Lesotho

South Africa , a kingdom surrounded by the territory of South Africa, is one of the member states of the Commonwealth . The area is approximately 30,355 km², which is similar to Belgium and about 30% of South Korea. The population is 2,536,053 as of 2024.

The name Lesotho means 'the country of the Sotho people '. Sotho (South Sotho) is similar to Tswana in Botswana, with postfix modifiers, Lesotho (singular) is Mosotho, Lesotho (plural) is Basotho, and Sotho is Sesotho . write

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The Sotho people, who make up the majority of the population and are the origin of the country's name, established a small kingdom and prospered. He refused the demands of King Shaka of the Zulu Kingdom, who advocated the unification of South Africa , to surrender and defeated the Zulu army several times.

In the 19th century, as the conflict with the neighboring Boer Free State intensified, King Moshoeshoe I asked Britain for protection, and Lesotho became a British protectorate under the name of Basutoland in 1868 . After the death of King Mushweshwe I, Britain incorporated Lesotho into the Cape Colony and attempted to rule it directly, and when Lesotho's chiefs were asked to disarm, war with Britain broke out again. Finally, in 1884 , Britain separated Lesotho from the Cape Colony again and recognized the autonomy of local chieftains.

With the establishment of the Union of South Africa in the early 20th century , demands were made for Lesotho to be unified (under the guise of annexation), but Lesotho naturally refused and became independent in 1966 .

After independence, several coups took place due to conflicts between the first king, Mushweshwe II, and the civil administration . In the first election, the conservative ruling Basotho National Party (BNP) was defeated by the opposition Basotho Congress Party (BCP), which King Mushweshwe II supported, but Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan declared a state of emergency and suspended the constitution in protest of the election results. Then, in 1986 , Justin Lekanya staged a coup and ousted Jonathan, but as the relationship between Lekanya and the king widened, King Mushweshwe II was exiled in 1990 . Then, in 1991, Lekanya was ousted in a coup by Pisoane Ramaema. Although the transfer of civilian government took place in 1993 , the political situation is unstable, with coup attempts taking place in 1994, 1998 , and 2014 .

2020 On February 4 , Lesotho police announced that they had arrested Prime Minister Thomas Thabane's wife, Maesaiah Thabane, on suspicion of murder. #

Prime Minister Thomas Thabane reiterated his intention to resign by the end of July . #

The country had been without a confirmed case of COVID-19 for a long time , but on May 13, 2020, Lesotho's Ministry of Health announced that it had its first confirmed case of COVID-19. #

On May 20 , Lesotho's new Prime Minister Moekech Majoro was inaugurated. #

On June 3 , the wife of Lesotho's former prime minister was arrested on murder charges after a court revoked her bail. #

It is surrounded by an island in South Africa . The area is 30,355 km², which is slightly smaller than Gyeongsang -do . For reference, as you can see on that map, Maseru, the capital, is not in the middle of Lesoto, but is located at the northwest end. It is about 2 km from South Africa's border . It is a distance that can be reached in about 30 minutes on foot, and is very close to the distance from Seoul Station to Chungmuro ​​Station . If you cross the bridge across the bridge (there is a humor care river between Maseru and South Africa), it is almost attached to South Africa.



In addition to being geographically surrounded by South Africa, it is also famous for being a highland country. Most of the country (80%) is above 1,800 m above sea level, and the lowest point is 1,400 m above sea level, making it the country with the highest average altitude in the world. Among independent countries, it is the only case in the world where the entire land area exceeds 1,400 m above sea level. It can almost be considered a country on top of Hallasan Mountain . The average altitude of Nepal , which is high in altitude , is about 1,350 m, and the lowest is only about 600 m.

The climate has a subtropical climate, and the capital, the capital, seems to be good at 8 ℃ in July and the average temperature in January, but the average temperature in January is 21 ℃, but the crossover is very severe. It is also cool compared to other regions due to high altitude altitude. In the 2015 weather in Maseru, the maximum temperature recorded in Maseru in January 2015 was 37 ℃, the minimum temperature was 10 ℃, and the highest temperature recorded in August 2015 was 30 degrees, with the minimum temperature minus 6 degrees. So in a month, the temperature is 36 ℃. If you go to the highlands, the weather becomes cooler. LETSENG mine, which is located at 3,100 m above sea level, is very rare in Africa with an average temperature of 9 ℃ and an average temperature of June . Thanks to this, there are many foreigners who are full of snow and ice, knowing them as a hot country, and wearing lightly.

Along with the Vatican and Sanmarino , the whole country, which is only three on the planet, is also a nation in the form of a above -sized one that is completely surrounded by an island in another country. This is the only place where the border checkpoint is located.

Along with the surrounding South Africa, a large number of dinosaur fossils have been discovered, and Lesothosaurus is the scientific name given to this country.

Residents are 99.7%of them are extremely single -nation countries in the African continent, where the semi -tuzoto tribe . Other ethnic minorities include the Julu , Butti , Cape Color , and White.

The official languages ​​are Sotho and English . The illiteracy rate is quite low compared to other sub-Saharan African countries, with 85% of the population over the age of 15 able to read or write .

The problem of low birthrate that has begun to emerge in the neighboring South African Republic is not in Lesoto yet. In fact, the problem of lower birth rate in South Africa is particularly severe in the white class (1.0 ~ 1.2), and the black class (2.8 ~ 3.0) has a higher birth rate than the world average (2.1), and Lesoto has a similar total birth rate similar to the blacks of South Africa. In 2022, Lesoto's total fertility rate is 2.92.

It is known that the number of HIV patients reaches one third of the total adult population. About 25% of official statistics. Especially in women under 40 years old, half of them are patients. It is the world's best with the neighboring countries.

Although it is a country without civil war, public security is not good compared to developed countries. The murder rate is on average about 5 out of 100,000 people, which is better than expected. Central and South American countries such as Honduras and Venezuela , which are famous for their horribly high murder crime rates, show a bizarre murder crime rate of more than 100 out of 100,000 people, so Lesotho's figures are quite good for a developing/underdeveloped country. However, sexual crimes are much more serious than murder crimes. In the field of sexual crimes, there is a fierce competition to be the best in the world. Therefore, the first chance to hear the name Lesotho is often when looking for the country with the most serious sexual crimes. The HIV prevalence rate is also staggering, with more than 20% of the total population being HIV carriers. South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also designated it as a travel restriction.

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The National Assembly consists of 120 members, with 80 seats elected through single-member constituencies and 40 seats elected from a proportional list, with a linked proportional representation system that is almost identical to Germany .

However, in terms of the number of ballots, it is not a one-person, two-vote system, but a one-person, one-vote system. In the 2007 election, the two major political parties used the expedient of giving the second vote to satellite parties, as they did in the 21st and 22nd National Assembly elections in Korea , so the 2012 election was changed to a one-person-one-vote system to prevent trickery.

The current king is Letsie III, the son of King Mushweshwe II, the first king of Lesotho.

Economically, it is a poor poor country, but grain cultivation is active in a climate that is far from the heat and is full of water, and it uses climate characteristics to export water to South Africa. However, there are few other industrial systems, so daily necessities rely on imports. The Gini coefficient is about 0.63, similar to the equator guinea .

It is one of the countries that produces Levi's jeans.

90%of people believe in Christianity , and Catholic and Protestant are half and half. In the royal family, we believe in Catholics . The remaining 10%believe in indigenous religions or other religions.

Many of these Christianity are mixed with indigenous religions.

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