Compare South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2001) - Lesotho (2008)

Compare South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2001) z Lesotho (2008)

	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (2001)	Lesotho (2008)

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	none	28 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways	-	total: 3 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways	-	total: 25 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 21 (2007)
Area	total: 3,903 sq km land: 3,903 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Shag Rocks, Black Rock, Clerke Rocks, South Georgia Island, Bird Island, and the South Sandwich Islands, which consist of some nine islands	total: 30,355 sq km land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly larger than Rhode Island	slightly smaller than Maryland
Background	The islands lie approximately 1,000 km east of the Falkland Islands. Grytviken, on South Georgia, was a 19th and early 20th century whaling station. The famed explorer Ernest SHACKLETON stopped there in 1914 en route to his ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica on foot. He returned some 20 months later with a few companions in a small boat and arranged a successful rescue for the rest of his crew, stranded off the Antarctic Peninsula. He died in 1922 on a subsequent expedition and is buried in Grytviken. Today, the station houses a small military garrison. The islands have large bird and seal populations and, recognizing the importance of preserving the marine stocks in adjacent waters, the UK, in 1993, extended the exclusive fishing zone from 12 miles to 200 miles around each island.	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 was reinstated in 1995. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after seven 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. Subsequent constitutional reforms restored relative political stability. Peaceful parliamentary elections were held in 2002, but the National Assembly elections of February 2007 were hotly contested and aggrieved parties continue to periodically demonstrate their distrust of the results.
Birth rate	-	24.72 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Budget	revenues: $291,777 expenditures: $451,000, including capital expenditures of $NA (1988 est.)	revenues: $951.4 million expenditures: $855.4 million (2007 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	variable, with mostly westerly winds throughout the year interspersed with periods of calm; nearly all precipitation falls as snow	temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers
Coastline	NA km	0 km (landlocked)
Constitution	adopted 3 October 1985	2 April 1993
Country name	conventional long form: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands conventional short form: none	conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho conventional short form: Lesotho local long form: Kingdom of Lesotho local short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland
Death rate	-	22.49 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Debt - external	-	$693 million (31 December 2007 est.)
Dependency status	overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina; administered from the Falkland Islands by UK civil commissioner Donald A. LAMONT, representing Queen ELIZABETH II; Grytviken, formerly a whaling station on South Georgia, is the garrison town	-
Diplomatic representation from the US	none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)	chief of mission: Ambassador Robert NOLAN 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	none (overseas territory of the UK, also claimed by Argentina)	chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Mabasia MOHOBANE chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 797-5533 through 5536 FAX: [1] (202) 234-6815
Disputes - international	claimed by Argentina	none
Economic aid - recipient	-	$68.82 million (2005)
Economy - overview	Some fishing takes place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from harvesting fin fish and krill. The islands receive income from postage stamps produced in the UK.	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. In July 2007 Lesotho signed a Millennium Challenge Account Compact with the US worth $362.5 million.
Electricity - consumption	NA kWh	338.5 million kWh (2005)
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)
Electricity - production by source	fossil fuel: NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA%	-
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Paget (South Georgia) 2,934 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, 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 - 7.25 (2007), 6.85 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003)
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
Exports	-	0 bbl/day (2004)
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	the flag of the UK is used	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
GDP - composition by sector	-	agriculture: 15.2% industry: 45% services: 39.7% (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	-	4.8% (2007 est.)
Geographic coordinates	54 30 S, 37 00 W	29 30 S, 28 30 E
Geography - note	the north coast of South Georgia has several large bays, which provide good anchorage; reindeer, introduced early in this century, live on South Georgia	landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level
Household income or consumption by percentage share	-	lowest 10%: 0.9% highest 10%: 43.4% (2002 est.)
Imports	-	1,400 bbl/day (2004)
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	-	12% (2007 est.)
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)	-	12% (2007 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	0 sq km (1993)	30 sq km (2003)
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 est.)
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	0 km	total: 909 km border countries: South Africa 909 km
Land use	arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 0% forests and woodland: 0% other: 100% (largely covered by permanent ice and snow with some sparse vegetation consisting of grass, moss, and lichen)	arable land: 10.87% permanent crops: 0.13% other: 89% (2005)
Languages	-	Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa
Legal system	the laws of the UK, where applicable, apply	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
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 South America, islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, east of the tip of South America	Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa
Map references	Antarctic Region	Africa
Maritime claims	exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM	none (landlocked)
Military - note	defense is the responsibility of the UK	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 - percent of GDP	-	2.6% (2006)
National holiday	Liberation Day, 14 June (1982)	Independence Day, 4 October (1966)
Nationality	-	noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural) adjective: Basotho
Natural hazards	the South Sandwich Islands have prevailing weather conditions that generally make them difficult to approach by ship; they are also subject to active volcanism	periodic droughts
Natural resources	fish	water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand, clay, building stone
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	no indigenous inhabitants note: the small military garrison on South Georgia withdrew in March 2001, to be replaced by a permanent group of scientists of the British Antarctic Survey which also has a biological station on Bird Island; the South Sandwich Islands are uninhabited (July 2001 est.)	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.)
Population below poverty line	-	49% (1999)
Population growth rate	-	0.144% (2007 est.)
Ports and harbors	Grytviken	-
Radio broadcast stations	none	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: 1.013 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: NA domestic: NA international: coastal radiotelephone station at Grytviken	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)
Telephones - main lines in use	-	48,000 (2005)
Telephones - mobile cellular	-	249,800 (2005)
Television broadcast stations	0 (1997)	1 (2000)
Terrain	most of the islands, rising steeply from the sea, are rugged and mountainous; South Georgia is largely barren and has steep, glacier-covered mountains; the South Sandwich Islands are of volcanic origin with some active volcanoes	mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains
Total fertility rate	-	3.21 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Unemployment rate	-	45% (2002)
Waterways	none	-

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