Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from England in October 1966. The country has few natural resources, and is heavily dependent on South Africa, which surrounds it, for employment. Sesotho and English are the two official languages spoken in Lesotho.

Leader: King Letsie III
Capital city: Maseru

Economic profile

Monetary unit: Loti
GDP per capita: $1700 (2010) (CIA)
GDP composition by sector:
Agriculture: 7.1% (2010) (CIA)
Industry: 34.6% (2010) (CIA)
Services: 58.2% (2010) (CIA)
GDP growth rate: 2.4% (2010) (IMF)
Budget:
Government revenue, excluding grants: $968.4-million (2010) (CIA)
Government expenditure:$1.193-billion (2010) (CIA)
Consumer price inflation: 6.1% (2010) (CIA)
Industries: Food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts, construction, and tourism
Exports of goods and services: $985-million (2010) (CIA)
Imports of goods and services: $1.766-billion (2010) (CIA)
Export commodities: Manufactures clothing, footwear, road vehicles, wool and mohair, food and live animals
Import commodities: Food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, and petroleum products
Trade balance: $-125-million (2010) (CIA)
Reserves: $893-million (2010) (CIA)
Total investment: 21.9% of GDP (2010) (CIA)
Market capitalisation of listed companies: Figures not available

Social profile

Population: 2.06-million (2011) (World Bank)
Population growth: 0.8% (2011) (World Bank)
Life expectancy at birth: 45.4 years (2011) (World Bank)
Adult literacy: 90% (2009) (World Bank)
School enrolment primary: 107.7% (2008) (World Bank)
School enrolment secondary: 39.9% (2008) (World Bank)
School enrolment tertiary: 3.6% (2008) (World Bank)
Unemployment: 45% (2002) (CIA)
Number of people living with HIV/Aids: 290 000 (2009) (Unicef)