Lesotho, country in Southern Africa. A scenic land of tall mountains and narrow valleys, Lesotho owes a long history of political autonomy to the mountains that surround it and protect it from encroachment. Since the Neolithic Period, the mountain kingdom was the domain of Khoisan-speaking hunter-gatherers. In the 19th century the Sotho, led by Moshoeshoe I, took control of the region. It remained independent until it became a British protectorate, one of three British High Commission Territories (the others being Bechuanaland [now Botswana] and Swaziland).
Completely encircled by the Republic of South Africa but separated from it by forbidding mountain ranges, Lesotho has endured decades of turbulent politics, periodic economic crises, and grinding poverty since gaining its independence from Great Britain in 1966. Though culturally conservative in the main, the people of the country welcomed the modernization programs begun in the 1990s, which have brought new wealth to the country but at the cost of much environmental damage.
Tourism and revenues from the country’s diamond industry have also helped to improve material conditions, and the capital, Maseru, has grown to become one of Southern Africa’s most attractive cities. Of these changes, Sotho writer Mpho ’M’Atsepo Nthunya remarks.
The country forms an enclave within South Africa, bordering on three of the latter’s provinces—KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, and Eastern Cape. Like only two other independent states in the world (Vatican City and the Republic of San Marino), Lesotho is completely encircled by another country, on which it must depend for access to the outside world.
Two-thirds of Lesotho consists of mountains. The highest peak, Mount Ntlenyana, is 11,424 feet (3,482 metres) above sea level. The Drakensberg range forms the eastern boundary with KwaZulu-Natal. The Maloti spurs of the Drakensberg, running north and south, join the main range in the north, forming a plateau from 9,000 to 10,500 feet (2,700 to 3,200 metres) in elevation.
This plateau, the centre of the cattle-raising and agricultural industries, is the source of South Africa’s two largest rivers—the eastward-flowing Tugela and the westward-flowing Orange—as well as tributaries of the Caledon (Mohokare). Three other important rivers in Lesotho are the Senqunyane in the centre of the country, the Kometspruit in the southwest, and the Matsoku in the northeast. The foothills, with elevations averaging between 6,000 and 7,000 feet (1,800 and 2,100 metres), descend in undulating slopes to the west, where the lowlands bordering Free State rise to elevations of 5,000 to 6,000 feet (1,500 to 1,800 metres). The mountain soils are of basaltic origin and are shallow but rich. The soils of the lowlands derive mainly from the underlying sandstone. Extensive erosion has severely damaged soils throughout the country.
Precipitation, brought by the prevailing winds, occurs mostly between October and April and is variable; the annual average is about 28 inches (710 mm), with amounts decreasing from east to west. Hail is a frequent summer hazard. Temperatures in the lowlands reach as high as 90 °F (32 °C) in the summer and plunge to 20 °F (−7 °C) in the winter. In the highlands the temperature range is much wider, and readings below 0 °F (−18 °C) are not unusual. Frost occurs widely in the winter, when the Maloti Mountains are usually snowcapped.
Lesotho is largely covered in grasses, although trees also appear on the landscape. Indigenous trees include Cape willows, cheche bush (used for fuel), and wild olives. Other willows and white poplars have been introduced into the country. There are numerous indigenous species of aloes, which are commonly found in the cooler, wet areas. Overgrazing, overutilization, and soil erosion have drastically depleted and altered the grasslands, reedbeds, and woody bush on the slopes. Reforestation schemes have been attempted but have met with limited success.
In the mid-19th century, zebras, wildebeests, ostriches, and lions could be found in the country. However, hunting and deforestation have mostly eliminated the populations of large mammals; the last lion was killed in the 1870s. Smaller antelope and hares can still be found, and the hyrax, or dassie, is common. Sehlabathebe National Park in the southeastern highlands near Qacha’s Nek protects such birds as raptors and such mammals as mountain reedbuck and leopards.
Lesotho is the last stronghold in Southern Africa of the magnificent bearded vulture, or lammergeier. Some rivers contain yellowfish and the rare Maloti minnow; trout and the North African catfish have also been introduced.
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