Lesotho

**Lesotho** is a small country in southern Africa. It is entirely surrounded by South Africa. Its population is about 1,800,000.
The capital of Lesotho is called Maseru.

## Geography

Lesotho has no coast on the sea nor on a lake. This type of country is called _landlocked_, meaning it is surrounded by land. All of Lesotho's trade must either be flown in by aeroplane, or brought in by land. Lesotho's position is unusual: it is completely surrounded by South Africa and has no borders with any other country. This type of country is called an _enclave_. Lesotho is one of the only three enclaved countries in the world (the other two are San Marino and the Vatican City). This makes Lesotho's relationship with South Africa very important to them both.

Lesotho has many mountains and is one of the most mountainous countries in the world. All of Lesotho is at least 1,400 m above sea level. People sometimes travel there to ski in winter. The many mountains in Lesotho mean that it rains there a lot. Lesotho uses some of its water to generate electricity and sells some of the water to South Africa.

## History

Lesotho became a country in 1818, but it was then called **Basutoland**. A man called Moshoeshoe brought several of the groups of people in the area together and formed a new country with him as its king. This new country came under attack from its enemies and in 1868 Moshoeshoe asked Queen Victoria of Great Britain for help. Great Britain said it would help if Lesotho became part of the British Empire.

Lesotho eventually gained its independence on 4 October 1966. Now it is a member of the British Commonwealth. King Letsie III is the ruler of Lesotho.

## Cities

|colspan="6" bgcolor="#FFA500"|Cities in Lesotho|||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1.|Maseru|98,017|137,837|218,355|Maseru|
|2.|Teyateyaneng|24,336|48,869|75,115|Berea|
|3.|Mafeteng|12,598|20,804|57,059|Mafeteng|
|4.|Hlotse|8,021|23,122|47,675|Leribe|
|5.|Mohale's Hoek|7,899|17,871|40,514|Mohale's Hoek|
|6.|Maputsoe|8,267|27,951|32,117|Leribe|
|7.|Qacha's Nek|4,589|4,797|25,573|Qacha's Nek|
|8.|Quthing|4,471|9,858|24,130|Quthing|
|9.|Peka|N.A.|N.A.|17,161|Leribe|
|10.|Butha-Buthe|7,509|12,611|16,330|Butha-Buthe|
|11.|Roma|5,817|N.A.|11,612|Maseru|
|12.|Mokhotlong|2,257|4,275|8,809|Mokhotlong|
|13.|Thaba-Tseka|2,127|4,449|5,423|Thaba-Tseka|

## Related pages

- Lesotho at the Olympics
- Lesotho national football team
- List of rivers of Lesotho

## Infobox (country)

- **native name**: _Muso oa Lesotho_
- **conventional long name**: Kingdom of Lesotho
- **common name**: Lesotho
- **image flag**: Flag of Lesotho.svg
- **image coat**: Coat of arms of Lesotho.svg
- **image map**: Location Lesotho AU Africa.svg
- **national motto**: "Khotso, Pula, Nala"<small>(Sesotho language, Sesotho)
"Peace, Rain, Prosperity"</small>
- **national anthem**: _Lesotho Fatse La Bontata Rona_
_Lesotho, land of our Fathers_
- **official languages**: English language, English
Sesotho language, Sesotho
- **demonym**: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
- **capital**: Maseru
- **latd**: 29
- **latm**: 28
- **latns**: S
- **longd**: 27
- **longm**: 56
- **longew**: E
- **largest city**: Maseru
- **government type**: Unitary state, Unitary Parliamentary system, parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy
- **leader title1**: List of Kings of Lesotho, King
- **leader title2**: Prime Minister of Lesotho, Prime Minister
- **leader name1**: Letsie III of Lesotho, Letsie III
- **leader name2**: Sam Matekane
- **area rank**: 140th
- **area magnitude**: 1 E10
- **area km2**: 30,355
- **area sq mi**: 12,727
- **percent water**: negligible
- **population estimate**: 2,067,000
- **population estimate rank**: 144th
- **population estimate year**: 2009
- **population census**: 2,031,348
- **population census year**: 2004
- **population density km2**: 68.1
- **population density sq mi**: 162.4
- **population density rank**: 138th
- **gdp ppp**: $3.444 billion
- **gdp ppp year**: 2011
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $1,666
- **gdp nominal**: $2.127 billion
- **gdp nominal year**: 2010
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $1,029
- **sovereignty type**: Independence
- **established event1**: from the United Kingdom
- **established date1**: October 4, 1966
- **hdi**: 0.427
- **hdi change**: increase
- **hdi rank**: 141st
- **hdi year**: 2010
- **hdi category**: <span style="color:red">low</span>
- **gini**: 63.2
- **gini year**: 1995
- **gini category**: <span style="color:red;">very high</span>
- **currency**: Lesotho loti
- **currency code**: LSL
- **time zone**: South African Standard Time, SAST
- **utc offset**: +2
- **drives on**: left
- **cctld**: .ls
- **calling code**: +266
- **footnotes**: <sup>1</sup> 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.