Compare Paracel Islands (2003) - Lesotho (2005)

Compare Paracel Islands (2003) z Lesotho (2005)

	Paracel Islands (2003)	Lesotho (2005)

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: 36.9% (male 346,930/female 342,459) 15-64 years: 57.6% (male 526,642/female 548,096) 65 years and over: 5.5% (male 42,003/female 60,905) (2005 est.)
Agriculture - products	-	corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock
Airports	1 (2002)	28 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways	total: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2002)	total: 3 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 25 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 21 (2004 est.)
Area	total: NA sq km land: NA sq km water: 0 sq km	total: 30,355 sq km land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	NA	slightly smaller than Maryland
Background	The Paracel Islands are surrounded by productive fishing grounds and by potential oil and gas reserves. In 1932, French Indochina annexed the islands and set up a weather station on Pattle Island; maintenance was continued by its successor, Vietnam. China has occupied the Paracel Islands since 1974, when its troops seized a South Vietnamese garrison occupying the western islands. The islands are claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam.	Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. King MOSHOESHOE was exiled in 1990, but returned to Lesotho in 1992 and reinstated in 1995. 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 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.
Birth rate	-	26.53 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Budget	-	revenues: $698.5 million expenditures: $697.6 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million (2004 est.)
Capital	-	Maseru
Climate	tropical	temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers
Coastline	518 km	0 km (landlocked)
Constitution	-	2 April 1993
Country name	conventional long form: none conventional short form: Paracel Islands	conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland
Death rate	-	25.03 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Debt - external	-	$735 million (2002)
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
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
Disputes - international	occupied by China, but claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam	none
Economic aid - donor	-	ODA $4.4 million
Economic aid - recipient	-	$41.5 million (2000)
Economy - overview	China announced plans in 1997 to open the islands for tourism.	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 garment industry 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.
Electricity - consumption	-	308 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports	-	0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports	-	16 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2002)
Electricity - production	-	314 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2002)
Elevation extremes	lowest point: South China Sea 0 m highest point: unnamed location on Rocky Island 14 m	lowest point: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m
Environment - current issues	NA	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
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 - 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.5407 (2002), 8.6092 (2001), 6.9398 (2000)
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
Exports	-	NA
Exports - commodities	-	manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (2000)
Exports - partners	-	US 97%, Canada 2.1%, UK 0.3% (2004)
Fiscal year	-	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
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: 15.2% industry: 43.9% services: 40.9% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita	-	purchasing power parity - $3,200 (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-	3.3% (2004 est.)
Geographic coordinates	16 30 N, 112 00 E	29 30 S, 28 30 E
Geography - note	composed of 130 small coral islands and reefs divided into the northeast Amphitrite Group and the western Crescent Group	landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level
Highways	-	total: 5,940 km paved: 1,087 km unpaved: 4,853 km (1999)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	-	lowest 10%: 0.9% highest 10%: 43.4%
Imports	-	NA
Imports - commodities	-	food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products (2000)
Imports - partners	-	Hong Kong 46.8%, China 25.5%, South Korea 5.6%, Germany 4.8% (2004)
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: 84.23 deaths/1,000 live births male: 89.11 deaths/1,000 live births female: 79.21 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	-	5.3% (2004 est.)
International organization participation	-	ACP, AfDB, AU, C, The Commonwealth, 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	0 sq km (1998 est.)	10 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	-	86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa
Land boundaries	0 km	total: 909 km border countries: South Africa 909 km
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.)	arable land: 10.87% permanent crops: 0.13% other: 89% (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; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
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 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: 34.47 years male: 35.49 years female: 33.42 years (2005 est.)
Literacy	-	definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 84.8% male: 74.5% female: 94.5% (2003 est.)
Location	Southeastern Asia, group of small islands and reefs in the South China Sea, about one-third of the way from central Vietnam to the northern Philippines	Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa
Map references	Southeast Asia	Africa
Maritime claims	NA	none (landlocked)
Military - note	occupied by China	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): Army and Air Wing
Military expenditures - dollar figure	-	$32.3 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP	-	2.3% (2004)
National holiday	-	Independence Day, 4 October (1966)
Nationality	-	noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural) adjective: Basotho
Natural hazards	typhoons	periodic droughts
Natural resources	none	water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand, clay, building stone
Net migration rate	-	-0.74 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 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]; Lesotho Congress for Democracy or LCD [Pakalitha MOSISILI] - the governing party; 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 Party or SDP [Bofihla NKUEBE]
Political pressure groups and leaders	-	NA
Population	no indigenous inhabitants note: there are scattered Chinese garrisons (July 2003 est.)	1,867,035 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 2005 est.)
Population below poverty line	-	49% (1999)
Population growth rate	-	0.08% (2005 est.)
Ports and harbors	small Chinese port facilities on Woody Island and Duncan Island being expanded	-
Radio broadcast stations	-	AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (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: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2005 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)
Telephones - main lines in use	-	28,600 (2002)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	92,000 (2002)
Television broadcast stations	-	1 (2000)
Terrain	mostly low and flat	mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains
Total fertility rate	-	3.35 children born/woman (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate	-	45% (2002)
Waterways	none	-

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