Lesotho 
Facts
Population:
2,177,062
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 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
39.28% (male 430,147; female 424,994)
15-64 years:
56.03% (male 588,440; female 631,404)
65 years and over:
4.69% (male 43,033; female 59,044) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.49% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
31.24 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
15.7 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
-0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.73 male(s)/female
total population:
0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
82.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
48.84 years
male:
47.97 years
female:
49.74 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.08 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
23.57% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
240,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
16,000 (1999 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:
83%
male:
72%
female:
93% (1999 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $5.1 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
2.5% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $2,400 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
18%
industry:
38%
services:
44% (1999)
Population below poverty line:
49.2% (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
0.9%
highest 10%:
43.4% (1986-87)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
6% (2000 est.)
Labor force:
700,000 economically active
Labor force - by occupation:
86% of resident population engaged in subsistence agriculture; roughly 35% of the active male wage earners work in South Africa
Unemployment rate:
45% (2000 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$76 million
expenditures:
$80 million, including capital expenditures of $15 million (FY99/00 est.)
Industries:
food, beverages, textiles, handicrafts; construction; tourism
Industrial production growth rate:
15.5% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production:
0 kWh; note - electricity supplied by South Africa (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
55 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
55 million kWh
note:
electricity supplied by South Africa (1999)
Agriculture - products:
corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock
Exports:
$175 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Exports - commodities:
manufactures 75% (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food and live animals (1998)
Exports - partners:
South African Customs Union 65%, North America 34% (1998)
Imports:
$700 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.)
Imports - commodities:
food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products (1995)
Imports - partners:
South African Customs Union 90%, Asia 7% (1998)
Debt - external:
$720 million (2000 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$123.7 million (1995)
Currency:
loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR)
Currency code:
LSL; ZAR
Exchange rates:
maloti per US dollar - 7.78307 (January 2001), 6.93983 (2000), 6.10948 (1999), 5.52828 (1998), 4.60796 (1997), 4.29935 (1996); note - the Lesotho loti is at par with the South African rand which is also legal tender; maloti is the plural form of loti
Fiscal year:
1 April - 31 March
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
Mopheme/The Survivor
(Weekly), Maseru
Lesotho in the News
A former U.N. special envoy for H.I.V./AIDS discusses new developments in Africa.
Americas 
