0.74 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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] | none |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | none |
Population | 1,865,040
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 2004 est.) |
7,317 (July 2002 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 49% (1999) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 0.14% (2004 est.) | 0.7% (2002 est.) |
Ports and harbors | none | Georgetown (on Ascension), Jamestown |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) |
Radios | - | 3,000 (1997) |
Railways | - | 0 km |
Religions | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% | Anglican (majority), Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.08 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | NA years of age |
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: country code - 266; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: can communicate worldwide
domestic: automatic network international: HF radiotelephone from Saint Helena to Ascension which is a major coaxial submarine cable relay point between South Africa, Portugal, and UK ; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 28,600 (2002) | 2,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 92,000 (2002) | 0 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (2000) | 0
note: television programs are received in St. Helena via satellite and distributed by cable (2002) |
Terrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains | Saint Helena - rugged, volcanic; small scattered plateaus and plains
note: the other islands of the group have a volcanic origin |
Total fertility rate | 3.44 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 1.53 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 45% (2002) | 14% (1998 est.) |
Waterways | - | none |