Facts about Lesotho

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19 Mar 2024

Lesotho is a country in Southern Africa. Maseru is the capital city as well as the largest city in the country. Sesotho and English are the country’s national language, and Loti is the country’s national currency. The National name of the country is the Kingdom of Lesotho. Similarly, “Lesōthō Fatše La Bo-Ntat'a Rōna" is the country’s national anthem, and Orange River is the country’s Principle River. Aloe Polyphylla is the national flower, and the Canopy tree is the national tree of Lesotho. Furthermore, Ibis is the country’s national bird, and the Black rhinoceros is the national animal of Lesotho. Additionally, Horse Racing is the country’s national sport, and Pap-Pap is the national dish. With these interesting facts about Lesotho, let’s learn more about the history, culture, religion, people, industries, tourism, tradition, and many more.

Quick Facts about Lesotho

The official name of the Country: Kingdom of Lesotho
Area: 30,355 km2
Population(2022): 6.77 million
Population density: 667 per kilometers Square
GDP (PPP)(2020): $5.762 Billion
GDP Per Capita (nominal): $1,187
Continent: Africa
Capital: Maseru
Spoken Language: Sesotho, English, Xhosa, Zulu, and Phuthi are some highly spoken languages in the country.
Official Languages: Sesotho and English
Largest by area: 137th largest country
Religion: Christianity: 92.3 % (Roman Catholic: 49.4%, Protestant: 40.7%, Other Christian: 2.2%), Traditional faiths: 6.4%, Others: 1.0%, None: 0.3%.
Government: Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Currency: Loti (LSL), and South African rand (ZAR)
Calling Code: +266
Time Zone: UTC +2 (South African Standard Time)

10. Interesting Facts about Lesotho

1. Bordering countries of Lesotho

The county shares its land borders with South Africa only. The country is entirely surrounded by South Africa.
Further, Lesotho is a landlocked country, meaning it doesn't have excess on any ocean and sea.

2. Lesotho is the country of mountains

Lesotho is known as the country of mountains. It is a high-altitude country, and 80% percent of the country lies above 1800 meters. The junction of the orange river and Makhaleng River at 1400 meters is the lowest point in the country. No other country's lowest point is as high as Lesotho.
Interestingly Lesotho is the only country in the world entirely above 1000 meters, thus people say Lesotho is a "country that touches the sky".

3. One of three enclave countries in the world

Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa which makes it one of three enclave countries in the world.
The other two countries of this kind are San Marino and Vatican City both surrounded entirely by Italy.

4. Many dinosaur footprints were found in Lesotho

Many dinosaur footprints were found in Lesotho. In 2017, one of the largest dinosaur footprints ever found was discovered in Lesotho. The footprint comes from a dinosaur named Kayentapus Ambrokholohali.
It was estimated to be 2.7 meters tall and nine-meter-long, making it one of the largest dinosaurs footprints that were found in Africa.

5. One of the beautiful countries in Africa

Lesotho isn't a very well-known country in the world. Even though it's a country that is hidden from the world's eyes, its beauty is exceptional and breathtaking. Sehlabathebe national park of Lesotho was listed on a UNESCO World Heritage site (entire national park).
If you love nature, this is the place to be. Biking, hiking, and skiing are all things you can do in Lesotho.
Maloti Drakensberg is a UNESCO reserve site, that lies together with South Africa and Lesotho in a Ukhahlamba park is one of the popular tourist sites in the country.

6. The country still has a king

Lesotho is the country where King is still now. It is one of the three remaining sovereign monarchies on the African continent. Today the monarch serves a largely ceremonial function as he doesn't have any executive powers.
Lesotho's royal family are in the country from the colonial period and managed to keep governing as paramount chiefs.

7. It is home to the highest African ski resort

We don't think about snow when it comes to Africa, but Lesotho is home to the highest African ski resort. Afriski is a popular mountain lodge and resort in Lesotho which is situated at 3050 meters above sea level. It is one of the country's most popular tourist spots.
Further, in Lesotho, you can visit Africa's highest pub, Sani Mountain Lodge at 2874 meters.

8. The country has 100% renewable electricity

There aren't many rivers in the country, but they still have 100% renewable electricity. The country has enough hydroelectricity dams.
Katse hydroelectricity dam of the country is the second-largest and the highest altitude dam in the entire continent.
The country is home to three rivers; the orange river, the Tugela River, and the Caledonia river. All the river's water source is the Lesotho mountains.

9. The name of the country renamed

The original name of the country was Basutoland before independence. And the country named was renamed and kept as the kingdom of Lesotho. After gaining its independence from the United kingdom in 1966, the country is known for its new name Lesotho.

10. A small economy country

The majority of people in the country are involved in agriculture. It is dependent upon a small economy that consists of textile, manufacturing, agriculture, remittances, and regional customs revenue.
Industries including construction, clothing, textiles, handicrafts, food processing, and beverages are highly contributing to the country's GDP.
Further, the country's most important natural resource is water known as "white gold" in Lesotho. Water generates important revenue for the economy.

Lesotho Facts

Maseru is the capital and largest city of Lesotho, and it is home to around 2,00,000 people. The city was founded in 1869, and the meaning of Maseru is red sandstone. It was started as a simple British police camp that grew into a city.
Lesotho is home to one of the scariest runways in the world.
Lesotho is quite close to Johannesburg and two of South Africa's capitals; Bloemfontein and Pretoria.
The Sani pass is the highest pass road in the West of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa on the road between Underberg, KwaZulu-Natal, and Mokhotlong, Lesotho.
Around 4% of Lesotho's GDP comes from diamond mining.
Lesotho became the first African nation to give out a license to cultivate medical marihuana.
The majority of people in Lesotho are involved in farming and herding.
The "Basotho Blanket" is the national dress of Lesotho.
'Wakanda' in Black Panther was inspired by Lesotho.
The country gained its independence from Britain in 1966.
Lesotho is one of the more democratic countries in Africa.
Women cannot inherit land in Lesotho.
The rate of new HIV infections in Lesotho is 25% which is the highest in the world.
19% of girls under 18 in Lesotho are forced into illegal marriages, according to Unicef.

These are some Lesotho facts.

Some of the interesting facts about Lesotho

Around 12% of deaths in the country are pollution-related.
Lesotho is one of the safest countries on the African continent for tourists.
In-country, few locals still live in caves.
You can see the local people of the country still dressing in traditional attire.
Despite having multiple borders with South Africa, it seems that almost everybody wants to use the main border which sometimes can have lines of three or four hours.
Lesotho is one of the world's largest exporters of clothes.
Mount Ntlenyana in Lesotho is the highest peak in southern Africa.
The inhabitants of Lesotho are called the Basotho.
One of the official languages of this country is southern Sotho (a Bantu Language is also known as Sesotho).
Apple, apricots, peaches, pears, and quinces are grown in Lesotho due to the climate.

These are some interesting facts about Lesotho.

In Conclusion

In this article, we discussed some interesting facts about Lesotho. After reading this article, you might gain some knowledge about Lesotho. If you have still queries and want to learn more about the country, then please comment to us. Further, if you already visited this beautiful country, and want to add more interesting facts to this article that are not included in the article above, please comment to us. Also, share your take on this article.