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Updates: 

I revised the 2006 populations from the preliminary figures to the final results. I also added 1946 census data under Population history.

Country overview: 

Short name	LESOTHO
ISO code	LS
FIPS code	LT
Language	Sesotho (st), English (en)
Time zone	+2
Capital	Maseru

 

Basutoland was a British protectorate for the first part of the 20th century. On 1966-10-04, it became independent under the name of Lesotho.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Lesotho
2. Dutch: Lesotho, Koninkrijk Lesotho (formal)
3. English: Kingdom of Lesotho (formal), Basutoland (obsolete)
4. Finnish: Lesotho
5. French: Lesotho m
6. German: Lesotho n
7. Icelandic: Lesótó
8. Italian: Lesotho m
9. Norwegian: Lesotho, Kongeriket Lesotho (formal)
10. Portuguese: Lesoto, Reino m do Lesoto m (formal), Basutolândia f (obsolete)
11. Russian: Королевство Лесото (formal)
12. Spanish: Lesoto, Reino m de Lesotho (formal), Basutia (obsolete), Basutolandia (obsolete)
13. Swedish: Lesotho
14. Turkish: Lesoto Krallığı (formal)

Origin of name: 

Land of the Sothos

Primary subdivisions: 

Lesotho is divided into ten districts.

District	HASC	ISO	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)
Berea	LS.BE	D	LT10	250,006	2,222	858
Butha-Buthe	LS.BB	B	LT11	110,320	1,767	682
Leribe	LS.LE	C	LT12	293,369	2,828	1,092
Mafeteng	LS.MF	E	LT13	192,621	2,119	818
Maseru	LS.MS	A	LT14	431,998	4,279	1,652
Mohale's Hoek	LS.MH	F	LT15	176,928	3,530	1,363
Mokhotlong	LS.MK	J	LT16	97,713	4,075	1,573
Qacha's Nek	LS.QN	H	LT17	69,749	2,349	907
Quthing	LS.QT	G	LT18	124,048	2,916	1,126
Thaba-Tseka	LS.TT	K	LT19	129,881	4,270	1,649
10 districts				1,876,633	30,355	11,720
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 2006-04-09 census (source [8]). Capitals have the same names as their districts (see note).

 

Note: Berea district has an alternate name, Teyateyaneng. The district is commonly called Berea, but the capital is almost always known as Teyateyaneng. Similarly, the capital of Leribe is also known as Hlotse.

Further subdivisions:

See the Councils of Lesotho page.

The districts were further subdivided into wards until 2005-04-11, when a set of community councils was supposedly introduced.

Territorial extent: 

Lesotho is entirely surrounded by South Africa.

Change history: 

1. ~1910: Basutoland reorganized. New Berea district formed from part of old Berea; new Leribe formed from parts of old Berea and Leribe; Mafeteng formed from part of Thaba Bosigo; Maseru formed from parts of Berea and Thaba Bosigo; Mohale's Hoek formed from Kornet Spruit; Qacha's Nek formed from parts of Berea, Leribe, and Quthing; new Quthing formed from part of old Quthing.
2. ~1944: Leribe district split into Butha-Buthe and Leribe; Qacha's Nek district split into Mokhotlong and Qacha's Nek.
3. ~1980: Thaba-Tseka district formed from parts of Leribe (412 km.²), Maseru (1,782 km.²), Mokhotlong (496 km.²), and Qacha's Nek (1,580 km.²). Prior to this change, the nine former districts had FIPS codes from LT01 to LT09. Each number was nine less than the present-day code.

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. The apostrophes are sometimes omitted. In older sources, hyphens are sometimes omitted or replaced by spaces.
2. Berea: Teyateyaneng (variant)
3. Butha-Buthe: Botha-Bothe (variant)

Population history:

District	1946-05-07	1966-04-14	1976-04-12	1986-04-14	1996-04-14	2006-04-09
Berea	58,026	118,200	146,100	194,600	240,754	250,006
Butha-Buthe	35,444	63,200	77,200	100,600	109,192	110,320
Leribe	99,030	161,500	206,600	258,000	300,160	293,369
Mafeteng	69,629	119,100	154,300	195,600	211,970	192,621
Maseru	106,614	201,800	257,800	311,100	385,869	431,998
Mohale's Hoek	66,185	109,900	136,300	164,400	184,034	176,928
Mokhotlong	38,176	60,200	73,500	74,700	85,628	97,713
Qacha's Nek	44,941	63,000	76,500	64,000	71,665	69,749
Quthing	45,809	72,700	88,500	110,400	126,342	124,048
Thaba-Tseka				104,100	126,353	129,881
Totals	563,854	969,600	1,216,800	1,577,500	1,841,967	1,876,633

 

1946 data come from source [5]. 1966 and 1976 data are from source [6]. 1996 data are from sources [1], [2], and [4]. 2006 results are from source [8].

Sources: 

1. [1] Preliminary results  of the 2006 census (retrieved 2007-09-04).
2. [2] Population Distribution. Lesotho Bureau of Statistics. Had results of the 1996 census and the 2001 demographic survey. (http://www.bos.gov.ls/population/Population%20Distribution.pdf, dead link, retrieved 2005-06-28).
3. [3] Ministry of Finance and Development  (retrieved 2007-09-04).
4. [4] Population Distribution. Lesotho Demographic Survey, 2001: Vol. I, Ch. 17. (http://www.bos.gov.ls/demography link/Demographic survey 2001/Population Distribution.pdf, dead link, retrieved 2006-09-12)
5. [5] Demographic Yearbook , 7th Ed. Statistical Office of the United Nations, New York, 1955 (retrieved 2011-08-20).
6. [6] Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th Edition, Chicago, 1984.
7. [7] The Statesman's Year-Book, 1979-80 edition. St. Martin's Press, New York, 1979. This source gives 1,246,815 as the total population from the 1976 census, but doesn't give the breakdown by districts.
8. [8] Population by Age and Sex , Lesotho 2006 Population and Housing Census. Bureau of Statistics, Maseru, October 2009 (retrieved 2011-08-21).