Lesotho

Lesotho

By Ashley Uminn

Map

Lesotho is located inside of South Africa.

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Population

The Population of Lesotho is 2.8 million, that’s close to 2.5 New York Cities.

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Lesotho’s flag was adopted on October 4th, 2006. It features blue, white and green stripes which represent rain,peace, and prosperity. In the middle of the white stripe is a black Basotho hat, representing the indigenous people.

Flag

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The national anthem is titled; fatÅ¡e la bo-ntatà  rona, meaning ‘Land of Our Fathers’. This was written François Coillard and composed by Ferdinand-Samuel Laur, both of them, Frenchmen. Lesotho adopted this as it’s national anthem in 1967, one year after gaining independence from Britain.

National Anthem

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Capital

The Capital of Lesotho is Maseru, with a population of 137,837, it is Lesotho’s only major city. It is mostly known for it’s shops for candles, and carpets, but has a large trade network.

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Goverment

The type of government is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy in which Prime Minister, Pakalitha Mosisili, is the head of the government.

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Education

In Lesotho, there are three different stages to education. The first stage is called primary, or junior school, this is grades one to seven. After this is three years of junior secondary school, which is equivalent to high school in the United States. The final  level is the secondary high school, after this you can go to secondary technical school, or tertiary training/teaching in technical subjects. Once this is complete, students can go on to national university of Lesotho, the only university in the country. In Lesotho, 95% of women are literate, compared to the 83% of men who are literate.

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Major Languages

The major language of Lesotho is Sesotho, a southern Bantu language. Other languages include English, Phuthi, and Zulu.

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Major Ethnic Groups

In Lesotho, about 99.7% of the population is Sotho, a Bantu speaking people, the remaining 0.3% is made up of Europeans and Asians.

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Major Religions

Lesotho Lutheran makes up 25% of the population. Roman Catholic, 40%, Anglican, 11%. Indigenous religions makes up 20% and 4% of the population is other religions.

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Currency

Lesotho uses the Lesotho Loti which equals about 0.075 of an American dollar.

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Climate

Lesotho is located inside of South Africa, so it shares some of it’s weather. Winters are generally cold and dry, there is not usually very much precipitation, and if their is it’s mostly snow. Summers are humid and hot, clouds hang in the sky most of the day, resulting in 85% of the country's annual rainfall.

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Crops and Agriculture

The primary crops in Lesotho are corn, wheat and barley, this makes up for about 25% of the country’s food.

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Imports

Lesotho main imports include food, building materials, vehicles, machinery, petroleum products, and medicines,

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Exports

Lesotho mainly exports garments and diamonds.

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Plants

Some of the plants of Lesotho include; the Spiral Aloe, which is the national plant. another plant includes the Saniella.

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Animals

Some animals in Lesotho include; the white tailed mouse, the river frog, along with many different bats and snakes.

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Cultural Traditions #1: Moshoshoe's Day

On the 11th of March, people all across Lesotho get together to celebrate the life and reign of the king, Moshoeshoe the Great. This king was responsible for preserving much of the culture and heritage in that Lesotho has today. On this day, many people put a wreath on Moshoeshoe’s grave.

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Cultural Traditions #2: Easter

Usually in April, Easter is the country’s most religious festival. The usual festivities include; family get togethers, parades, and church services.

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Cultural Traditions #3: Independence Day

On October four, Lesotho celebrates its release from British rule with traditional costumes, food, songs, dances and musical performances.

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http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/lesotho/lsflags.htm http://www.indexmundi.com/lesotho/flag_description.html http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/05/1506/ http://www.encyclopedia.com/places/africa/lesotho-political-geography/maseru http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-12664832 ‘http://www.lesmet.org.ls/cimatology/climate-lesotho https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Lesotho https://africawiki.wikispaces.com/Demographics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Lesotho https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Lesotho

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Lesotho https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Lesothon http://www.new-ag.info/en/country/profile.php?a=2208 http://travelbystove.blogspot.com/2015/01/recipes-from-lesotho.html#.WOBY69Lyvcs http://lntreasures.com/lesotho.html http://www.listofcountriesoftheworld.com/lt-animals.html http://www.iexplore.com/articles/travel-guides/africa/lesotho/festivals-and-events http://aglobalworld.com/holidays-around-the-world/lesotho-moshoeshoes-day/ http://www.classbase.com/countries/Lesotho/Education-System

Resources