CAPITAL-Maseru
POPULATION- 1,880,000
NATIONALITY- Basotho (extremely homogenous population 99.3%)
OFFICIAL LANGUAGES- Sesotho and English
GOVERNMENT- Constitutional Monarchy
• Gained Independence from Great Britain October 4, 1966
RELIGION- 90% Christian (majority Catholic, Lesotho Evangelical, Anglican)
ECONOMY-
Lesotho’s Economy is based on water and electricity that is sold to South Africa
• Lesotho Highlands Water Project is a giant 30 year project designed to capture water and send it to Johannesburg. Generates the majority of Lesotho’s income (24 million annually, 2008 est.) has provided the country with infrastructure in the form of electricity and water.
• Some of the biggest diamonds in the world are found in Lesotho’s mines
• Lesotho exports a huge amount of labor to South Africa
• Asian owned textile factories who export primarily to the US have become a big controversy in recent times because of the exploitation of child labor and the dumping of toxic waste
HEALTH-
• Lesotho has and HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 23%, which is the third highest rate in the world
• The UN expects that figure to rise to 36% by 2015
• Lesotho has a National AIDS Commission which coordinates all of the HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, education, and testing activities
• Key Donor Stakeholders PEPFAR, UN agencies, Irish AID, other international donors, and dozens of non-governmental organizations
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS-
surrounded by South Africa it’s very vulnerable to events there, and its economy is completely tied to them.
• Lesotho has historically maintained good relations with the US as well as the European Union and other Western countries
• Lesotho broke relations with the Peoples Republic of China in 1990 and recognized Taiwan, in 1993 they resumed relations with PRC
• Lesotho recognizes the Palestinian State
• Once South Africa is formally acknowledged as one of the main members of the BRIC economies (making it BRICS), the economy of Lesotho will also become a part of it.
POPULATION- 1,880,000
NATIONALITY- Basotho (extremely homogenous population 99.3%)
OFFICIAL LANGUAGES- Sesotho and English
GOVERNMENT- Constitutional Monarchy
• Gained Independence from Great Britain October 4, 1966
RELIGION- 90% Christian (majority Catholic, Lesotho Evangelical, Anglican)
ECONOMY-
Lesotho’s Economy is based on water and electricity that is sold to South Africa
• Lesotho Highlands Water Project is a giant 30 year project designed to capture water and send it to Johannesburg. Generates the majority of Lesotho’s income (24 million annually, 2008 est.) has provided the country with infrastructure in the form of electricity and water.
• Some of the biggest diamonds in the world are found in Lesotho’s mines
• Lesotho exports a huge amount of labor to South Africa
• Asian owned textile factories who export primarily to the US have become a big controversy in recent times because of the exploitation of child labor and the dumping of toxic waste
HEALTH-
• Lesotho has and HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 23%, which is the third highest rate in the world
• The UN expects that figure to rise to 36% by 2015
• Lesotho has a National AIDS Commission which coordinates all of the HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, education, and testing activities
• Key Donor Stakeholders PEPFAR, UN agencies, Irish AID, other international donors, and dozens of non-governmental organizations
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS-
surrounded by South Africa it’s very vulnerable to events there, and its economy is completely tied to them.
• Lesotho has historically maintained good relations with the US as well as the European Union and other Western countries
• Lesotho broke relations with the Peoples Republic of China in 1990 and recognized Taiwan, in 1993 they resumed relations with PRC
• Lesotho recognizes the Palestinian State
• Once South Africa is formally acknowledged as one of the main members of the BRIC economies (making it BRICS), the economy of Lesotho will also become a part of it.
- Information taken from Lesotho profile page at state.gov and lestho.gov
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX
• The Human Development Index of Lesotho in 2007 was .514 which ranked came in at 156 in the World (Human Development Report 2009 : Country Fact Sheets: Lesotho, http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_LSO.html)
• The Human Development Index of Lesotho in 2007 was .514 which ranked came in at 156 in the World (Human Development Report 2009 : Country Fact Sheets: Lesotho, http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_LSO.html)
No comments:
Post a Comment