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Lesotho

Kingdom of Lesotho


Lesotho, the "land of the Sotho", is not only landlocked, it is landlocked inside a single country, like Vatican City and San Marino. Its official language is Sesotho, which probably means "language of the Sotho". Nevertheless, it is a fully sovereign state and is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the African Union, and the Southern African Development Community. It is independent since 04-OCT-1966, before it was the British Crown colony of Basutoland. It has a TLD, an international calling code and its own currency, the Lesotho Loti (LSL). But as a small country, the second official language is English, and the second official currency is the South African Rand (ZAR).

Located in the Maloti Mountains it contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It is the only independent state in the world that lies entirely above 1,000 m asl. Its lowest point is 1,400 m asl, its highest point is the Thabana Ntlenyana ("beautiful little mountain", 3,482 m asl).

Natural resources are water and diamonds. They sell not only the water to South Africa, but also the hydroelectric electricity they produce.