← THE SECTION CUT · AFRICA

Lesotho

29.5S 28.5E · 21 EVENTS · 9 DOMAINS
INDEPENDENCE FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM · 4 OCTOBER 1966
▼ PULL DOWN TO EXTRACT THE CORE
1966 – present · The Kingdom in the Sky
5 EVENTS
1970 · Constitution suspended after lost election 2 REFS
1998–2002 · Katse and Mohale dams completed 3 REFS
1910 – 1966 · High Commission Territory to Independence
4 EVENTS
20th century · Migrant labour to South Africa 2 REFS
4 October 1966 · Independence as the Kingdom of Lesotho 3 REFS
1868 – 1909 · Basutoland: Protectorate and the Gun War
5 EVENTS
12 March 1868 · Basutoland declared a British protectorate 3 REFS
1880 · The Gun War 3 REFS
c. 1820 – 1868 · Moshoeshoe and the Birth of the Basotho
4 EVENTS
c. 1824 · Moshoeshoe occupies Thaba Bosiu 3 REFS
1833 · Paris missionaries arrive 2 REFS
Prehistory – c. 1800 CE · Hunters, Painters and Farmers
3 EVENTS
for millennia · San rock art of the Maloti-Drakensberg 2 REFS
from c. 2nd millennium CE · Sotho-Tswana settlement 2 REFS
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EVERY ERA, EVENT AND REFERENCE ON ONE PAGE
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Quick facts · atlas reference
Capital
Maseru
Population
2.0 m
Area
30,355 km²
Region
Southern Africa
Languages
English, Sotho
Currency
Lesotho loti (L)
Demonym
Mosotho
UN member
Yes
Dossier · press a specimen — it turns over

Economy

GDP
$2.6 B’25 WB-WDI
GDP per capita
$1,089’25 WB-WDI
GDP growth
2.0%’25 WB-WDI
Inflation
4.3%’25 WB-WDI
Trade openness
154.0%’25 WB-WDI

Society

Population
2.4 m’25 WB-WDI
Life expectancy
57.8 yrs’24 WB-WDI
Urban population
44.7%’25 WB-WDI
Fertility rate
2.7’24 WB-WDI
Literacy rate
90.4%’24 WB-WDI

Governance

Voice & accountability
54.1’24 WB-WGI
Political stability
61.5’24 WB-WGI
Government effectiveness
38.8’24 WB-WGI
Regulatory quality
47.2’24 WB-WGI
Rule of law
50.0’24 WB-WGI
Control of corruption
41.7’24 WB-WGI

Health

Health spending
12.6%’23 WB-WHO
Physicians
0.23’22 WB-WHO
Under-5 mortality
60.0’24 WB-UNICEF-WHO
Measles immunisation
90.0%’24 WB-UNICEF-WHO
Safe drinking water
31.3%’24 WB-WHO

Education

Adult literacy
90.4%’24 WB-UNESCO
Education spending
6.6%’24 WB-UNESCO
Primary enrolment
80.2%’24 WB-UNESCO
Secondary enrolment
59.4%’17 WB-UNESCO
Tertiary enrolment
9.9%’18 WB-UNESCO

Technology

R&D spending
0.1%’23 WB-UNESCO
Researchers (per million)
32’23 WB-UNESCO
Internet users
51.8%’24 WB-ITU
Mobile subscriptions
70’24 WB-ITU
High-tech exports
0.1%’24 WB-WDI

Geography

Land area
30,360 km²’23 WB-WDI
Forest area
1.1%’23 WB-WDI
Agricultural land
77.8%’23 WB-WDI
CO₂ per capita (t)
0.4’24 WB-WDI
Renewable energy
34.9%’22 WB-WDI

Resources

Resource rents
4.3%’21 WB-WDI
Oil rents
0.0%’21 WB-WDI
Mineral rents
0.0%’21 WB-WDI
Forest rents
4.3%’21 WB-WDI
Electricity access
60.6%’24 WB-WDI

Military

Military burden
1.6%’24 WB-SIPRI
Defense spending
$36 M’24 WB-SIPRI
Armed forces
2,000’20 WB-SIPRI

A hatched gap has no underside — there is nothing to turn over. Absence is stated, never zeroed.

The record · what changed here
EVERY CLAIM SOURCED
ABSENCE ≠ ZERO
NO SIDES