The Kingdom In The Sky
Beautiful, culturally rich, safe, affordable and easily accessible from Durban and Johannesburg, mountainous Lesotho is a vastly underrated travel destination.
This is essentially an alpine country, where villagers on horseback in multicolored balaclavas and blankets greet you round precipitous bends. The hiking and trekking – often on a famed Basotho pony – is world class and the infrastructure of the three stunning national parks continues to improve. An astonishingly beautiful country, this ‘Mountain Kingdom’ needs to be seen to be believed.
Key Facts
• Total Size: 30,355 square km
• General Terrain: mostly highland with plateaus, hills, and mountains
• Geographical High Point: Thabana Ntlenyana 3,482 m
• Climate: temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers
• Major cities: MASERU (capital) population of 220,000
• Languages Spoken: Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa
• Independence: 4 October 1966
• Nationality: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
• Religions: Christian 80 percent, indigenous beliefs 20 percent
• National Symbol: Basotho hat
• National Anthem or Song: Lesotho fatse la bo ntat’a rona (Lesotho, Land of Our Fathers)
• Economy of Lesotho Major Industries: food, beverages, textiles, apparel assembly, handicrafts, construction, tourism, subsistence farming
• Agricultural Products: corn, wheat, pulses, sorghum, barley; livestock
• Natural Resources: water, agricultural and grazing land, diamonds, sand, clay, building stone
• Major Exports: manufactures 75 percent (clothing, footwear, road vehicles), wool and mohair, food, and live animals
• Major Imports: food; building materials, vehicles, machinery, medicines, petroleum products
• Currency: loti (LSL); South African rand (ZAR)
• National GDP: $ 3,723,000,000