LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Lesotho
built 646 days ago
Lesotho's economy is based on exports of water and electricity sold to South Africa, manufacturing, agriculture, livestock, and to some extent the earnings of laborers employed in South Africa. Lesotho ... exports diamonds, wool, mohair, clothing, and footwear. One of Levi's jeans manufacturing facilities is located there. Lesotho is geographically surrounded by South Africa and economically integrated with it as well. The majority of households subsist on farming or migrant labor, primarily miners who remain in South Africa for 3 to 9 months. The western lowlands form the main agricultural zone.
Source:
Lesotho is landlocked and completely encircled by South Africa, with approximately 2.14 million people of which 99.7 percent speak Sesotho, with English used as the business language. The kingdom is a fragile democracy—a hereditary constitutional monarchy having a king as head of state without executive or legislative powers. Executive power is vested in the cabinet headed by a prime minister. Predominantly mountainous with a literacy rate of 83 percent, the kingdom's population is concentrated wherever arable land is found, primarily in the lower veld, along rivers and the capital of Maseru.
Source:
![[Lesotho roundel]](http://retrieverimages.lycos.com/images/l/e/s/lesotho/i/052.gif)
The conical grass hat known as Mokorotlo is considered to be part of the national dress of Lesotho. This paper will trace the physical and cultural evolution of the hat, as part of the emergence of a national identity in Lesotho during the twentieth century. The level of cultural prominence which these hats have obtained illustrates the process by which clothing achieves both cultural and national significance. Contrary to popular belief the Basotho have not always worn these hats. There is no evidence of these hats existing during the nineteenth century. In the early part of the twentieth century chiefs began to wear a hat which was the forerunner of the modern Mokorotlo.
Source:
Lesotho has a summer rainfall climate, with extensive snow falls possible in winter. Snow and frost may occur in any month on the high mountains. Rainfall in summer is normally in the form of severe thunderstorms. It gets very cold in winter (May - September) even in Maseru - and houses are not built for the cold (no central heating) if you are visiting in winter bring a warm coat, it goes below zero at night.
Source:
Some 11 percent of Lesotho’s land is cultivated. Maize, wheat, sorghum, and fruits and vegetables are the main crops. In 2005 livestock included about 540,000 cattle, 850,000 sheep, 650,000 goats, and 1.8 million poultry.
Source:
Directed by Dr. Mark Kline, the first BIPAI center was established in Romania in 2001, rapidly expanding into Botswana, Uganda, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Burkina Faso and Libya. It is anticipated that 12,000 children will be treated by the end of the year at these centers.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Lesotho