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Compare Tuvalu (2005) - Lesotho (2002)

Compare Tuvalu (2005) z Lesotho (2002)

 Tuvalu (2005)Lesotho (2002)
 TuvaluLesotho
Administrative divisions none 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka
Age structure 0-14 years: 30.8% (male 1,823/female 1,756)


15-64 years: 64.2% (male 3,620/female 3,847)


65 years and over: 5.1% (male 229/female 361) (2005 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 coconuts; fish corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock
Airports 1 (2004 est.) 28 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways - total: 4


over 3,047 m: 1


914 to 1,523 m: 1


under 914 m: 2 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways total: 1


1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.)
total: 24


914 to 1,523 m: 4


under 914 m: 20 (2002)
Area total: 26 sq km


land: 26 sq km


water: 0 sq km
total: 30,355 sq km


land: 30,355 sq km


water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative 0.1 times the size of Washington, DC slightly smaller than Maryland
Background In 1974, ethnic differences within the British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands caused the Polynesians of the Ellice Islands to vote for separation from the Micronesians of the Gilbert Islands. The following year, the Ellice Islands became the separate British colony of Tuvalu. Independence was granted in 1978. In 2000, Tuvalu negotiated a contract leasing its Internet domain name ".tv" for $50 million in royalties over the next dozen years. 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 21.91 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) 30.72 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Budget revenues: $22.5 million


expenditures: $11.2 million, including capital expenditures of $4.2 million (2000 est.)
revenues: $76 million


expenditures: $80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million
Capital Funafuti; note - administrative offices are located in Vaiaku Village on Fongafale Islet Maseru
Climate tropical; moderated by easterly trade winds (March to November); westerly gales and heavy rain (November to March) temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers
Coastline 24 km 0 km (landlocked)
Constitution 1 October 1978 2 April 1993
Country name conventional long form: none


conventional short form: Tuvalu


former: Ellice Islands


note: "Tuvalu" means "group of eight," referring to the country's eight traditionally inhabited islands
conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho


conventional short form: Lesotho


former: Basutoland
Currency - loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR)
Death rate 7.22 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) 16.81 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Debt - external NA $715 million (2001 est.)
Diplomatic representation from the US the US does not have an embassy in Tuvalu; the US ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tuvalu 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 Tuvalu does not have an embassy in the US - the country's only diplomatic post is in Fiji - Tuvalu does, however, have a UN office located at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400D, New York, New York 10017, telephone: [1] (212) 490-0534 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 $13 million; note - major donors are Australia, Japan, and the US (1999 est.) $123.7 million (1995) (1995)
Economy - overview Tuvalu consists of a densely populated, scattered group of nine coral atolls with poor soil. The country has no known mineral resources and few exports. Subsistence farming and fishing are the primary economic activities. Fewer than 1,000 tourists, on average, visit Tuvalu annually. Government revenues largely come from the sale of stamps and coins and worker remittances. About 1,000 Tuvaluans work in Nauru in the phosphate mining industry. Nauru has begun repatriating Tuvaluans, however, as phosphate resources decline. Substantial income is received annually from an international trust fund established in 1987 by Australia, NZ, and the UK and supported also by Japan and South Korea. Thanks to wise investments and conservative withdrawals, this fund has grown from an initial $17 million to over $35 million in 1999. The US government is also a major revenue source for Tuvalu because of payments from a 1988 treaty on fisheries. In an effort to reduce its dependence on foreign aid, the government is pursuing public sector reforms, including privatization of some government functions and personnel cuts of up to 7%. In 1998, Tuvalu began deriving revenue from use of its area code for "900" lines and in 2000, from the lease of its ".tv" Internet domain name. Royalties from these new technology sources could increase substantially over the next decade. With merchandise exports only a fraction of merchandise imports, continued reliance must be placed on fishing and telecommunications license fees, remittances from overseas workers, official transfers, and income from overseas investments. 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 - 100 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports - 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports - 100 million kWh


note: electricity supplied by South Africa (2000)
Electricity - production - 0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2000)
Elevation extremes lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m


highest point: unnamed location 5 m
lowest point: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m


highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m
Environment - current issues since there are no streams or rivers and groundwater is not potable, most water needs must be met by catchment systems with storage facilities (the Japanese Government has built one desalination plant and plans to build one other); beachhead erosion because of the use of sand for building materials; excessive clearance of forest undergrowth for use as fuel; damage to coral reefs from the spread of the Crown of Thorns starfish; Tuvalu is very concerned about global increases in greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on rising sea levels, which threaten the country's underground water table; in 2000, the government appealed to Australia and New Zealand to take in Tuvaluans if rising sea levels should make evacuation necessary 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, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution


signed, but not ratified: none of the selected 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 Polynesian 96%, Micronesian 4% Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%,
Exchange rates Tuvaluan dollars or Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001), 1.7248 (2000) 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: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by Governor General Filoimea TELITO (since 15 April 2005)


head of government: Prime Minister Maatia TOAFA (since 11 October 2004)


cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister


elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by and from the members of Parliament; election last held 11 October 2004 (next to be held following parliamentary elections in 2006)


election results: Saufatu SOPOANGA resigned parliamentary seat on 27 August 2004 following no-confidence vote on 25 August 2004; succeeded by Deputy Prime Minister Maatia TOAFA in an acting capacity on 27 August 2004; Maatia TOAFA confirmed Prime Minister in a Parliamentary election (8-7 vote) on 11 October 2004
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 $1 million f.o.b. (2002) $250 million f.o.b. (2001 est.)
Exports - commodities copra, fish manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals
Exports - partners Germany 56.5%, Fiji 14.3%, Italy 10.9%, UK 7.7%, Poland 4.9% (2004) South African Customs Union 53.9%, North America 45.6% (1999)
Fiscal year calendar year 1 April - 31 March
Flag description light blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant; the outer half of the flag represents a map of the country with nine yellow five-pointed stars symbolizing the nine islands 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 - $5.3 billion (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector agriculture: NA%


industry: NA%


services: NA%
agriculture: 18%


industry: 38%


services: 44% (2001)
GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $1,100 (2000 est.) purchasing power parity - $2,450 (2001 est.)
GDP - real growth rate 3% (2000 est.) 2.6% (2001 est.)
Geographic coordinates 8 00 S, 178 00 E 29 30 S, 28 30 E
Geography - note one of the smallest and most remote countries on Earth; six of the coral atolls - Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae - have lagoons open to the ocean; Nanumaya and Niutao have landlocked lagoons; Niulakita does not have a lagoon landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level
Highways total: 8 km


paved: 0 km


unpaved: 8 km (1999 est.)
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 $79 million c.i.f. (2002) $720 million f.o.b. (2001 est.)
Imports - commodities food, animals, mineral fuels, machinery, manufactured goods food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products
Imports - partners Fiji 50.2%, Japan 18.1%, Australia 9.6%, China 8%, New Zealand 5.5% (2004) South African Customs Union 89.5%, Asia 7% (1999)
Independence 1 October 1978 (from UK) 4 October 1966 (from UK)
Industrial production growth rate NA% 15.5% (1999 est.)
Industries fishing, tourism, copra food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts; construction; tourism
Infant mortality rate total: 20.03 deaths/1,000 live births


male: 22.9 deaths/1,000 live births


female: 17.02 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
82.57 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) 5% (2000 est.) 6.9% (2001 est.)
International organization participation ACP, AsDB, C, FAO, IFRCS (observer), IMO, ITU, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO 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 NA 10 sq km (1998 est.)
Judicial branch High Court (a chief justice visits twice a year to preside over its sessions; its rulings can be appealed to the Court of Appeal in Fiji); eight Island Courts (with limited jurisdiction) High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch); Court of Appeal; Magistrate's Court; customary or traditional court
Labor force 7,000 (2001 est.) 700,000 economically active
Labor force - by occupation people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those abroad (mostly workers in the phosphate industry and sailors) 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% (2001)
arable land: 10.71%


permanent crops: 0%


other: 89.29% (1998 est.)
Languages Tuvaluan, English, Samoan, Kiribati (on the island of Nui) Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa
Legal system NA 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 Parliament or Fale I Fono, also called House of Assembly (15 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)


elections: last held 25 July 2002 (next to be held NA 2006)


election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 15
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: 68.01 years


male: 65.79 years


female: 70.33 years (2005 est.)
total population: 47 years


male: 46.3 years


female: 47.8 years (2002 est.)
Literacy definition: NA


total population: NA%


male: NA%


female: NA%
definition: age 15 and over can read and write


total population: 83%


male: 72%


female: 93% (1999 est.)
Location Oceania, island group consisting of nine coral atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to Australia Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa
Map references Oceania Africa
Maritime claims territorial sea: 12 nm


contiguous zone: 24 nm


exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
none (landlocked)
Merchant marine total: 23 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 54,993 GRT/86,048 DWT


by type: cargo 20, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 2


foreign-owned: 16 (China 9, Germany 2, Hong Kong 4, Thailand 1) (2005)
-
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.
Military branches no regular military forces; national police force Lesotho Defense Force (LDF; including Army and Air Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police
Military expenditures - dollar figure NA $34 million (1999)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP NA NA%
Military manpower - availability - males age 15-49: 526,332 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service - males age 15-49: 283,203 (2002 est.)
National holiday Independence Day, 1 October (1978) Independence Day, 4 October (1966)
Nationality noun: Tuvaluan(s)


adjective: Tuvaluan
noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)


adjective: Basotho
Natural hazards severe tropical storms are usually rare, but, in 1997, there were three cyclones; low level of islands make them very sensitive to changes in sea level periodic droughts
Natural resources fish water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals
Net migration rate 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Political parties and leaders there are no political parties but members of Parliament usually align themselves in informal groupings 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 none NA
Population 11,636 (July 2005 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 1.47% (2005 est.) 1.33% (2002 est.)
Ports and harbors Funafuti none
Radio broadcast stations AM 1, FM 1, shortwave 0 (2004) 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 Church of Tuvalu (Congregationalist) 97%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, Baha'i 1%, other 0.6% Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20%
Sex ratio at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female


under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female


15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female


65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female


total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2005 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: serves particular needs for internal communications


domestic: radiotelephone communications between islands


international: country code - 688; international calls can be made by satellite
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 700 (2002) 22,200 (2000)
Telephones - mobile cellular 0 (2004) 21,600 (2000)
Television broadcast stations 0 (2004) 1 (2000)
Terrain very low-lying and narrow coral atolls mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains
Total fertility rate 3 children born/woman (2005 est.) 4.01 children born/woman (2002 est.)
Unemployment rate NA% 45% (2000 est.)
Waterways - none
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