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Southern Africa(UN: Southern Africa)

Flag of Lesotho

Lesotho

Kingdom of Lesotho

A mountain kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa, founded by Moshoeshoe I as a refuge during the upheavals of the early 19th century.

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Lesotho in pictures

Flag, landscapes, landmarks and wildlife you can meet in the games. Photographs come from each subject’s Wikipedia article.

  • Flag of Lesotho

    Flag

    Flag of Lesotho

    National flag

  • Maletsunyane Falls

    Landscape

    Maletsunyane Falls

    A real place in Lesotho

  • Maloti-Drakensberg

    Landmark

    Maloti-Drakensberg

    The only country in the world entirely above 1,000 metres.

  • Maletsunyane Falls

    Landmark

    Maletsunyane Falls

    A single 192-metre drop, with the world's longest commercial abseil beside it.

  • Sani Pass

    Landmark

    Sani Pass

    Hairpin bends rise to 2,876 m at the highest pub in Africa.

  • Maseru

    City

    Maseru

    Capital of Lesotho

Capital

Maseru

Population

2,363,325

World Bank, 2025

Area

30,355 km²

Currency

Lesotho loti

GDP per person

$1,089

Current US$, 2025

Life expectancy

57.8 yrs

World Bank, 2024

Urban population

44.7%

UN member

Yes

Quick facts

Did you know?

Lesotho sells water to South Africa — its biggest natural export.

It is one of only three countries completely surrounded by one other country.

Your route

Where to start with Lesotho

Every chapter above begins with the essentials and then lets you keep going deeper — four levels of depth, or your own question, researched from this country's reference data and our sourced library.

Go deeper: Orientation of Lesotho

Researched live from this country's reference data and our library. Keep pressing to go further, or ask your own question.

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Reference figures come from the World Bank Open Data API and the ISO 3166 country dataset, each shown with its year. Historical and cultural text is written by our editors and marks contested dating where scholars disagree. The "go deeper" chapters are generated live by Africa AI from that same reference data and our sourced library — check them before quoting. Borders shown are for orientation and do not imply a position on any dispute.