Population
2.2M
Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
GDP per capita, PPP
$3,885
in 2031
Passport power
#121
42 visa-free destinations
Top-rated city
Maseru
of 8 cities rated
Country overview
- Official name
- Kingdom of Lesotho
- Capital
- Maseru
- Continent
- Africa / Southern Africa
- Area
- 30,355 km²
- Population
- 2.2M
- Density
- 66.1/km²
- Government
- Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
- UN member
- Yes
- Independent
- Yes
- Driving side
- Left
- TLD
- .ls
- Calling code
- +266
- Timezone
- UTC+02:00
Visa and travel
- Passport power rank
- #121 of 199
- Visa-free destinations
- 42
- Total accessible
- 70
Culture and society
- Languages
- English, Sotho (Sesotho)
- Religions
- Christianity 92.1%, Traditional faiths 6.6%, No religion 1.0%, Others 0.3%
- Currencies
- L LSL — Lesotho loti, R ZAR — South African rand
Key figures
- HDI
- 0.550
- GDP per capita (2031)
- $3,885
- Life expectancy (2024)
- 57.8 yrs
- Internet users (2024)
- 51.8%
- Gini index (2017)
- 44.9
- Inflation (2031)
- 4.0%
- Unemployment (2025)
- 16.3%
- Urban population (2025)
- 44.7%
- Life satisfaction (2025)
- 4.4/10
- PM2.5 (2024)
- 24.5 µg/m³
- Homicide rate (2008)
- 38.2/100k
- Human capital (2020)
- 0.40