Lesotho
Kingdom of Lesotho
Lesotho sits in Southern Africa and uses LSL - Lesotho loti (L), ZAR - South African rand (R). This profile combines identifiers, formats, map links, memberships, and the largest city records in one structured reference.
Capital
Maseru
Population
2.1M
Area
30.4K km2
Population
2.1M
2,116,427 people
Area
30.4K km2
30,355 square kilometers
Density
70/km2
Population divided by land area
Capital
Maseru
-29.32, 27.48
Detailed Country Guide
Overview and identity
Lesotho, officially listed here as Kingdom of Lesotho, is structured as a practical country reference guide for users searching country facts, maps, flags, codes, and daily-use data. The page should make Lesotho, LS, LSO, the flag, the official name, and the country slug easy to confirm because users often land on country pages while checking identifiers for forms, travel, education, or data products. Lesotho is grouped under Africa, more specifically Southern Africa, with Africa shown as the continent context.
Geography and population scale
The country dataset records a population of 2,116,427 people and a land area of 30,355 square kilometers, which gives an approximate density of 70 people per square kilometer. The main coordinate reference is -29.5, 28.5, while the capital coordinate reference is -29.32, 27.48. Lesotho shares listed land borders with ZAF, and the landlocked value is recorded as yes. These details help the page answer common searches around location, area, borders, map position, and population comparison.
Capital and urban network
The capital information is recorded as Maseru (primary). The largest city entries shown for this country are Maseru, Teyateyaneng, Mafeteng, Leribe and Maputsoe. Including cities alongside country-level facts helps the guide answer searches such as largest cities in Lesotho, capital of Lesotho, and major urban areas in Lesotho. This is useful because many users compare the official capital with the largest business, transport, or population centers.
Government, classification, and memberships
The government type is listed as Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The classification fields mark sovereignty as yes, United Nations membership as yes, observer status as no, and disputed status as no. International memberships shown for this page include African Union, Commonwealth and United Nations. These fields support search intent around political status, country classification, and international organization membership.
Administrative formats and daily-use data
Lesotho uses calling code +266, postal format ###, and time zone data listed as UTC+02:00. The number format uses , as the thousands separator and . as the decimal separator. The week starts on monday; the academic year starts around Jan 15; the government fiscal year starts around Apr 1; and the personal fiscal year starts around Jan 1.
Currency, language, transport, and references
Currency data lists LSL - Lesotho loti (L) and ZAR - South African rand (R), while language records include English and Sotho. Vehicle data records the driving side as left and vehicle sign codes as LS. Reference links should keep official, Wikipedia, Google Maps, and OpenStreetMap sources together when available so users can move from the structured country guide to map or source pages quickly. The latest Gini entry in the dataset is 44.9 for 2017.
How to use this profile
This Lesotho profile is designed to be scanned in layers: first the name, official name, flag, capital, population, area, and density; then identity, geography, cities, governance, memberships, formats, connectivity, currency, languages, transport, and references. That structure supports both human readers and product workflows where users need to verify a phone code, compare cities, inspect fiscal dates, check postal formats, review memberships, or open a map reference without searching across multiple pages.
Country Snapshot
ISO codes
LS / LSO
Top-level domains
.ls
Continents
Africa
Border countries
ZAF
Driving side
left
Vehicle signs
LS
Flag And Identity
The flag entry for Lesotho is represented by the LS country flag asset.
Largest Cities
#1
Maseru
Maseru
343,541
primary
#2
Teyateyaneng
Berea
75,115
admin
#3
Mafeteng
Mafeteng
57,059
admin
#4
Leribe
Leribe
38,558
admin
#5
Maputsoe
Leribe
32,117
City
Governance
Government type
Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Sovereign
Yes
UN member
Yes
Landlocked
Yes
Formats
Week starts
monday
Academic year
Jan 15
Government fiscal year
Apr 1
Number separators
, thousands, . decimal
Connectivity
Calling codes
+266
Postal format
###
Timezones
UTC+02:00
Languages
English, Sotho
International Memberships
Economy And References
Latest Gini entry
44.9
2017