Compare Lesotho (2006) - British Indian Ocean Territory (2004)

Compare Lesotho (2006) z British Indian Ocean Territory (2004)

	Lesotho (2006)	British Indian Ocean Territory (2004)

Administrative divisions	10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohale's Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka	-
Age structure	0-14 years: 36.8% (male 374,102/female 369,527) 15-64 years: 58.3% (male 572,957/female 606,846) 65 years and over: 4.9% (male 39,461/female 59,438) (2006 est.)	-
Agriculture - products	corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock	-
Airports	28 (2006)	1 (2003 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 3 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2006)	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 25 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 21 (2006)	-
Area	total: 30,355 sq km land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km	total: 60 sq km land: 60 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Maryland	about 0.3 times the size of Washington, DC
Background	Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. The Basuto National Party ruled for the first two decades. King MOSHOESHOE was exiled in 1990, but returned to Lesotho in 1992 and reinstated in 1995. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after 7 years of military rule. In 1998, violent protests and a military mutiny following a contentious election prompted a brief but bloody intervention by South African and Botswanan military forces under the aegis of the Southern African Development Community. Constitutional reforms have since restored political stability; peaceful parliamentary elections were held in 2002.	Established as a territory of the UK in 1965, a number of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) islands were transferred to the Seychelles when it attained independence in 1976. Subsequently, BIOT has consisted only of the six main island groups comprising the Chagos Archipelago. The largest and most southerly of the islands, Diego Garcia, contains a joint UK-US naval support facility. All of the remaining islands are uninhabited. Former agricultural workers, earlier residents in the islands, were relocated primarily to Mauritius but also to the Seychelles, between 1967 and 1973. In 2000, a British High Court ruling invalidated the local immigration order that had excluded them from the archipelago, but upheld the special military status of Diego Garcia.
Birth rate	24.75 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)	-
Budget	revenues: $738.5 million expenditures: $792.1 million; including capital expenditures of NA (2005 est.)	-
Capital	name: Maseru geographic coordinates: 29 28 S, 27 30 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)	-
Climate	temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers	tropical marine; hot, humid, moderated by trade winds
Coastline	0 km (landlocked)	698 km
Constitution	2 April 1993	-
Country name	conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho conventional short form: Lesotho local long form: Kingdom of Lesotho local short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland	conventional long form: British Indian Ocean Territory conventional short form: none abbreviation: BIOT
Death rate	28.71 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)	-
Debt - external	$735 million (2002)	-
Dependency status	-	overseas territory of the UK; administered by a commissioner, resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London
Diplomatic representation from the US	chief of mission: Ambassador June Carter PERRY embassy: 254 Kingsway, Maseru West (Consular Section) mailing address: P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho telephone: [266] 22 312666 FAX: [266] 22 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	Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago and its former inhabitants, who reside chiefly in Mauritius, but in 2001 were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation since eviction in 1965; the UK resists the Chagossians' demand for an immediate return to the islands; repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of Diego Garcia that restricted access to the largest island in the chain
Economic aid - donor	ODA, $4.4 million	-
Economic aid - recipient	$41.5 million (2000)	-
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. However, the government has recently 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, as well as a rapidly expanding apparel-assembly sector. The latter has grown significantly, mainly due to Lesotho qualifying for the trade benefits contained in the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. 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.	All economic activity is concentrated on the largest island of Diego Garcia, where joint UK-US defense facilities are located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installations are done by military and contract employees from the UK, Mauritius, the Philippines, and the US. There are no industrial or agricultural activities on the islands. When the Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing.
Electricity - consumption	363.5 million kWh (2003)	NA kWh
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2003)	-
Electricity - imports	38 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2003)	-
Electricity - production	350 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2003)	NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by the US military
Elevation extremes	lowest point: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Diego Garcia 15 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%,	-
Exchange rates	maloti per US dollar - 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002), 8.6092 (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 depose the monarch, determine who is next in the line of succession, or who shall serve as regent in the event that the successor is not of mature age	chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Commissioner Tony CROMBIE (since January 2004); Administrator Charles A. HAMILTON (since 2002); note - both reside in the UK cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; commissioner and administrator appointed by the monarch
Exports	NA bbl/day	-
Exports - commodities	manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (2000)	-
Exports - partners	Hong Kong 43.6%, China 35.4%, Germany 8.4% (2005)	-
Fiscal year	1 April - 31 March	-
Flag description	three horizontal stripes of blue (top), white, and green in the proportions of 3:4:3; the colors represent rain, peace, and prosperity respectively; centered in the white stripe is a black Basotho hat representing the indigenous people; the flag was unfurled in October 2006 to celebrate 40 years of independence	white with six blue wavy horizontal stripes; the flag of the UK is in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the striped section bears a palm tree and yellow crown centered on the outer half of the flag
GDP - composition by sector	agriculture: 16.3% industry: 44.3% services: 39.4% (2005 est.)	-
GDP - real growth rate	1.2% (2005 est.)	-
Geographic coordinates	29 30 S, 28 30 E	6 00 S, 71 30 E
Geography - note	landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level	archipelago of 2,300 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility
Highways	-	total: NA km paved: short section of paved road between port and airfield on Diego Garcia unpaved: NA km
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 0.9% highest 10%: 43.4%	-
Imports	NA bbl/day	-
Imports - commodities	food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products (2000)	-
Imports - partners	US 84%, Belgium 12.8%, Canada 2.4% (2005)	-
Independence	4 October 1966 (from UK)	-
Industrial production growth rate	15.5% (1999)	-
Industries	food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts, construction, tourism	-
Infant mortality rate	total: 87.24 deaths/1,000 live births male: 92.04 deaths/1,000 live births female: 82.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)	-
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	4.7% (2005 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	-
Irrigated land	30 sq km (2003)	0 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch	High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch acting on the advice of the Prime Minister); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court	-
Labor force	838,000 (2000)	-
Labor force - by occupation	agriculture: 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa industry and services: 14%	-
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% (2005)	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001)
Languages	Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa	-
Legal system	based on English common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply
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 by 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	-
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 34.4 years male: 35.55 years female: 33.21 years (2006 est.)	-
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 84.8% male: 74.5% female: 94.5% (2003 est.)	-
Location	Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa	archipelago in the Indian Ocean, south of India, about one-half the way from Africa to Indonesia
Map references	Africa	Political Map of the World
Maritime claims	none (landlocked)	territorial sea: 3 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 the UK; the US lease on Diego Garcia expires in 2016
Military branches	Lesotho Defense Force (LDF): Army and Air Wing	-
Military expenditures - dollar figure	$41.1 million (2005 est.)	-
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	2.1% (2005 est.)	-
National holiday	Independence Day, 4 October (1966)	-
Nationality	noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural) adjective: Basotho	-
Natural hazards	periodic droughts	NA
Natural resources	water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand, clay, building stone	coconuts, fish, sugarcane
Net migration rate	-0.68 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)	-
Political parties and leaders	Basotholand African Congress or BAC [Khauhelo RALITAPOLE]; Basotholand Congress Party or BCP [Ntsukunyane MPHANYA]; Basotho National Party or BNP [Maj. Gen. Justine Metsing LEKHANYA]; Kopanang Basotho Party or KPB [MOSALA]; Lesotho Congress for Democracy or LCD [Pakalitha MOSISILI] (the governing party); Lesotho Education Party or LEP [Thabo PITSO]; Lesotho People's Congress or LPC [Kelebone MAOPE]; Lesotho Workers Party of LWP [Macaefa BILLY]; Marematlou Freedom Party or MFP [Vincent MALEBO]; National Independent Party or NIP [Anthony MANYELI]; National Progressive Party or NPP [Chief Peete Nkoebe PEETE]; Popular Front for Democracy or PFD [Lekhetho RAKUOANE]; Sefate Democratic Union or SDU [Bofihla NKUEBE]; Social Democratic Party of SDP [Masitise SELESO]; United Democratic Party or UDP [C.D. MOFELI]; United Party or UP [Makara SEKAUTU]	-
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	-
Population	2,022,331 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 2006 est.)	no indigenous inhabitants note: approximately 1,200 former agricultural workers resident in the Chagos Archipelago, often referred to as Chagossians or Ilois, were relocated to Mauritius and the Seychelles in the 1960s and 1970s, in November 2000 they were granted the right of return by a British High Court ruling, though no timetable has been set; in 2001, there were approximately 1,500 UK and US military personnel and 2,000 civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia (July 2004 est.)
Population below poverty line	49% (1999)	-
Population growth rate	-0.46% (2006 est.)	-
Ports and harbors	-	Diego Garcia
Radio broadcast stations	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998)	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 0 (1998)
Religions	Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20%	-
Sex ratio	at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.66 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2006 est.)	-
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	-
Telephone system	general assessment: rudimentary system domestic: consists of a modest but growing number of 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: separate facilities for military and public needs are available domestic: all commercial telephone services are available, including connection to the Internet international: international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000)
Telephones - main lines in use	48,000 (2005)	NA
Telephones - mobile cellular	245,100 (2005)	-
Television broadcast stations	1 (2000)	1 (1997)
Terrain	mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains	flat and low (most areas do not exceed four meters in elevation)
Total fertility rate	3.28 children born/woman (2006 est.)	-
Unemployment rate	45% (2002)	-

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