Access to THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1993 provided courtesy of The Libraries of the University of Missouri-St. Louis Match 140 DB Rec# - 55,887 Dataset-WOFACT Source :CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY Source key :CI Program :WORLD FACTBOOK Program key :CI WOFACT Title :LESOTHO Data type :TEXT End year :1994 Date of record:02/16/1994 Keywords 3 : | LESOTHO Text : LESOTHO GEOGRAPHY Location: Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa Map references: Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World Area: total area: 30,350 km2 land area: 30,350 km2 comparative area: slightly larger than Maryland Land boundaries: total 909 km, South Africa 909 km Coastline: 0 km (landlocked) Maritime claims: none; landlocked International disputes: none 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% Irrigated land: NA km2 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: 1,896,484 (July 1993 est.) Birth rate: 34.64 births/1,000 population (1993 est.) Death rate: 9.44 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.) Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.) Infant mortality rate: 71.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.) Life expectancy at birth: total population: 61.73 years male: 59.91 years female: 63.6 years (1993 est.) Total fertility rate: 4.6 children born/woman (1993 est.) Nationality: noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural) adjective: Basotho Ethnic divisions: Sotho 99.7%, Europeans 1,600, Asians 800 Religions: Christian 80%, rest indigenous beliefs Languages: Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1966) total population: 59% male: 44% female: 68% Labor force: 689,000 economically active by occupation: 86.2% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 60% of active male labor force works in South Africa GOVERNMENT Names: conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho conventional short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland Digraph: LT Type: constitutional monarchy Capital: Maseru Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohale's Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka Independence: 4 October 1966 (from UK) 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) Political parties and leaders: Basotho National Party (BNP), Evaristus SEKHONYANA; Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), Ntsu MOKHEHLE; National Independent Party (NIP), A. C. MANYELI; Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP), Vincent MALEBO; United Democratic Party, Charles MOFELI; Communist Party of Lesotho (CPL), JCOB M. KENA Suffrage: 21 years of age; universal Elections: National Assembly: dissolved following the military coup in January 1986; military has pledged elections will take place in March 1993 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 Gen. Elias Phisoana RAMAEMA (since 30 April 1991) 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, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO Diplomatic representation in US: chief of mission: Ambassador Designate Teboho KITLEI chancery: 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: (202) 797-5534 US diplomatic representation: chief of mission: Ambassador Leonard H.O. SPEARMAN, Sr. mailing address: P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100 Lesotho telephone: 266 312-666 FAX: (266) 310-116 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 ($439 million in 1991). 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 construction (in particular, a major water improvement project which will permit the sale of water to South Africa). Industry's share of GDP rose from 6% in 1982 to 15% in 1989. Political and economic instability in South Africa raises uncertainty for Lesotho's economy, especially with respect to migrant worker remittances - recently the equivalent of nearly three-fourths of domestic output. National product: GDP - exchange rate conversion - $620 million (1991 est.) note: GNP of $1.0 billion (1991 est.) National product real growth rate: 5.3% (1991 est.); GNP 2.2% (1991 est.) National product per capita: $340 (1991 est.); GNP $570 (1991 est.) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 17.9% (1991) Unemployment rate: at least 55% among adult males (1991 est.) Budget: revenues $388 million; expenditures $399 million, including capital expenditures of $132 million (FY93) Exports: $57 million (f.o.b., 1991) commodities: wool, mohair, wheat, cattle, peas, beans, corn, hides, skins, baskets partners: South Africa 53%, EC 30%, North and South America 13% (1989) Imports: $805 million (c.i.f., 1991) commodities: mainly corn, building materials, clothing, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum partners: South Africa 95%, EC 2% (1989) External debt: $358 million (for public sector) (December 1990/91 est.) Industrial production: growth rate 5.0% (1991 est.); accounts for 11% of Electricity: power supplied by South Africa Industries: food, beverages, textiles, handicrafts, tourism Agriculture: accounts for 19% of GDP (1990 est.) and employs 60-70% of all households; exceedingly primitive, mostly subsistence farming and livestock; principal crops corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $268 million; US, $10.3 million (1992), $10.1 million (1993 est.); Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $819 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $4 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $14 million Currency: 1 loti (L) = 100 lisente Exchange rates: maloti (M) per US$1 - 3.1576 (May 1993), 2.8497 (1992), 2.7563 (1991), 2.5863 (1990), 2.6166 (1989), 2.2611 (1988); note - the Basotho loti is at par with the South African rand Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March COMMUNICATIONS Railroads: 2.6 km; owned, operated by, and included in the statistics of South Africa Highways: 7,215 km total; 572 km paved; 2,337 km crushed stone, gravel, or stabilized soil; 1,806 km improved earth, 2,500 km unimproved earth Airports: total: 28 usable: 28 with permanent-surface runways: 3 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 2 Telecommunications: rudimentary system consisting of a few landlines, a small microwave system, and minor radio communications stations; 5,920 telephones; broadcast stations - 3 AM, 2 FM, 1 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station Defense forces Branches: Royal Lesotho Defense Force (RLDF; including Army, Air Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police Manpower availability: males age 15-49 422,802; fit for military service 228,102 (1993 est.) Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $55 million, 13% of GDP (1990 est.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section of THE WORLD FACTBOOK 1993 produced by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was derived from the US Dept. of Commerce Economics and Statistics Division's NATIONAL TRADE DATA BANK CD-ROM, July, 1994, SuDoc No. C 1.88:994/7/v.1-2 / R. Muns, UM-St. Louis Libraries Local Filename: WF940137.TXT