Polity · 1967 CE – present
Lesotho
Also recorded as Kingdom of Lesotho
- Peak recorded area
- 31,741 km²
- 1973 CE
- Rulers on record
- 10
- from 1966 CE
- Data series
- 333
- 1967 CE–2025 CE
Overview
Lesotho, officially the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclaves in the world, the others being San Marino and Vatican City, which are surrounded by Italy. Lesotho is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest peak in Southern Africa. It has an area of over 30,000 km2 (11,600 mi2) and has a population of about 2.3 million.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
4 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. CShapes 2.0 holds 2 further extents, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before the last complete year, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 57 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population216 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 2.4Mpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy165 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 58.22years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Net Migration141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | -5,192persons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Population Growth141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 1.09% annual2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Female140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 60.87years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Male140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 55.44years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
Economy
6 of 123 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP220 obs · 1800 CE–2019 CE | 3,411int'l $ (inflation adj.)2019 CE · Gapminder |
| GDP Current Usd112 obs · 1960 CE–2025 CE | 2.6Bcurrent US$2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| GDP per capita73 obs · 1950 CE–2022 CE | 2,312.962011 int'l $2022 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Agriculture % GDP66 obs · 1960 CE–2025 CE | 6.49% of GDP2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Services % GDP66 obs · 1960 CE–2025 CE | 55.6% of GDP2025 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Fao Asses Stocks64 obs · 1961 CE–2024 CE | 142Khead2024 CE · FAOSTAT |
Military
6 of 16 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score51 obs · 1966 CE–2016 CE | 0.0001CINC (share of world capability)2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption51 obs · 1966 CE–2016 CE | 1.4Mcoal-ton equivalents2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production51 obs · 1966 CE–2016 CE | 0tons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure51 obs · 1966 CE–2016 CE | 40Mcurrent USD2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel51 obs · 1966 CE–2016 CE | 2,000persons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure % GDP50 obs · 1976 CE–2024 CE | 1.57% of GDP2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Territory & resources
6 of 55 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Arable Land %126 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 11.75% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Forest Area %68 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 1.14% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Agricultural Land %63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 77.76%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Arable Land per capita Ha63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 0.1543hectares per person2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Fao Agricultural Land63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 2.4Mha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
| Fao Arable Land63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 356.7Kha2023 CE · FAOSTAT |
Governance
6 of 31 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.658index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.516index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.407index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 2RoW index (0-3)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.682index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Executive Years In Office49 obs · 1975 CE–2023 CE | 1years2023 CE · Database of Political Institutions (DPI) 2023 |
Development
6 of 51 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 0.705index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Primary Enrollment Gross %55 obs · 1970 CE–2024 CE | 80.18%2024 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Mobile Subscriptions Per 10052 obs · 1960 CE–2023 CE | 69.35per_1002023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Primary Completion Rate52 obs · 1971 CE–2023 CE | 66.96%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Pupil Teacher Ratio Primary47 obs · 1970 CE–2017 CE | 32.95ratio2017 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Secondary Enrollment Gross %47 obs · 1970 CE–2017 CE | 59.36%2017 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Rulers
10 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Moshoeshoe II of LesothoKing of Lesotho1966 CE – 1970 CE
- Letsie III of LesothoHead of State1990 CE – 1995 CE
- Hae PhoofoloPrime Minister of Lesotho1994 CE
- Pakalitha MosisiliPrime Minister of Lesotho1998 CE – 2012 CE
- Mothetjoa MetsingDeputy Prime Minister of Lesotho2012 CE – 2015 CE
- Tom ThabanePrime Minister of Lesotho2012 CE – 2014 CE
- Mathibeli MokhothuDeputy Prime Minister of Lesotho2020 CE – 2022 CE
- Moeketsi MajoroHead of Government2020 CE – 2022 CE
- Nthomeng MajaraDeputy Prime Minister of Lesotho2022 CE –
- Sam MatekaneHead of Government2022 CE –
Country profile
From the CIA World Factbook 2024. Long entries are trimmed at a sentence boundary.
- Location
- Southern Africa, an enclave of South Africa
- Government type
- parliamentary constitutional monarchy
- Executive branch
- chief of state: King LETSIE III (since 7 February 1996); head of government: Prime Minister Ntsokoane Samuel MATEKANE (28 October 2022); cabinet: consists of the prime minister (appointed by the King on the advice of the Council of State), the deputy prime minister, and 18 other ministers;
- Ethnic groups
- Sotho 99.7%, other 0.3% (includes Kwena, Nguni (Hlubi and Phuthi), Zulu)
- Natural resources
- water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand, clay, building stone
- Economy
- lower middle-income economy surrounded by South Africa; environmentally fragile and politically unstable; key infrastructure and renewable energy investments; dire poverty; urban job and income losses due to COVID-19; systemic corruption
Language & currency
- Currency
- maloti (LSL)
Memberships
- United NationsUNInternational organisation · member1966 CE –
- Commonwealth of NationsCWInternational organisation · member1966 CE –
- SADCSADCEconomic bloc · founding member1992 CE –
- African UnionAUInternational organisation · founding member2002 CE –
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CIA World Factbook 2024
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Database of Political Institutions (DPI) 2023DPI 2023
Cruz, C., Keefer, P. & Scartascini, C. (2023). Database of Political Institutions 2023. Inter-American Development Bank.
IDB open data, attribution
FAOSTAT2024 release
FAO (2024). FAOSTAT Statistical Database. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
CC BY 4.0
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
UN World Population Prospects 20242024
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
CC BY 3.0 IGO
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0