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| Lesotho | Plants and Animal | Back to Top |
Some 11 percent of Lesotho’s land is cultivated. Maize, wheat, sorghum, and fruits and vegetables are the main crops. In 2000 livestock included about 520,000 cattle, 750,000 sheep, 580,000 goats, and 1.8 million poultry.
| Lesotho | Communications | Back to Top |
Rudimentary system domestic: consists of a few landlines, a small microwave radio relay system, and a minor radiotelephone communication system international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat
| Lesotho | Culture | Back to Top |
The contradictions created by Lesotho's political independence and economic dependence are reflected in the cultural life of the country. Despite the country's increasing urbanization and the growth of modern institutions and bureaucracy, the overall objective of the Sotho is to build the rural homestead and perpetuate traditional institutions. The people remain loyal to the system of chieftaincy, although this traditional level of leadership has been discredited by the international community. Institutions such as the initiation schools, which perpetuate traditional values, are still significant but are changing in structure and declining in importance.
The historical traditions and legacy of Mshweshwe, founder of the nation, remain strong, and there is national pride in Lesotho's history of resistance, the role of the Sotho in building modern southern Africa, and the achievements of such writers as Thomas Mofolo and such composers as Joshua Pulumo Mohapeloa. The newspaper Leselinyana la Lesotho has been published for more than a century, and printing presses at mission stations, such as the Morija Press, have made a substantial contribution to the religious and educational literature of southern Africa.
Sporting activities are extremely popular, even given the low income level of the country. Football (soccer) is the most widely played sport in Lesotho, but because many of its best players go to South Africa for economic gain, Lesotho does not excel in international competition. Judo, boxing, and long-distance running are also popular, the first two benefiting from training facilities provided by the police force. Horse racing is an athletic competition important to rural social life.
| Lesotho | Defence | Back to Top |
Military branches: Lesotho Defense Force (LDF; includes Army and Air Wing), Royal Lesotho Mounted Police (RLMP)
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 515,464 (2001 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males age 15-49: 277,369 (2001 est.)
| Lesotho | International Disputes | Back to Top |
None
| Lesotho | Economy | Back to Top |
The economy of Lesotho is based almost entirely on agriculture, livestock raising, and the earnings of Basothos employed outside the country. About two-fifths of the adult male labor force works in South Africa. Gross domestic product, which does not reflect remittances from workers out of the country, stood at $874 million in 1999, or $420 per person. Tourism, particularly from South Africa, has expanded rapidly. In 1998 the estimated annual budget included revenues of $392 million with expenditures totaling $442 million.
Lesotho is a poor country, and its few natural resources are insufficient for even the present population. However, unexploited uranium deposits found near Teyateyaneng, about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Maseru, could introduce a significant boost to Lesotho's economy. Its economy could not be sustained at all without the benefits it derives from South Africa, with which Lesotho forms part of a customs union and shares an integrated communications system. It has also depended heavily on South Africa for employment for much of the working population, although opportunities for Sotho there became far more restrictive in the mid-1990s. About one-third of the male working population is unemployed.
Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho's primary natural resource is water. Its economy is based on subsistence agriculture, livestock, and remittances from miners employed in South Africa. The number of such 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 substantial 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 | Education | Back to Top |
Education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 13, and 97.1 percent of school-age children are enrolled. Christian missions under the direction of the minister of education operate most schools, which are free at the primary level. In 1996 some 374,600 pupils attended 1,249 primary schools, and 68,100 pupils attended secondary and vocational schools. The National University of Lesotho (1966), in Roma, is attended yearly by about 1,400 students and has a teaching staff of more than 200. The Lesotho Agricultural College (1955) is in Maseru. Lesotho has a literacy rate of 91 percent.
| Lesotho | Government | Back to Top |
The Lesotho Government is a constitutional monarchy. The Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili, is head of government and has executive authority. The King serves a largely ceremonial function; he no longer possesses any executive authority and is proscribed from actively participating in political initiatives.
The Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) controls a majority in the National Assembly, with the Basotho National Party (BNP), Lesotho Peoples Congress, and the National Independent Party, among the 9 opposition parties represented.
The constitution provides for an independent judicial system. The judiciary is made up of the Court of Appeal, the High Court, magistrate's courts, and traditional courts that exist predominately in rural areas. All but one of the Justices on the Court of Appeal are South African jurists. There is no trial by jury; rather, judges make rulings alone, or, in the case of criminal trials, with two other judges as observers. The constitution also protects basic civil liberties, including freedom of speech, association, and the press; freedom of peaceful assembly; and freedom of religion. For administrative purposes, Lesotho is divided into 10 districts, each headed by a district secretary.
| Lesotho | History | Back to Top |
Lesotho gained independence on October 4, 1966. In January 1970 the ruling Basotho National Party (BNP) looked set to lose the first post-independence general elections when Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan annulled the election. He refused to cede power to the Basotho Congress Party (BCP) and imprisoned its leadership.
The BNP ruled by decree until January 1986 when a military coup forced them out of office. The Military Council that came into power granted executive powers to King Moshoeshoe II, which was until then a ceremonial monarch. In 1987, however, the King was forced into exile after a falling out with the army. His son was installed as King Letsie III.
The Chairman of the military junta, Major General Metsing Lekhanya, was ousted in 1991 and then replaced by Major General Phisoane Ramaema, who handed power to a democratically elected government of the BCP in 1993. Moshoeshoe II returned from exile in 1992 as an ordinary citizen. His son abdicated in his favor in 1995, but Moshoeshoe II died in a car accident in 1996 and was again succeeded by his son, Letsie III. The ruling BCP split over leadership disputes in 1997.
Prime Minister Ntsu Mokhehle formed a new party, the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), and was followed by a majority of Members of Parliament, which enabled him to form a new government. The LCD won the general elections in 1998 under the leadership of Pakalitha Mosisili, who had succeeded Mokhehle as party leader. Despite the elections being pronounced free and fair by local and international observers and a subsequent special commission appointed by SADC, the opposition political parties rejected the results.
Opposition protest in the country intensified, culminating in a violent demonstration outside the royal palace in August 1998. Looting, casualties, and widespread destruction of property followed. When junior members of the armed services mutinied in September, the government requested a SADC task force to intervene to prevent a coup and restore stability. A military group of South African and Botswana troops entered the country in September, put down the mutiny and withdrew in May 1999.
An Interim Political Authority (IPA), charged with reviewing the electoral structure in the country, was created in December 1998. The IPA devised a proportional electoral system to ensure that there be opposition in the National Assembly. The new system retained the existing 80 elected Assembly seats, but added 40 seats to be filled on a proportional basis. Elections were held under this new system in May 2002 and the LCD won again. For the first time, however, opposition political parties won significant numbers of seats. Nine opposition parties hold all 40 of the proportional seats, with the BNP having the largest share (21). The LCD has 79 of the 80 constituency based seats. Although its elected members participate in the National Assembly, the BNP has launched several legal challenges to the elections; none has been successful.
| Lesotho | Introduction | Back to Top |
Lesotho, formerly Basutoland, small, land-locked monarchy within South Africa. The kingdom of Lesotho is mainly mountainous and has a total area of 30,355 sq km (11,720 sq mi). The capital of Lesotho is Maseru.
Official Name -Kingdom of Lesotho| Lesotho | Land | Back to Top |
N/A
| Lesotho | Languages | Back to Top |
About 90 percent of the people of Lesotho are Christians, mainly Roman Catholics, Lesotho Evangelicals, and Anglicans. Most of the remainder follow traditional beliefs. English and Sesotho, a Bantu language, are the country’s official languages.
| Lesotho | Life | Back to Top |
Village life is dominated by basic agricultural tasks, with heavy responsibilities falling on women. Craftwork is still practiced in the villages and includes pottery and grassweaving (notably of traditional Sotho hats), and the walls of houses are often elaborately decorated. Herders still play a traditional instrument called the letsiba, and dances such as the “gum-boot dance” and the lefela demonstrate the influence of migrant labour on traditional forms of cultural expression. Urban life is a blend of traditional and Western culture. In Maseru there are shops and markets that offer regional crafts and goods, as there are modern and Western hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs; many of these were either burned or damaged by looting following the general election in 1998. Its location makes it an ideal starting point for those trekking on foot or by pony in the highlands.
| Lesotho | organization | Back to Top |
ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO.
| Lesotho | People | Back to Top |
The population of Lesotho (2001 estimate) is 2,177,062. The overall population density is 72 persons per sq km (186 per sq mi). The population was growing at 1.5 percent a year in 2001. While the growth rate was lower than in many African countries, it was still high enough to place a burden on Lesotho’s limited resources. Many people, particularly men, reside outside the country for a portion of each year working as laborers. Life expectancy at birth was 50 years for women and 48 years for men. The only city of significant size in Lesotho is Maseru.
The Sotho speak Sotho, a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo language family; they were originally united by a common loyalty to the royal house of Mshweshwe (Moshoeshoe), of the Moketeli branch of the Kwena lineage. Internally, divisions among different chiefdoms—and within the royal lineage itself—have had political significance, but externally the sense of Sotho nationhood and cultural unity remains strong. Both Sotho and English are official languages in the country; Zulu is spoken by a small but significant minority of Zulu. In addition, there are a few thousand nationals of Asian or mixed descent. The small European community is dominated by expatriate teachers, missionaries, aid workers, technicians, and development advisers.
| Lesotho | Politics | Back to Top |
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; Dr. Pakalitha MOSISILI, leader] - the governing party; 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]
| Lesotho | Provinces | Back to Top |
10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohales Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka.
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