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Lesotho

Africa

Photos of Lesotho

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Thabana Ntlenyana -- or "beautiful little mountain" in the Sesotho language -- is the highest mountain in southern Africa at 3,482 m (11,424 ft). It is also the highest peak in Maloti-Drakensberg Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001. The Park spans the border between Lesotho and South Africa and includes Sehlabathebe National Park (6,500 ha or 16,061 acres) in Lesotho and Khahlamba Drakensberg Park (242,813 ha or 600,000 acres) in South Africa.
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Contents

Introduction

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Definitions and Notes
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Geography

Area

comparison ranking: total 141

Area - comparative

Area comparison map:
<p>slightly smaller than Maryland</p>

People and Society

Age structure

2024 population pyramid:
This is the population pyramid for Lesotho. A population pyramid illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population and may provide insights about political and social stability, as well as economic development. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends. <br/><br/>For additional information, please see the entry for Population pyramid on the Definitions and Notes page.

Median age

comparison ranking: total 179

Population growth rate

comparison ranking: 116

Birth rate

comparison ranking: 50

Death rate

comparison ranking: 28

Net migration rate

comparison ranking: 199

Maternal mortality ratio

comparison ranking: 11

Infant mortality rate

comparison ranking: total 24

Total fertility rate

comparison ranking: 53

Tobacco use

comparison ranking: total 48

Environment

Government

Economy

Real GDP growth rate

comparison ranking: 128

Real GDP per capita

comparison ranking: 201

Labor force

comparison ranking: 148

Unemployment rate

comparison ranking: 175

Public debt

comparison ranking: 198

Taxes and other revenues

comparison ranking: 4

Current account balance

comparison ranking: 77

Exports

comparison ranking: 183

Imports

comparison ranking: 177

Debt - external

comparison ranking: 104

Energy

Communications

Transportation

Airports

comparison ranking: 114

Military and Security

Transnational Issues

Contents