Lesotho is a landlocked country completely surrounded by South
Africa. It
was originally called Basutoland, but changed its name
to the Kingdom of Lesotho when the country gained its
freedom in 1966 from the United Kingdom.
Lesotho is slightly smaller than Maryland, and the capital, Maseru, is on the western border. Lesotho is a mountainous country with over 80 percent of the country located more than 5,900 feet above sea level.
Lesotho has a constitutional monarchy, a remnant of British rule. The king is a figurehead with no executive or legislative powers and can be deposed under traditional law. The Prime Minister is the leader of the Assembly’s majority party. Currencies used in the country are the Lesotho loti and the South Africa rand.
The July 2007 estimate of the population was 2,125,262 with a population growth rate of only .14 percent. The current life expectancy is 40 years with men outliving women by one and a half years. It is estimated that almost 29 percent of the adult population has HIV/AIDS.
English is the official language of the country with Sesotho, Zulu, and Xhosa also spoken. Lesotho has an 84.8 percent literacy rate of people over the age of 15 with almost 20 percent more women being literate than men.
Christianity is the majority religion with 80 percent of the population following some form of the religion. 20 percent of the population follow indigenous beliefs.
Web Sites
Catalog
Search the library's catalog for Lesotho.
Databases
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