1988 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1988 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Airfields
28 total, 28 usable; 2 with permanent surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 3 with runways 1,2202,439 m
Boundary disputes
none; occupies
Branches
Army, Army Air Wing, Police Department
Civil air
1 major transport aircraft
Coastline
2,881 km
Comparative area
about four-fifths the size of Alaska
Continental shelf
200 meters or to depth of exploitation
Exclusive fishing zone
200 nm
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
Land boundaries
2,044 km total
Military manpower
males 15-49, 346,000; 187,000 fit for military service
Telecommunications
modest system consisting of a few land lines, a small radio-relay system, and minor radiocommunication stations; 5,920 telephones (0.4 per 100 popl.); 2 AM, 2 FM stations; 1 TV station planned; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT station Defense Forces
Territorial sea
12 nm
Total area
1,221,040 km2; land area: 1,221,040 km2
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
99.7% Sotho; 1,600 Europeans, 800 Asians
Infant mortality rate
97.7/1,000 (1985)
Labor force
426,000 economically active (1976); 87.4% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; 150,000-250,000 spend from six months to many years as wage earners in South Africa
Language
Sesotho (southern Sotho) and English (official); also Zulu and Xhosa
Life expectancy
54.2 (1985)
Literacy
60%
Nationality
noun — Mosotho (sing.), Basotho (pi.); adjective — Basotho
Organized labor
negligible
Population
1,621,932 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 2.69%
Religion
80% Christian, rest indigenous beliefs
Government
Administrative divisions
10 administrative districts
Branches
executive and legislative authority nominally vested in King; real power rests with six-man Military Council, established after military coup January 1986; 20-member Council of Ministers responsible for administrative duties; judicial — 63 Lesotho courts administer customary law for Africans, High Court and subordinate courts have criminal jurisdiction over all residents, Court of Appeal at Maseru has appellate jurisdiction
Capital
Maseru
Communists
no information
Elections
elections scheduled for September 1985 were boycotted by all opposition parties because of procedural irregularities; ruling BNP won all 60 parliamentary seats by default Political parties and leaders: Basotho National Party (BNP), Leabua Jonathan; Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), Ntsu Mokhehle; Basotho Democratic Alliance (CDA), C. D. Molapo; National Independent Party (NIP), A. C. Manyeli; Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP), B. Khaketla
Government leaders
MOSHOESHOE II, King (since 1966); Maj. Gen. Justinus Metsing LEKHANYA, chairman of Military Council and Minister of Defense and Internal Security (since January 1986); other members of council — Col. E. T. RAMAEMA, Col. A. K. MOSOEUNYANE, Col. M. K. TSOTETSI, Lt. Thabe LETSIE, Lt. Col. Joshua Sekhobe LETSIE (since January 1986)
Legal system
based on English common law and Roman-Dutch law; constitution came into effect 1966; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Member of
AfDB, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, ITU, NAM, OAU, Southern African Customs Union, SADCC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO
National holiday
4 October
Official name
Kingdom of Lesotho
Suffrage
universal for adults
Type
constitutional monarchy under King Moshoeshoe II; independent member of Commonwealth
Voting strength
National Assembly inoperative as of 20 January 1986
Economy
Agriculture
exceedingly primitive, mostly subsistence farming and livestock; principal crops are corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley
Budget
revenues, $160 million; current expenditures, $130 million; development (capital) expenditures, $50 million (FY84/85)
Electric power
power supplied by South Africa
Exports
labor to South Africa (remittances $300 million est. in 1985); $21 million (f.o.b., 1985), wool, mohair, wheat, cattle, peas, beans, corn, hides, skins, tourism, diamonds
Fiscal year
1 April-31 March
GDP
$325 million (1984)
Imports
$326 million (f.o.b., 1985); mainly corn, building materials, clothing, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum, oil, and lubricants
Major industries
none
Major trade partner
South Africa
Monetary conversion rate
2.25 maloti=2.25 South African rands=US$l (November 1986)
Natural resources
some diamonds and other minerals, water, agricultural and grazing land
Communications
Railroads
1.6 km; owned, operated, and included in the statistics of the Republic of