]! ^! Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. The Basuto National Party ruled for the first two decades. King MOSHOESHOE was exiled in 1990, but returned to Lesotho in 1992 and reinstated in 1995. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after 7 years of military rule. In 1998, violent protests and a military mutiny following a contentious election prompted a brief but bloody intervention by South African and Botswanan military forces under the aegis of the Southern African Development Community. Constitutional reforms have since restored political stability; peaceful parliamentary elections were held in 2002. 
]" ^" Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa ^# 29 30 S, 28 30 E ^$ Africa ^% `! 30,355 sq km `" 30,355 sq km `# 0 sq km ^& slightly smaller than Maryland ^' `! 909 km `Y South Africa 909 km ^( 0 km (landlocked) ^) none (landlocked) ^* temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers ^+ mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains ^, `% junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m `& Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m ^- water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand, clay, building stone ^. `' 10.87% `( 0.13% `) 89% (2005) ^/ 30 sq km (2003) ^0 periodic droughts ^1 population pressure forcing settlement in marginal areas results in overgrazing, severe soil erosion, and soil exhaustion; desertification; Highlands Water Project controls, stores, and redirects water to South Africa _P `P Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands `Q Law of the Sea ^2 landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 meters above sea level 
]# ^3 2,125,262 `* 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.) ^4 `+ 35.7% (male 382,308/female 377,303) `, 59.3% (male 613,979/female 645,818) `- 5% (male 42,621/female 63,233) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 21.1 years `. 20.4 years `/ 21.7 years (2007 est.) ^6 0.144% (2007 est.) ^7 24.72 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 22.49 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 -0.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.03 male(s)/female `1 1.013 male(s)/female `, 0.951 male(s)/female `- 0.674 male(s)/female `2 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 79.85 deaths/1,000 live births `. 84.4 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 75.17 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 39.97 years `. 40.73 years `/ 39.18 years (2007 est.) ^= 3.21 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> 28.9% (2003 est.) ^? 320,000 (2003 est.) ^@ 29,000 (2003 est.) ^A `3 Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural) `4 Basotho ^B Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%, ^C Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20% ^D Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa ^E `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 84.8% `. 74.5% `/ 94.5% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 Kingdom of Lesotho `7 Lesotho `Z Kingdom of Lesotho `[ Lesotho `\ Basutoland ^H parliamentary constitutional monarchy ^I `8 Maseru `9 29 28 S, 27 30 E `: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J 10 districts; Berea, Butha-Buthe, Leribe, Mafeteng, Maseru, Mohale's Hoek, Mokhotlong, Qacha's Nek, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka ^K 4 October 1966 (from UK) ^L Independence Day, 4 October (1966) ^M 2 April 1993 ^N 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 ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; King LETSIE III (since 7 February 1996); note - King LETSIE III formerly occupied the throne from November 1990 to February 1995 while his father was in exile `< Prime Minister Pakalitha MOSISILI (since 23 May 1998) `= Cabinet `> none - according to the constitution, the leader of the majority party in the Assembly automatically becomes prime minister; the monarch is hereditary, but, under the terms of the constitution, that came into effect after the March 1993 election, the monarch is a "living symbol of national unity" with no executive or legislative powers; under traditional law the college of chiefs has the power to depose the monarch, determine who is next in the line of succession, or who shall serve as regent in the event that the successor is not of mature age ^Q bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (33 members - 22 principal chiefs and 11 other members appointed by the ruling party) and the Assembly (120 seats, 80 by popular vote and 40 by proportional vote; members elected by popular vote for five-year terms) `> last held 17 February 2007 (next to be held in 2012) `? percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - LCD 61, NIP 21, ABC 17, LWP 10, ACP 4, BNP 3, other 4 ^R High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch acting on the advice of the Prime Minister); Court of Appeal; Magistrate Courts; customary or traditional court ^S Alliance of Congress Parties or ACP; All Basotho Convention or ABC [Thomas THABANE]; Basotholand African Congress or BAC [Khauhelo RALITAPOLE]; Basotho Congress Party or BCP [Ntsukunyane MPHANYA]; Basotho National Party or BNP [Maj. Gen. Justin Metsing LEKHANYA]; Kopanang Basotho Party or KPB [Pheelo MOSALA]; Lesotho Congress for Democracy or LCD (the governing party) [Pakalitha MOSISILI]; Lesotho Education Party or LEP [Thabo PITSO]; Lesotho Workers Party or LWP [Macaefa BILLY]; Marematlou Freedom Party or MFP [Vincent MALEBO]; National Independent Party or NIP [Anthony MANYELI]; New Lesotho Freedom Party or NLFP [Manapo MAJARA]; Popular Front for Democracy or PFD [Lekhetho RAKUOANE]; Sefate Democratic Union or SDU [Bofihla NKUEBE]; Social Democratic Party of SDP [Masitise SELESO] ^T NA ^U ACP, AfDB, AU, C, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, SACU, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO ^V `R Ambassador Molelekeng E. RAPOLAKI `S 2511 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 `T [1] (202) 797-5533 through 5536 `U [1] (202) 234-6815 ^W `R Ambassador June Carter PERRY `_ 254 Kingsway, Maseru West (Consular Section) `` P. O. Box 333, Maseru 100, Lesotho `T [266] 22 312666 `U [266] 22 310116 ^X three horizontal stripes of blue (top), white, and green in the proportions of 3:4:3; the colors represent rain, peace, and prosperity respectively; centered in the white stripe is a black Basotho hat representing the indigenous people; the flag was unfurled in October 2006 to celebrate 40 years of independence 
]% ^Y Small, landlocked, and mountainous, Lesotho relies on remittances from miners employed in South Africa and customs duties from the Southern Africa Customs Union for the majority of government revenue. However, the government has recently strengthened its tax system to reduce dependency on customs duties. Completion of a major hydropower facility in January 1998 now permits the sale of water to South Africa and also generates royalties for Lesotho. As the number of mineworkers has declined steadily over the past several years, a small manufacturing base has developed based on farm products that support the milling, canning, leather, and jute industries, as well as a rapidly expanding apparel-assembly sector. The latter has grown significantly, mainly due to Lesotho qualifying for the trade benefits contained in the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. The economy is still primarily based on subsistence agriculture, especially livestock, although drought has decreased agricultural activity. The extreme inequality in the distribution of income remains a major drawback. Lesotho has signed an Interim Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility with the IMF. ^Z $5.195 billion (2006 est.) ^[ $1.419 billion (2006 est.) ^\ 1.7% (2006 est.) ^] $2,600 (2006 est.) ^^ `@ 16.1% `A 43% `B 40.9% (2006 est.) ^_ 838,000 (2000) ^` `@ 86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa industry and services: 14% ^a 45% (2002) _! 49% (1999) _" `C 0.9% `D 43.4% _d 63.2 (1995) _# 5% (2006 est.) _V 32% of GDP (2006 est.) _$ `E $778.9 million `F $734.7 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) _& corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock _' food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts, construction, tourism _( 15.5% (1999) _) 250 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2004) _* 244.5 million kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh (2004) _, 12 million kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (2004) _- 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) _. 1,400 bbl/day (2004) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _1 0 cu m (2004 est.) _2 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Q $-75.44 million (2006 est.) _3 $779.1 million f.o.b. (2006 est.) _4 manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (2000) _5 US 83.8%, Belgium 12.7%, Canada 2.4% (2005) _6 $1.401 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _7 food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products _8 Hong Kong 29.6%, China 24%, Taiwan 22.3%, Germany 5.7%, India 5.5% (2005) _[ $528.2 million (2006 est.) _9 $735 million (2002) _: $41.5 million (2000) _; loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR) _< maloti per US dollar - 6.85 (2006), 6.3593 (2005), 6.4597 (2004), 7.5648 (2003), 10.541 (2002) _= 1 April - 31 March 
]& _> 48,000 (2005) _? 245,100 (2005) _@ `G rudimentary system `H consists of a modest but growing number of landlines, a small microwave radio relay system, and a minor radiotelephone communication system; a cellular mobile telephone system is growing `I country code - 266; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) _A AM 1, FM 2, shortwave 1 (1998) _B 1 (2000) _C .ls _D 168 (2006) _E 43,000 (2005) 
]' _F 28 (2006) _G `! 3 `a 1 `c 1 `W 1 (2006) _R `! 25 `c 4 `W 21 (2006) _H `! 5,940 km `K 1,087 km `L 4,853 km (1999) 
]( _J Lesotho Defense Force (LDF): Army and Air Wing _T 18 years of age (est.); no conscription (2001) _K males age 18-49: 428,982 females age 18-49: 440,102 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 180,797 females age 18-49: 160,681 (2005 est.) _U 2.8% (2006 est.) _M the Lesotho Government in 1999 began an open debate on the future structure, size, and role of the armed forces, especially considering the Lesotho Defense Force's (LDF) history of intervening in political affairs 
]) _N none 