History The British expansion into southern Africa in the 1800s caused Dutch farmers (Boers) in the Cape Province of South Africa to push northward, while Zulu peoples in Natal were pushed westward. Caught between the two were many refugees. The refugees as well as local peoples collectively came to be known as Basotho under Moshoeshoe (Moshesh), one of the greatest African leaders of the 19th century and the father of the Basotho nation. Under Moshesh, the Basotho fought four wars with the Boers from 1858 to 1868 in order to preserve their independence. However, having been debilitated by the long years of war and the loss of most of their arable land, the Basotho petitioned Great Britain for protection from the Boers. While the British agreed to grant a protectorate, which they called Basotholand, they intended to have their South African Cape Colony rule the Basotho. For more than a decade the Basotho vigorously resisted this proposal diplomatically and with threat of arms. Finally, in the 1880s the British agreed to rule the protectorate directly from London. Thus Basotholand never became part of the Republic of South Africa, and instead became the independent Kingdom of Lesotho on October 4, 1966. More Basotho live in South Africa than Lesotho due to the history of drawing national boundaries, although Lesotho is one of the few countries in Africa to be comprised of a single tribe.

Politics The Basotho National Party (BNP) won the 1966 elections. Up until 1997, there were only two political parties to speak of. The division between the two was largely along cultural and religious lines. The BNP stood for maintaining the traditional system of chieftainship and was largely Roman Catholic. The Basotho Congress Party (BCP) wanted to liberalize the local system of rule and was mostly Protestant. The BCP had its strength in the north of the country, the BNP strength was in the south. From its historical involvement with England, Lesotho became a parliamentary democracy. English Common Law is the basis for Lesotho law. New elections were scheduled for 1970. As the vote was coming in, the BNP decided to void the election, declared an emergency and effectively created a dictatorship for the Prime Minister. Many people cared more about peace than democracy. The dictatorship gave that to them. After a few military coups in the early 1990's the BCP won elections several years ago, but in the summer of 1997 the party split over a personality clash in the leadership. The new party (LCD) became the majority. Elections were held in May 1998 resulting in an LCD victory, but reported irregularities in the election process have given rise to tensions ever since. That September South African and Botswanan troops entered Lesotho to restore order, withdrawing after several months. Peace and calm have slowly returned, reports from volunteers and others indicate the situation has largely stabilized. Check news from AllAfrica News for the latest information.

Culture The Basotho people are extremely friendly and curious about foreigners. Singing and dancing are part of every social function. Customs vary from one part of the country to another, although not greatly from an American point of view. Certain articles of clothing are the most notable variation. Town meetings are called "pitsos" and occur in the open air whenever anyone important comes to a village, or when an issue needs discussion. People get up and speak their point of view all day long, under the direction of the Morena, or chief. Pitsos happen often. Feasts are also a regular occurrence, especially with visitors and guests in the village. 60 percent of the male population spend 6 to 9 months away working in various South African mines (gold, coal, platinum, diamonds). This leaves only the very young and very old in the village, plus women and children. Besides impacting family life, the situation causes a labor shortage in farming. Linguistically, the Sesotho language is similar to the Tswana language spoken in Botswana. In fact, the Sesotho spoken in Lesotho is called "Southern Sotho" while Tswana is also known as "Northern Sotho".

Religion Lesotho is 70% Roman Catholic. French missionaries first came to Lesotho in the 1820s. Protestants, about 20% of the population, are a mix of Lesotho Evangelical Church, Seventh Day Adventists, Anglican and a few others. Many of the schools are church run. There is freedom of religion. As in "politics" above, there are a higher percentage of Protestants in northern Lesotho; central and southern Lesotho has a higher percentage of Catholics. Some "New Age" Americans have said that Lesotho was a place of high spiritual energy. While that's not strictly a religious categorization, it's not hard to sense that there's forces at work in this land on which the Hobbit books were modeled. The remaining 10% of the population are of other religous beliefs including Islam and indigenous beliefs.

Recreation Camping and hiking are fantastic. There's plenty of places to go in the both the mountains and the lowlands. Mt. Aux Sources, the highest point in southern Africa, is a 4 day round trip hike, but incredible. You walk along mountains rolling at 10,000 ft, then all of a sudden there's a cliff 5000 ft. straight down. There's waterfalls at Semongkong, Qholane, and elsewhere, and the swimming is safe. Night life can be found in Maseru, but there isn't much outside of the capital. Maseru has a couple of movie theaters and some reasonably pleasant hotel bars.

Food/Stores Almost anything you want is available in Maseru, including some good restaurants. The district capitals have a lot, but few strictly Western products. For example, you can get Cheerios and Oreo cookies in Maseru. Things like shoe laces, jam, transistor radios, and lesser things can be found in the district capitals. In the village stores you may find only canned meat, sugar, flour, candles, bread, pop, etc. The local diet is heavily carbohydrates. A meal may sometimes include bread, rice, and potatoes. Moroho (cabbage), is heavily boiled, and nama (meat) is often mutton in gravy. Papa is boiled corn meal, like very stiff grits. Imported fresh fruits (oranges, apples, pears) are sold in the town market places of the district capitals and Maseru. A lot of households have peach trees, but they aren't really marketed. Eggs and chicken are also big. Decent wine and beer is available in of the district capitals and Maseru. Housewares are widely available and everything is metric. For additional information about what you may want to bring, or not bring, see Eric Thomson's letter of December 14, 2000.

Transport & Communications Mini-van taxis and buses run everywhere for small change. That includes around town in Maseru, as well to distant villages. There's no schedule, when they're full, they go. Add chickens and goats. Each town has a central market place from which the buses come and go. Hitch hiking is common and accepted, and unlike in the U.S. there isn't much to worry about. Anyone well off enough to have a car isn't likely to bother you. The phone system is poor, government offices and businesses will have phones, but few homes will. Mail from the US takes about one to two weeks.

Health Lesotho has no mosquitoes, and thus no malaria. A dry, cool climate makes it a reasonably healthy place. The main health problem is water. Sanitation is poor and people wind up drinking water downstream that is wastewater from upstream. Most villages have wells or springs where people congregate to fill buckets, but people still get sick from time to time. Gullies are used for latrines, which washes into the nearest stream, in addition to animal waste. Tuberculosis and veneral disease are also major health problems. AIDS is a serious problem in Lesotho. All the district capitals have hospitals, although they are pretty low key. Dentists are likely to be found only in Maseru.

Geography/Geology Lesotho claims to be the highest elevation country in the world. That's based on having the highest low point. Nepal has Mt. Everest, but it also has valleys lower than Lesotho. The lowest point in the country is 4900', about 40 miles south southwest of Maseru. Mt. Aux Sources, in the extreme northeast is the high point at 12000'. There are two sharply divided, distinct geographic parts of the country, divided along a north-south line. The western third of the country is high plains, rolling landscape, with sandstone buttes and mesas. Elevations run around 5000 - 6000'. Soils are yellow, yellow-brown, and sandy. Summer convection thunderstorms roll in almost every afternoon, double and even triple rainbows are common. 90% of the population lives in this region. Almost all the land is cultivated in plots of 2-3 acres.

Field corn and sorghum are the main crops, extremely little is sold - most is subsistence farming. Plowing is about 30% by tractor, the rest by cattle. Stubble is either eaten by cattle (which roam everywhere) or collected for fuel. Some fertilizer is used, but cow dung is also collected and dried for fuel, or mixed with clay and water to make a type of stucco for the houses. The only trees to speak of are gray poplar, which grow in gullies. They're constantly chopped for fuel, so when they grow back from the roots, they tend to be densely spaced, but of small diameter (3"). There's a few willows by streams. The eastern two thirds of the country is alpine at 8000 - 11000'. Only a few villages are found in that part of the country. Soils are dark brown basaltic, highly organic. Vegetation is a kind of grass that grows in tight, widely spaced clumps. Young boys take the family herds of cattle and goats up there for a few months in the summer (and have quite a party). No cultivation, no trees. The area formed about 100 million years ago from volcanic activity, and volcanic cones are evident (including one diamond mine). The herd boys have built stone huts every few miles, which come in handy when hiking. Just leave them how you found them. Hail in the summer and snow in the winter are routine. In between these two regions is a narrow band of foothills. The mountains rise very sharply. Technically, it's lowlands, populated and cultivated. The only thing that distinguishes the area is the soil and elevation. 7000 - 8000', also basaltic. Red basalt, laid down 240 million years ago. Less organic matter than the cold soils at higher elevation. There's many places to see a panorama of the three distinct soil colors in perfect horizontal strata. For more information see Linda Heidenreich's writeup of Lesotho geology.

Climate In the lowlands, summer daytime highs are around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, summer nighttime lows are around 50. Winter daytime highs are about 60, nighttime lows about 20. There's a little snow, but not much and it doesn't last. Humidity is very low. Rainfall averages about 20" per /year, mostly in the spring and summer as convection thunderstorms. It's a temperate climate, so things brown up, and leaves fall in the autumn.

In the highlands, summer daytime highs will be around 70, and winter daytime highs around 25. Snow can be several feet deep. The elevation and dryness make the temperatures plummet at night. Since Lesotho is in the southern hemisphere, all the stars are different. The Milky Way is brilliant and you can see in it the black shadows of the various nebulae. Also remember when hiking, if without a compass, the sun will be in the north.

Flags of Lesotho:

1966-1986

1987-2006

2006 on

Peace Corps Program in Lesotho                   Lesotho Statistics

World Bank Summary #1 and #2                   Mining Data

FAO Program

Maseru weather is on the FOL home page.
Bloemfontein is listed here in the event that Maseru is down.