| Geography | |
| Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa |
| Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E |
| Area | total: 30,355 sq km land: 30,355 sq km water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Maryland |
Land boundaries | total: 909 km border countries: South Africa 909 km |
| Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime claims | none (landlocked) |
| Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers |
| Terrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains |
| Elevation extremes | lowest point: junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m highest point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m |
| Natural resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand, clay, building stone |
| Land use | arable land: 10.87% |
| Irrigated land | 30 sq km (2003) |
| Natural hazards | Periodic droughts |
| People | |
| Population | 2,125,262 note: 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 (July 2007 est.) |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 35.7% (male 382,308/female 377,303) 15-64 years: 59.3% (male 613,979/female 645,818) 65 years and over: 5% (male 42,621/female 63,233) (2007 est.) |
| Median age | total: 21.1 years male: 20.4 years female: 21.7 years (2007 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 0.144% (2007 est.) |
| Birth rate | 24.72 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death rate | 22.49 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Net migration rate | -0.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.013 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.951 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.674 male(s)/female total population: 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 79.85 deaths/1,000 live births male: 84.4 deaths/1,000 live births female: 75.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 39.97 years male: 40.73 years female: 39.18 years (2007 est.) |
| Total fertility rate | 3.21 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate | 28.9% (2003 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | 320,000 (2003 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths | 29,000 (2003 est.) |
| Nationality | noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural) adjective: Basotho |
| Ethnic groups | Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, |
| Religions | Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% |
| Languages | Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 84.8% male: 74.5% female: 94.5% (2003 est.) |
| Government | |
| Country name | conventional long form: Kingdom of Lesotho conventional short form: Lesotho local long form: Kingdom of Lesotho local short form: Lesotho former: Basutoland |
| Government type | parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
| Capital | name: Maseru geographic coordinates: 29 19 S, 27 29 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Administrative divisions | 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohale's Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka |
| Independence | 4 October 1966 (from UK) |
| National holiday | Independence Day, 4 October (1966) |
| Constitution | 2 April 1993 |
| Legal system | based on English common law and Roman-Dutch law; judicial review of legislative acts in High Court and Court of Appeal; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations |
