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Compare Reunion (2004) - Lesotho (2002)
Compare Reunion (2004) z Lesotho (2002)
| Reunion (2004) | Lesotho (2002) | |
 |  | |
| Administrative divisions | none (overseas department of France); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are 4 arrondissements, 24 communes, and 47 cantons | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 30.9% (male 121,050; female 115,440)
15-64 years: 63.1% (male 238,553; female 245,236) 65 years and over: 6% (male 18,626; female 27,248) (2004 est.) |
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.) |
| Agriculture - products | sugarcane, vanilla, tobacco, tropical fruits, vegetables, corn | corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock |
| Airports | 2 (2003 est.) | 28 (2001) |
| Airports - with paved runways | total: 2
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 2 (2002) |
| Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 24
914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 20 (2002) |
| Area | total: 2,517 sq km
land: 2,507 sq km water: 10 sq km |
total: 30,355 sq km
land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Rhode Island | slightly smaller than Maryland |
| Background | The Portuguese discovered the uninhabited island in 1513. From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French immigration, supplemented by influxes of Africans, Chinese, Malays, and Malabar Indians, gave the island its ethnic mix. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 cost the island its importance as a stopover on the East Indies trade route. | 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. |
| Birth rate | 19.69 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 30.72 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
| Budget | revenues: $1.26 billion
expenditures: $2.62 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1998) |
revenues: $76 million
expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million |
| Capital | Saint-Denis | Maseru |
| Climate | tropical, but temperature moderates with elevation; cool and dry from May to November, hot and rainy from November to April | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers |
| Coastline | 207 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Constitution | 28 September 1958 (French Constitution) | 2 April 1993 |
| Country name | conventional long form: Department of Reunion
conventional short form: Reunion local long form: none local short form: Ile de la Reunion former: Bourbon Island |
conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho
conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
| Currency | euro (EUR) | loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) |
| Death rate | 5.48 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 16.81 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
| Debt - external | NA | $715 million (2001 est.) |
| Dependency status | overseas department of France | - |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas department of France) | 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 |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas department of France) | 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 |
| Disputes - international | none | none |
| Economic aid - recipient | $NA; note - substantial annual subsidies from France (2001 est.) | $123.7 million (1995) (1995) |
| Economy - overview | The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture, but services now dominate. Sugarcane has been the primary crop for more than a century, and in some years it accounts for 85% of exports. The government has been pushing the development of a tourist industry to relieve high unemployment, which amounts to one-third of the labor force. The gap in Reunion between the well-off and the poor is extraordinary and accounts for the persistent social tensions. The white and Indian communities are substantially better off than other segments of the population, often approaching European standards, whereas minority groups suffer the poverty and unemployment typical of the poorer nations of the African continent. The outbreak of severe rioting in February 1991 illustrates the seriousness of socioeconomic tensions. The economic well-being of Reunion depends heavily on continued financial assistance from France. | 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. |
| Electricity - consumption | 1.005 billion kWh (2001) | 100 million kWh (2000) |
| Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2000) |
| Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 100 million kWh
note: electricity supplied by South Africa (2000) |
| Electricity - production | 1.08 billion kWh (2001) | 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2000) |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Piton des Neiges 3,069 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, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping |
| Ethnic groups | French, African, Malagasy, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, |
| Exchange rates | euros per US dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999) | 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 |
| Executive branch | chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Dominique VIAN (since 16 August 2004)
head of government: President of the General Council Jean-Luc POUDROUX (since NA March 1998) and President of the Regional Council Paul VERGES (since NA March 1993) cabinet: NA elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior; the presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by the members of those councils |
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 (2001) | $250 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
| Exports - commodities | sugar 63%, rum and molasses 4%, perfume essences 2%, lobster 3%, (1993) | manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals |
| Exports - partners | France 74%, Japan 6%, Comoros 4% (2000) | South African Customs Union 53.9%, North America 45.6% (1999) |
| Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
| Flag description | the flag of France is used | 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 | purchasing power parity - $4.348 billion (2003 est.) | purchasing power parity - $5.3 billion (2001 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 8%
industry: 19% services: 73% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 18%
industry: 38% services: 44% (2001) |
| GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $5,800 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $2,450 (2001 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate | 2.5% (2003 est.) | 2.6% (2001 est.) |
| Geographic coordinates | 21 06 S, 55 36 E | 29 30 S, 28 30 E |
| Geography - note | this mountainous, volcanic island has an active volcano, Piton de la Fournaise; there is a tropical cyclone center at Saint-Denis, which is the monitoring station for the whole of the Indian Ocean | landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level |
| Highways | total: 2,724 km
paved: 1,300 km (including 73 km of four-lane road) unpaved: 1,424 km (1994) |
total: 4,955 km
paved: 887 km unpaved: 4,068 km (1996) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 43% (1986-87) |
| Imports | NA (2001) | $720 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) |
| Imports - commodities | manufactured goods, food, beverages, tobacco, machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and petroleum products | food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products |
| Imports - partners | France 64%, Bahrain 3%, Germany 3%, Italy 3% (2000) | South African Customs Union 89.5%, Asia 7% (1999) |
| Independence | none (overseas department of France) | 4 October 1966 (from UK) |
| Industrial production growth rate | NA | 15.5% (1999 est.) |
| Industries | sugar, rum, cigarettes, handicraft items, flower oil extraction | food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts; construction; tourism |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 7.95 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 8.71 deaths/1,000 live births female: 7.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
82.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA | 6.9% (2001 est.) |
| International organization participation | InOC, UPU, WFTU | 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 |
| Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 1 (2000) |
| Irrigated land | 120 sq km (1998 est.) | 10 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Judicial branch | Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel | High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court |
| Labor force | 309,900 (2000) | 700,000 economically active |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 13%, industry 12%, services 75% (2000) | 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: 13.6%
permanent crops: 1.2% other: 85.2% (2001) |
arable land: 10.71%
permanent crops: 0% other: 89.29% (1998 est.) |
| Languages | French (official), Creole widely used | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa |
| Legal system | French law | 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 | unicameral General Council (49 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council (45 seats; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held 15 and 22 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004); Regional Council - last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held NA 2010) election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - various right-wing candidates 13, PCR 10, PS 10, UDF 8, RPR 6, other left-wing candidates 2; Regional Council (second round) - percent of vote by party - PCR 44.9%, UMP 32.8%, PS-Greens 22.3%; seats by party - PCR 27, UMP 11, PS-Greens 7 note: Reunion elects three representatives to the French Senate; elections last held NA 2001 (next to be held NA 2006); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; Reunion also elects five deputies to the French National Assembly; elections last held 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP-RPR 1, UMP 1, PCR 1 |
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 |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 73.69 years
male: 70.29 years female: 77.26 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 47 years
male: 46.3 years female: 47.8 years (2002 est.) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 88.9% male: 87% female: 90.8% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83% male: 72% female: 93% (1999 est.) |
| Location | Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa |
| Map references | World | Africa |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
none (landlocked) |
| Merchant marine | total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 28,264 GRT/44,885 DWT
by type: chemical tanker 1 foreign-owned: Sweden 1 registered in other countries: 1 |
- |
| Military - note | defense is the responsibility of France | 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 | no regular indigenous military forces; French forces (including Army, Navy, Air Force, and Gendarmerie) | 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: 202,385 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49: 526,332 (2002 est.) |
| Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 103,073 (2004 est.) | males age 15-49: 283,203 (2002 est.) |
| Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males: 7,070 (2004 est.) | - |
| National holiday | Bastille Day, 14 July (1789) | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) |
| Nationality | noun: Reunionese (singular and plural)
adjective: Reunionese |
noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho |
| Natural hazards | periodic, devastating cyclones (December to April); Piton de la Fournaise on the southeastern coast is an active volcano | periodic droughts |
| Natural resources | fish, arable land, hydropower | water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals |
| Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) |
| Political parties and leaders | Communist Party of Reunion or PCR [Paul VERGES]; Rally for the Republic or RPR [Andre Maurice PIHOUEE]; Socialist Party or PS [Jean-Claude FRUTEAU]; Union for French Democracy or UDF [Gilbert GERARD]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP [leader NA] | 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] |
| Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
| Population | 766,153 (July 2004 est.) | 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.) |
| Population below poverty line | NA | 49% (1999 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 1.42% (2004 est.) | 1.33% (2002 est.) |
| Ports and harbors | Le Port, Pointe des Galets | none |
| Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 55, shortwave 0 (2001) | AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) |
| 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) |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 86%, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist (1995) | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
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.) |
| Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
| Telephone system | general assessment: adequate system; principal center is Saint-Denis
domestic: modern open-wire and microwave radio relay network international: country code - 262; radiotelephone communication to Comoros, France, Madagascar; new microwave route to Mauritius; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); fiber optic submarine cable (SAT-3/WASC/SAFE) provides connectivity to Europe and Asia |
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) |
| Telephones - main lines in use | 300,000 est (2001) | 22,200 (2000) |
| Telephones - mobile cellular | 489,800 (2002) | 21,600 (2000) |
| Television broadcast stations | 35 (plus 18 low-power repeaters) (2001) | 1 (2000) |
| Terrain | mostly rugged and mountainous; fertile lowlands along coast | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains |
| Total fertility rate | 2.5 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 4.01 children born/woman (2002 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 36% (1999 est.) | 45% (2000 est.) |
| Waterways | - | none |
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