What is the old name of Lesotho?
Lesotho was formerly known as Basutoland. An individual is called a Mosotho and the people are called Basotho. Lesotho is a mono-ethnic state occupied by Basotho. It was founded by King Moshoeshoe I in the 18thCentury.
What is the difference between Mosotho and Lesotho?
An individual is called a Mosotho and the people are called Basotho. Lesotho is a mono-ethnic state occupied by Basotho. It was founded by King Moshoeshoe I in the 18thCentury. Before Basotho occupied it, it was occupied by the Khoisan people who are widely spread in Botswanaand some other parts of Southern Africa.
Is Lesotho a country or a colony?
Lesotho was previously the British Crown Colony of Basutoland, but it declared independence from the United Kingdom on 4 October 1966. It is now a fully sovereign state and is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the African Union, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
What is Lesotho's ethnic linguistic structure?
Lesotho's ethno-linguistic structure consists almost entirely of the Basotho, a Bantu-speaking people: an estimated 99.7 percent of the people identify as Basotho.
What does "Lesotho" mean?
The name of “Lesotho” roughly means the land of the people who speak Sesotho. The word ‘le' is a prefix meaning ‘of'. The main word is ‘sotho'. Thus, ‘ba’ and ‘mo’ are other prefixes, loosely meaning ‘we’ and ‘I’, respectively.
What are some interesting facts about Lesotho?
Nonetheless, the 12 interesting facts provided herein will help you make a quick knowledge hitchhike to its summit. 12. Lesotho was formerly known as Basutoland. An individual is called a Mosotho and the people are called Basotho. Lesotho is a mono-ethnic state occupied by Basotho.
Why is Lesotho called white gold?
Because of its natural abundance, water in Lesotho is known as “white gold .”. Lesotho is blessed with several rivers. Nonetheless, it is still susceptible to drought. It is during extremely dry seasons that Basotho appreciate the importance of water for their survival and this makes them consider water as ‘white gold’.
What is the lowest point in Lesotho?
The junction of the Orange and Makhaleng Rivers at 1,400 m is the lowest point in Lesotho. It is also the highest lowest point of any country in the world. Lesotho is a highland nation. The joint between Makhaleng River and Orange River happens at the border point between Lesotho and South Africa.
What do Lesotho farmers grow?
2. To avoid the cost of importing food from neighboring South Africa, most families in Lesotho raise their own wheat, corn, cabbage, pumpkins, and peas etc. Lesotho is relatively rocky and mountainous with a few locations fit for large-scale arable farming. Most farming is small-scale.
How many days of sunshine does Lesotho have?
6. Lesotho sees 300 days of sunshine every year. Rainy season in the country falls between October and April.
How high is Lesotho?
10. Lesotho is a high-altitude country, 2161 m above sea level. It is also famously known as “The Kingdom in the Sky.”
How long has Lesotho been around?
The history of people living in the area now known as Lesotho ( / ləˈsuːtuː, - ˈsoʊtoʊ /) goes back as many as 40,000 years. The present Lesotho (then called Basutoland) emerged as a single polity under paramount chief Moshoeshoe I in 1822.
Who was the leader of Lesotho in 1990?
A military government chaired by Justin Lekhanya ruled Lesotho in coordination with King Moshoeshoe II and a civilian cabinet appointed by the King. In February 1990, King Moshoeshoe II was stripped of his executive and legislative powers and exiled by Lekhanya, and the Council of Ministers was purged.
What happened in Lesotho in 1995?
In 1995, there were isolated incidents of unrest, including a police strike in May to demand higher wages. For the most part, however, there were no serious challenges to Lesotho's constitutional order in the 1995-96 period. In January 1997, armed soldiers put down a violent police mutiny and arrested the mutineers.
When did Moshoeshoe II return to Lesotho?
In 1992, Moshoeshoe II returned to Lesotho as a regular citizen until 1995 when King Letsie abdicated the throne in favor of his father. After Moshoeshoe II died in a car accident in 1996, King Letsie III ascended to the throne again.
When did Lesotho gain independence?
Kingdom of Lesotho. Leabua Jonathan in 1970. On October 4, 1966, the Kingdom of Lesotho attained full independence, governed by a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral Parliament consisting of a Senate and an elected National Assembly.
When did Letsie III come to power in Lesotho?
Conditions remained tumultuous, including an August 1994 self-coup by Letsie III, until 1998 when the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) came to power in elections which were deemed fair by international observers. Despite protests from opposition parties, the country has remained relatively stable since.
Who was the southern chief of the Basotho?
The Basotho resisted the British and in 1879 a southern chief, Moorosi, rose in revolt. His campaign was crushed, and he was killed in the fighting. The Basotho then began to fight amongst themselves over the division of Moorosi 's lands.
What is a Wangiri scam?
Depending on how much you’ve read about scams in the past few years, it’s very possible you might have missed the Wangiri scam. Originating from a Japanese term that translates loosely to “calling once and hanging up”, a Wangiri scam is about making a brief call, hanging up, and then waiting for you to call back.
What does a Wangiri scammer hope to achieve?
Don’t call them back, though. Don’t do it at all. A Wangiri scammer wants you to call them back, because that’s how they make their money.
What do you do if a random international number calls you?
Because of this, it’s important to not give Wangiri scammers the time of day. If you see a random phone call from a random international location that you don’t know on your phone, don’t return it. Don’t bother.
Is French Spoken In Lesotho?
It is evident that French culture is present in Lesotho in a noticeable way. In modern Lesotho, the French language is a national heritage. In the Basotho culture, the “MaFora” is remembered as a historical and historic contribution to the development of their country.
Is Sesotho Official Language In South Africa?
SESOTHO is a great study for many reasons. Sotho, also known as Southern Sotho, is an indigenous African language spoken by many people. In addition to English, it is the official language of Lesotho as well as the national language. Since 1996, it has been one of eleven official languages in South Africa.
Is Southern Sotho Tswana?
Southern Africa, mainly in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, and south-western Zambia
What Is Someone From Lesotho Called?
There are three types of people in Lesotho: individuals, people who speak Sesotho, and people who speak Basotho.
What African Country Speaks English?
There are only two countries in Africa where English is the primary language: Sierra Leone and Liberia. Nigeria and Ghana both speak English as their official languages, but the language is also used as a lingua franca in other parts of the world.
How Did English Come To Lesotho?
There are two official languages in the world: English and Spanish. The French missionaries of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society first introduced Western formal education to Lesotho in the 1830s. There were few schools and the number of students was low.
Is French Spoken In Swaziland?
According to the 1993 census, there were 76,000 Swazis who spoke Zulu, one of the eleven official languages of South Africa. In addition to being an immigrant language, Shimaore is spoken by 600 people. The three white-only high schools in Eswatini were the only places where French was taught before the colony’s independence in 1968.
Overview
Politics
The Lesotho Government is a parliamentary or constitutional monarchy. The Prime Minister, Moeketsi Majoro, is the head of government and has executive authority. The King of Lesotho, Letsie III, is the head of state and serves a "largely ceremonial function"; he no longer possesses any executive authority and is prohibited from actively participating in political initiatives.
The All Basotho Convention (ABC) leads a coalition government in the National Assembly, the low…
History
Basutoland emerged as a single polity under King Moshoeshoe I in 1822. Moshoeshoe, a son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bakoteli lineage, formed his own clan and became a chief around 1804. Between 1820 and 1823, he and his followers settled at the Butha-Buthe Mountain, joining with former adversaries in resistance against the Lifaqane associated with the reign of Shaka Zulu from 1…
Geography
Lesotho covers 30,355 km (11,720 sq mi). It is the only independent state in the world that lies entirely above 1,000 metres (3,281 ft) in elevation. Its lowest point of 1,400 metres (4,593 ft) is thus the highest lowest point of any country in the world. Over 80% of the country lies above 1,800 metres (5,906 ft). Lesotho is the southernmost landlocked country in the world. It is the largest of the world's three …
Economy
The economy of Lesotho is based on agriculture, livestock, manufacturing and mining, and depends on inflows of workers' remittances and receipts from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). The majority of households subsist on farming. The formal sector employment consists mainly of female workers in the apparel sector, male migrant labour, primarily miners in South Africa for 3 t…
Demographics
Lesotho has a population of approximately 2,281,454. The population distribution of Lesotho is 25% urban and 75% rural. It is estimated that the annual increase in urban population is 3.5%. 60.2% of the population is between 15 and 64 years of age.
Lesotho's ethno-linguistic structure consists mostly of the Basotho, a Bantu-sp…
Culture
The cuisine of Lesotho includes African traditions and British influences. The national dish of Lesotho is Motoho, a fermented sorghum porridge. Some staple foods include papa, a cornmeal porridge covered with a sauce consisting of vegetables. Tea and locally brewed beer are choices for beverages.
An attire revolves around the Basotho blanket, a covering made primarily of wo…
See also
• Index of Lesotho-related articles
• Outline of Lesotho
• Telephone numbers in Lesotho