Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Lesotho. Landlocked, an enclave of (completely surrounded by) South Africa; mountainous, more than 80% of the country is 1,800 m above sea level. Mother's mean age at first birth is 20.9 years (2014 est.) (Note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 566 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Location | Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa |
---|---|
Geographic coordinates | 29 30 S, 28 30 E |
Map references | Africa |
Tarrain | mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains |
Natural Resources | water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand, clay, building stone |
Natural Hazards | periodic droughts |
Irrigated Land | 12 sq km (2013) |
Major rivers (by length in km) | Orange river source (shared with South Africa and Namibia [m]) - 2,092 km note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
Major aquifers | |
Land Boundaries | 1,106 km |
Border Countries | South Africa 1,106 km |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) |
Climate | temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers |
Area | |
Total Area | |
Land Area | 30,355 sq km |
Water Area | 0 sq km |
comparative Area | slightly smaller than Maryland |
Maritime Claims | |
Elevations | |
Highest point | Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m |
Lowest point | junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers 1,400 m |
Mean elevation | 2,161 m |
Land Use | |
Agricultural land | 76.1% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 10.1% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 0.1% (2018 est.) |
Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 65.9% (2018 est.) |
Forest | 1.5% (2018 est.) |
Other | 22.4% (2018 est.) |
Relatively higher population density in the western half of the nation, with the capital of Maseru, and the smaller cities of Mafeteng, Teyateyaneng, and Leribe attracting the most people as shown in this population distribution map
In Lesotho, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Sotho 99.7%, other 0.3% (includes Kwena, Nguni (Hlubi and Phuthi), Zulu)
Population | |
---|---|
Pop growth rate | 0.76% (2024 est.) |
Birth rate | 22.9 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Death rate | 10.8 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Health expenditure | 11.8% of GDP (2020) |
Physicians Density | |
Hospital bed Density | |
Total fertility rate | 2.85 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
Gross reproduction rate | 1.4 (2024 est.) |
Contraceptive prevalence rate | 64.9% (2018) |
Est married women (ages 15-49) | 53.7% (2023 est.) |
Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
Education expenditures | 8.7% of GDP (2021 est.) |
Net Migration rate | -4.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
Nationality | Basotho | Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural) |
Languages | Sesotho (official), English (official), Phuthi, Xhosa, Zulu |
Religions | Protestant 47.8% (Pentecostal 23.1%, Lesotho Evangelical 17.3%, Anglican 7.4%), Roman Catholic 39.3%, other Christian 9.1%, non-Christian 1.4%, none 2.3% (2014 est.) |
Age Structure | |
0-14 years | 32% (male 358,137/female 353,618) |
15-64 years | 62.7% (male 699,197/female 696,626) |
65 years and over | 5.4% (2024 est.) (male 44,625/female 75,345) |
Dependency Ratios | |
Total dependency ratio | 62.1 |
Youth dependency ratio | 55.3 |
Elderly dependency ratio | 6.8 |
Potential support ratio | 14.7 (2021 est.) |
Median Age | |
Total | 23.9 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 23.4 years |
Female | 24.3 years |
Urbanization | |
Urban population | 30.4% of total population (2023) |
Rate of urbanization | 2.77% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
Major urban areas (Pop) | 202,000 MASERU (capital) (2018). |
Sex Ratio | |
At birth | 1.03 male(s)/female |
0-14 years | 1.01 male(s)/female |
15-64 years | 1 male(s)/female |
65 years and over | 0.59 male(s)/female |
Total population | 0.98 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
Infant Motality | |
Total | 45.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
Male | 51 deaths/1,000 live births |
Female | 40.2 deaths/1,000 live births |
Life Expectancy at birth | |
Total population | 60.2 years (2024 est.) |
Male | 58.1 years |
Female | 62.3 years |
Drinking Water Sources | |
Improved: urban | urban: 95.7% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 77.2% of population |
Improved: total | total: 82.6% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 4.3% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 22.8% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 17.4% of population (2020 est.) |
Sanitation facility acess | |
Improved: urban | urban: 93.6% of population |
Improved: rural | rural: 62.4% of population |
Improved: total | total: 71.4% of population |
Unimproved: urban | urban: 6.4% of population |
Unimproved: rural | rural: 37.6% of population |
Unimproved: total | total: 28.6% of population (2020 est.) |
Major Infectious diseases | |
Degree of risk | intermediate (2023) |
Food or waterborne diseases | bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever |
Alcohol consumption per capita | |
Total | 3.56 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Beer | 1.98 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Wine | 0.44 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Spirits | 0.31 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Other alcohols | 0.82 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
Tobacco use | |
Total | 24.3% (2020 est.) |
Male | 43.1% (2020 est.) |
Female | 5.4% (2020 est.) |
Child marriage | |
Women married by age 15 | 1% |
Women married by age 18 | 16.4% |
Men married by age 18 | 1.9% (2018 est.) |
Lesotho faces great socioeconomic challenges. Almost half of its population lives below the poverty line as of 2017, and the country’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is the second highest in the world as of 2021. In addition, Lesotho is a small, mountainous, landlocked country with little arable land, leaving its population vulnerable to food shortages and reliant on remittances. Lesotho’s persistently high infant, child, and maternal mortality rates have been increasing during the last decade, according to the last two Demographic and Health Surveys. Despite these significant shortcomings, Lesotho has made good progress in education; it is on-track to achieve universal primary education and has one of the highest adult literacy rates in Africa.
Lesotho’s migration history is linked to its unique geography; it is surrounded by South Africa with which it shares linguistic and cultural traits. Lesotho at one time had more of its workforce employed outside its borders than any other country. Today remittances equal about 20% of its GDP. With few job options at home, a high rate of poverty, and higher wages available across the border, labor migration to South Africa replaced agriculture as the prevailing Basotho source of income decades ago. The majority of Basotho migrants were single men contracted to work as gold miners in South Africa. However, migration trends changed in the 1990s, and fewer men found mining jobs in South Africa because of declining gold prices, stricter immigration policies, and a preference for South African workers.
Although men still dominate cross-border labor migration, more women are working in South Africa, mostly as domestics, because they are widows or their husbands are unemployed. Internal rural-urban flows have also become more frequent, with more women migrating within the country to take up jobs in the garment industry or moving to care for loved ones with HIV/AIDS. Lesotho’s small population of immigrants is increasingly composed of Taiwanese and Chinese migrants who are involved in the textile industry and small retail businesses.
Want to know more about Lesotho? Check all different factbooks for Lesotho below.