in marginal areas results in
overgrazing, severe soil erosion, and soil exhaustion;
desertification; Highlands Water Project controls, stores, and
redirects water to South Africa

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection,
Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

landlocked, completely surrounded by South Africa; mountainous, more
than 80% of the country is 1,800 m above sea level

People
Lesotho

Population:

2,128,180
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower
life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower
population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July
2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 35.3% (male 377,784/female 372,840)
15-64 years: 59.8% (male 621,687/female 649,981)
65 years and over: 5% (male 42,348/female 63,540) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 21.2 years
male: 20.6 years
female: 21.8 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.129% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

24.41 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

22.33 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

-0.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 78.59 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 83.01 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 74.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 40.17 years
male: 40.97 years
female: 39.34 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

3.13 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

28.9% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

320,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

29,000 (2003 est.)

Nationality:

noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho

Ethnic groups:

Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%,

Religions:

Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20%