LESOTHO                                                                         
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 30,350 km2; land area: 30,350 km2                                   
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland                                 
                                                                                
Land boundary: 909 km with South Africa                                         
                                                                                
Coastline: none--landlocked                                                     
                                                                                
Maritime claims: none--landlocked                                               
                                                                                
Climate: temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers                 
                                                                                
Terrain: mostly highland with some plateaus, hills, and mountains               
                                                                                
Natural resources: some diamonds and other minerals, water,                     
agricultural and grazing land                                                   
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 10%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and                      
pastures 66%; forest and woodland 0%; other 24%                                 
                                                                                
Environment: population pressure forcing settlement in marginal                 
areas results in overgrazing, severe soil erosion, soil exhaustion;             
desertification                                                                 
                                                                                
Note: landlocked; surrounded by South Africa; Highlands Water                   
Project will control, store, and redirect water to South Africa                 
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 1,801,174 (July 1991), growth rate 2.6% (1991)                      
                                                                                
Birth rate: 36 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                          
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 78 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                       
                                                                                
Life expectancy at birth: 59 years male, 63 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 4.8 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Mosotho (sing.), Basotho (pl.);                              
adjective--Basotho                                                              
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: Sotho 99.7%; Europeans 1,600, Asians 800                      
                                                                                
Religion: Christian 80%, rest indigenous beliefs                                
                                                                                
Language: Sesotho (southern Sotho) and English (official); also                 
Zulu and Xhosa                                                                  
                                                                                
Literacy: 59% (male 44%, female 68%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1966)                                                           
                                                                                
Labor force: 689,000 economically active; 86.2% of resident                     
population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 60% of active            
male labor force works in South Africa                                          
                                                                                
Organized labor: there are two trade union federations; the                     
government favors formation of a single, umbrella trade union                   
confederation                                                                   
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Kingdom of Lesotho                                              
                                                                                
Type: constitutional monarchy                                                   
                                                                                
Capital: Maseru                                                                 
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe,             
Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qachas Nek, Quthing,                
Thaba-Tseka                                                                     
                                                                                
Independence: 4 October 1966 (from UK; formerly Basutoland)                     
                                                                                
Constitution: 4 October 1966, suspended January 1970                            
                                                                                
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                                    
                                                                                
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 October (1966)                            
                                                                                
Executive branch: monarch, chairman of the Military Council,                    
Military Council, Council of Ministers (cabinet)                                
                                                                                
Legislative branch: none--the bicameral Parliament was dissolved                
following the military coup in January 1986; note--a National Constituent       
Assembly convened in June 1990 to rewrite the constitution and debate           
issues of national importance, but it has no legislative authority              
                                                                                
Judicial branch: High Court, Court of Appeal                                    
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
                                                                                
Chief of State--King LETSIE III (since 12 November 1990 following               
dismissal of his father, exiled King MOSHOESHOE II, by Maj. Gen.                
LEKHANYA);                                                                      
                                                                                
Head of Government--Chairman of the Military Council Col.                       
Elias Phisoana RAMAEMA (since 30 April 1991)                                    
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders:                                                  
Basotho National Party (BNP), Matete MAJARA (interim leader);                   
Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), Ntsu MOKHEHLE;                                 
National Independent Party (NIP), A. C. MANYELI;                                
Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP), S. H. MAPHELEBA;                                
United Democratic Party, Charles MOFELI;                                        
Communist Party of Lesotho (CPL), Jacob KENYA                                   
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal at age 21                                                   
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
National Assembly--dissolved following the military coup in                     
January 1986; military has pledged elections will take place in June 1992       
                                                                                
Communists: small Lesotho Communist Party                                       
                                                                                
Member of: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO,                 
ICFTU, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS,                     
NAM, OAU, SACU, SADCC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL,              
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO                                                             
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador W. T. VAN TONDER; Chancery at             
2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)              
797-5 534;                                                                      
                                                                                
US--Ambassador Leonard H.O. SPEARMAN, Jr.; Embassy at address NA,               
Maseru (mailing address is P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100); telephone  266           
312666                                                                          
                                                                                
Flag: 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                                                    
                                                                                
ECONOMY                                                                         
Overview: Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho has no                    
important natural resources other than water. Its economy is based on           
agriculture, light manufacturing, and remittances from laborers employed        
in South Africa ($153 million in 1989). The great majority of households        
gain their livelihoods from subsistence farming and migrant labor.              
Manufacturing depends largely on farm products to support the milling,          
canning, leather, and jute industries; other industries include textile,        
clothing, and light engineering. Industry's share of GDP rose from              
6% in 1982 to 15% in 1989. Political and economic instability in South          
Africa raise uncertainties for Lesotho's economy, especially with respect       
to migrant worker remittances--over one-third of GDP.                           
                                                                                
GDP: $420 million, per capita $240; real growth rate 4.0% (1990                 
est.)                                                                           
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 15% (1990 est.)                               
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: 23% (1988)                                                   
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $280 million; expenditures $288 million, including             
capital expenditures of $NA (FY92 est.)                                         
                                                                                
Exports: $66 million (f.o.b., 1989);                                            
                                                                                
commodities--wool, mohair, wheat, cattle, peas, beans, corn, hides,             
skins, baskets;                                                                 
                                                                                
partners--South Africa 53%, EC 30%, North and South America 13%                 
(1989)                                                                          
                                                                                
Imports: $499 million (f.o.b., 1989);                                           
                                                                                
commodities--mainly corn, building materials, clothing, vehicles,               
machinery, medicines, petroleum, oil, and lubricants;                           
                                                                                
partners--South Africa 95%, EC 2% (1989)                                        
                                                                                
External debt: $370 million (December 1990 est.)                                
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate 7.8% (1989 est.); accounts                   
for 15% of GDP                                                                  
                                                                                
Electricity: power supplied by South Africa                                     
                                                                                
Industries: food, beverages, textiles, handicrafts, tourism                     
                                                                                
Agriculture: accounts for 18% of GDP and employs 60-70% of                      
all households; exceedingly primitive, mostly subsistence farming and           
livestock; principal crops are corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley             
                                                                                
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $268                   
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments          
(1970-88), $754 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $4 million;              
Communist countries (1970-89), $14 million                                      
                                                                                
Currency: loti (plural--maloti); 1 loti (L) = 100 lisente                       
                                                                                
Exchange rates: maloti (M) per US$1--2.5625 (January 1991),                     
2.5863 (1990), 2.6166 (1989), 2.2611 (1988), 2.0350 (1987), 2.2685              
(1986), 2.1911 (1985); note--the Basotho loti is at par with the South          
African rand                                                                    
                                                                                
Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March                                                   
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 1.6 km; owned, operated, and included in the statistics              
of South Africa                                                                 
                                                                                
Highways: 5,167 km total; 508 km paved; 1,585 km crushed stone,                 
gravel, or stabilized soil; 946 km improved earth, 2,128 km unimproved          
earth                                                                           
                                                                                
Civil air: 2 major transport aircraft                                           
                                                                                
Airports: 28 total, 28 usable; 3 with permanent surface runways;                
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;                   
2 with runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                    
                                                                                
Telecommunications: rudimentary system consisting of a few land                 
lines, a small radio relay system, and minor radiocommunication stations;       
5,920 telephones; stations--2 AM, 2 FM, 1 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT         
earth station                                                                   
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Royal Lesotho Defense Force (RLDF; includes Army, Air                 
Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police                                             
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 394,829; 212,967 fit for                    
military service                                                                
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $55 million, 8.6% of GDP (1990 est.)                      
                                                                                
