Compare Lesotho (2007) - British Indian Ocean Territory (2007)

Compare Lesotho (2007) z British Indian Ocean Territory (2007)

	Lesotho (2007)	British Indian Ocean Territory (2007)

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: 35.7% (male 382,308/female 377,303) 15-64 years: 59.3% (male 613,979/female 645,818) 65 years and over: 5% (male 42,621/female 63,233) (2007 est.)	-
Agriculture - products	corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock	-
Airports	28 (2007)	1 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 3 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007)	total: 1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways	total: 25 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 21 (2007)	-
Area	total: 30,355 sq km land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km	total: 54,400 sq km land: 60 sq km; Diego Garcia 44 sq km water: 54,340 sq km note: includes the entire Chagos Archipelago of 55 islands
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Maryland	land area is 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	24.72 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)	-
Budget	revenues: $995.8 million expenditures: $763.2 million (2006 est.)	-
Capital	name: Maseru geographic coordinates: 29 19 S, 27 29 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	22.49 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)	-
Debt - external	$652 million (2006 est.)	-
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 including Diego Garcia; in 2001, the former inhabitants of the Chagos Archipelago, evicted in 1967 and 1973 and now residing chiefly in Mauritius, were granted UK citizenship and the right to repatriation; in May 2006, the High Court of London reversed U.K. Government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the islands; a small group of Chagossians visited Diego Garcia in April 2006; repatriation is complicated by the exclusive US military lease of Diego Garcia that restricts access to the largest viable island in the chain
Economic aid - recipient	$68.82 million (2005)	-
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 and also generates royalties for Lesotho. Lesotho produces about 90% of its own electrical power needs. 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 a joint UK-US military facility is located. Construction projects and various services needed to support the military installation are performed 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 native Ilois return, they plan to reestablish sugarcane production and fishing. The territory makes money by selling fishing licenses and postage stamps.
Electricity - consumption	338.5 million kWh (2005)	NA kWh
Electricity - exports	0 kWh (2005)	-
Electricity - imports	13 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2005)	-
Electricity - production	350 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2005)	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, Wetlands 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 - 6.85 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.541 (2002)	-
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, that 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 Leigh TURNER (since July 2006); Administrator Tony HUMPHRIES (since February 2005); note - both reside in the UK and are represented by the officer commanding British Forces on Diego Garcia 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	US 81.9%, Belgium 15%, Canada 1.9% (2006)	-
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: 18.2% industry: 40.8% services: 41% (2006 est.)	-
GDP - real growth rate	6.2% (2006 est.)	-
Geographic coordinates	29 30 S, 28 30 E	6 00 S, 71 30 E; note - Diego Garcia 7 20 S, 72 25 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 55 islands; Diego Garcia, largest and southernmost island, occupies strategic location in central Indian Ocean; island is site of joint US-UK military facility
Household income or consumption by percentage share	lowest 10%: 0.9% highest 10%: 43.4% (2002 est.)	-
Imports	NA bbl/day	-
Imports - commodities	food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products	-
Imports - partners	Hong Kong 33.4%, China 31.2%, Germany 7.7%, India 7.3% (2006)	-
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: 79.85 deaths/1,000 live births male: 84.4 deaths/1,000 live births female: 75.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)	-
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	6.1% (2006 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, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO	-
Irrigated land	30 sq km (2003)	0 sq km
Judicial branch	High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch acting on the advice of the Prime Minister); Court of Appeal; Magistrate Courts; 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% (2002 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% (2005)	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005)
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 popular vote and 40 by proportional vote; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms) elections: last held 17 February 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LCD 61, NIP 21, ABC 17, LWP 10, ACP 4, BNP 3, other 4	-
Life expectancy at birth	total population: 39.97 years male: 40.73 years female: 39.18 years (2007 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 - percent of GDP	2.6% (2006)	-
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	-0.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)	-
Political parties and leaders	Alliance of Congress Parties or ACP; All Basotho Convention or ABC [Thomas THABANE]; Basotholand African Congress or BAC [Khauhelo RALITAPOLE]; Basotho Congress Party or BCP [Ntsukunyane MPHANYA]; Basotho National Party or BNP [Maj. Gen. Justin Metsing LEKHANYA]; Kopanang Basotho Party or KPB [Pheelo MOSALA]; Lesotho Congress for Democracy or LCD (the governing party) [Pakalitha MOSISILI]; Lesotho Education Party or LEP [Thabo PITSO]; Lesotho Workers Party or LWP [Macaefa BILLY]; Marematlou Freedom Party or MFP [Vincent MALEBO]; National Independent Party or NIP [Anthony MANYELI]; New Lesotho Freedom Party or NLFP [Manapo MAJARA]; Popular Front for Democracy or PFD [Lekhetho RAKUOANE]; Sefate Democratic Union or SDU [Bofihla NKUEBE]; Social Democratic Party of SDP [Masitise SELESO]	-
Political pressure groups and leaders	NA	-
Population	2,125,262 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 2007 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 November 2004, there were approximately 4,000 UK and US military personnel and civilian contractors living on the island of Diego Garcia
Population below poverty line	49% (1999)	-
Population growth rate	0.144% (2007 est.)	-
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: 1.013 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.951 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.674 male(s)/female total population: 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.)	-
Suffrage	18 years of age; universal	-
Telephone system	general assessment: rudimentary system consisting of a modest but growing number of landlines, a small microwave radio relay system, and a small radiotelephone communication system; mobile-cellular telephone system is expanding domestic: privatized in 2001, Telecom Lesotho tasked with providing an additional 50,000 fixed-line connections within five years, a target not met; mobile-cellular service is expanding with a subscribership approaching 15 per 100 persons; rural services are scant 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: country code (Diego Garcia) - 246; international telephone service is carried by satellite (2000)
Telephones - main lines in use	48,000 (2005)	NA
Telephones - mobile cellular	249,800 (2005)	-
Television broadcast stations	1 (2000)	1 (1997)
Terrain	mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains	flat and low (most areas do not exceed two meters in elevation)
Total fertility rate	3.21 children born/woman (2007 est.)	-
Unemployment rate	45% (2002)	-

Sitemap: Compare countries listing (map site) | Country listing (map site)
Links: Add to favorites | Information about this website | Stats | Polityka prywatnosci
This page was generated in ##czas## s. Size this page: ##rozmiar_strony## kB.