Talk:Lesotho

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Contents

[edit] bantustan?

Can Lesotho to gether with Swaziland, which is landlocked and completely surrounded by South Africa, be considered as a bantustan (homeland)? Meursault2004 22:54, 11 Jul 2004 (UTC)

They are both landlocked, but Swaziland borders Mozambique as well. Homelands were where the Apartheid government sent Blacks when they didn't have work permits - so I don't think another country counts. So - No. Wizzy 07:12, 12 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Related point--the intro paragraph claims that Lesotho is one of two countries in the world completely surrounded by another country, but I think both Vatican City and San Marino lay claim to that distinction.Acjohnson55 (talk) 13:42, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Thanks man ;-) Meursault2004 11:07, 14 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Does anyone know exactly how Lesotho got it's border?

Yes, In 1818, Moshoeshoe I consolidated various Basotho groupings and became their King. During Moshoeshoe's reign (1823-1870), a series of wars with South Africa (1856-68) resulted in the loss of extensive Basotho land, now known as the "Lost Territory." In order to protect his people, Moshoeshoe appealed to Queen Victoria for assistance, and in 1868 the land that is present-day Lesotho was placed under British protection. El_C 01:48, 4 May 2005 (UTC)

Does anyone know what the purpose of the 'Government Secretary' is? Is he an elected MP? Looking at the Lesotho government homepage, the Government Secretary is its own structure, but there is no description regarding its purpose. Thanks.

There could not have been "wars with South Africa (1856-68)" because South Africa did not exist at the time, South Africa only became a country in 1910. Roger 10:51, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Exports

Is there any truth in this statement? "Lesotho in Africa depends on textiles and clothing for 99.14% of its export earnings. Some 20,000 jobs have disappeared there since the beginning of January." If that is true, this country is headed to a very troubled future [1]

Sounds possible and certainly it doesn't look like things will get better for Lesotho in the near future at least. But it is worth remembering that the majority of people there live off subsistence farming.. they arent all dependent on industrial jobs (although some are and their economy will suffer).

Kelmaon 11:48, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

After the export of water and electricity to South Africa, most of the income of Lesotho comes from remittances by its citizens living and working in South Africa. Roger 10:54, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Response to AIDS

"Throughout the trauma of Aids and illness the Basotho remain remarkably faithful and believing."
Diseases in general don't tend to change the religious makeup of a country, so as a fact this is uninteresting. It just comes across as rather preachy. I've removed it. --Spudtater 14:43, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Intro

Is "Muso oa Lesotho" is the official name of the country, and is "Government of Lesotho" the correct translation? That seems odd, and should certainly be explained if it is the case. Otherwise, shouldn't this be changed to "Lesotho"? -- Beland 18:28, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Pronunciation

Should there be something at the beginning talking about how to pronounce the country's name? I imagine most English speakers would consider the "correct" pronunciation to not be phonetic. Derekt75 20:29, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

In elementary school I did a short report on Lesotho, and I think I read that it was pronounced either [ləsjutu] or [ləʃutu], but they might be anglicized. I'm guessing that [ləsoʊtoʊ] is often used as an "English" pronunciation, but is incorrect. Ardric47 23:25, 25 May 2006 (UTC)
I lived there for two years and speak sesotho. It is pronounced leh-soo-too. jeff.t.mcdonald
"eh" as in "eh?", "pet", or schwa? Ardric47 23:40, 25 May 2006 (UTC)
I guess it is "eh". And actually, it is leh-SOO-too as in Sesotho the sylable before the last one is accented. jeff.t.mcdonald
So [le'sutu] then? Ardric47 22:26, 27 May 2006 (UTC)
Technically, the dictionary pheonetic spelling would be Le’sūtū. The "le" is like the "le" in lesson. The "so" is like the "soo" in soon. The "to" is like the number two or too. But like I said the middle sylable is accented and thus if a person was sounding it out, it would be "leh-SOO-too" which if I remember correctly was even how it was spelled for me when I arrived there for a two year stay and is definately how the Basotho pronounce it. Hope this is helpful. Had to go back to the dictionary and find the phenontic guide to come up with "Le’sūtū" jeff.t.mcdonald
On the basis of Sesotho language, it seems like it should actually be [lɛ̀.sʉ́.tʰʉ̀]. Ardric47 23:18, 2 June 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Picture clutter

There are too many pictures on this page; they serve only as clutter. This is not a travel guide, but an encyclopedia. Some are quite beautiful, but do not add significantly to the article. Scoutersig 00:48, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

I am a Mosotho and I have noticed that some of these pictures provide only one side of the coin, like where they say that the typical house in Lesotho is a rondavel, it used to be that, but now more and more people live in brick homes and they have migrated to the towns so there are less people in the rural areas. So Wikipedia should show houses in Maseru, Maputsoe and so on. This picture persents a very bias view!

And to be deadly honest, they are not really innovative as well. Malealea is certainly beautiful, but it is lesotho's touristical prime spot. it is definetly not a remote place

[edit] Honorifics

"His Excellency, Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso is the present High Commissioner of the Kingdom of Lesotho to the Court of St. James's."

Is it proper to include honorifics in wiki articles? Napsterbater (talk) 17:47, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Question

What do you call a citizen in Lesotho? A Lesothan? Lesothanese?

You call them a Basotho. Basotho is also and primarily an ethnic tribe of Southern Africa but since 99% or more of Lesotho is comprised of Basotho, when you are a national of Lesotho you also are considered Basotho even if you are not ethnically Basotho. For the few thousand expatriates that live in Lesotho that actually are nationals by having gained citizenship, this is a kind of strange situation, to be called Basotho but there are not really many people that fit into this category and so it does not get a lot of discussion. Jeff.t.mcdonald 16:00, 14 September 2006 (UTC)
Can you use this word as an adjective? What if you are referring to non-human things concerning Lesotho? Is it correct to say "a Basothoan elephant" or "the Basothoan frontier with South Africa"? Kransky 05:26, 10 August 2007 (UTC)
It can be used as an adjective as there is a certain type of pony found in Lesotho that is called a "Basotho pony". There are other examples too like a "Basotho blanket", which is unique to Lesotho (though made in England). Jeff.t.mcdonald 09:54, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ambiguity

The article states: "- March 18, 1884 it was annexed to the British Cape Colony (South Africa) as Basutoland territory. On 18 March 1884 Basutoland re-emerged as a separate colony,"

Was it did it really "re-emerge" the same day it was "annexed"? Mdbrownmsw 20:57, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism

Is there any particular reason why this article has suddenly come under vandal attack? There's a fair few vandal reverts in the last few days, with little vandalism prior to that. The level of vandalism isn't enough to warrant a page protection, but I for one am fed up of reverting nonsense edits (I don't even know anything about Lesotho, just am reverting vandals spotted via Recent Changes). Carre 22:43, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed WikiProject

In my ongoing efforts to try to include every country on the planet included in the scope of a WikiProject, I have proposed a new project on Southern Africa at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Southern Africa whose scope would include Lesotho. Any interested parties are more than welcome to add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest to start such a project. Thank you for your attention. Badbilltucker 16:40, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lesotho's enclave status

Lesotho is not the only example of a landlocked enclave; San Marino and Vatican City also qualify.[2] -- Rydra Wong 07:20, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] History: inconsistent dates

"Opposition protests in the country intensified, culminating in a peaceful demonstration [...] in August 2000. Exact details of what followed are greatly disputed [...] but in September that year, a SADC task force [...] entered the capital. [...] By the time the SADC forces withdrew in May 1999, [...]"

This says that the forces entered after 2000 but withdrew in 1999! The next paragraph states an even earlier date, while it is told as a later event:

"An Interim Political Authority (IPA), charged with reviewing the electoral structure in the country, was created in December 1998. [...]"

-Pgan002 08:25, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Flag

I don't think this is the current flag of Lesotho. It may be an older one, but any up-to-date almanach shows a different flag... also the United Nations has a different flag for Lesotho.

It is. See Flag of Lesotho for the various flags. El_C 10:04, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Population?

This article has numbers that show the population going down and up. If it dipped because of AIDS or migration and is now recovering it should be explained. As it is now is just make Wikipedia look unrealiable. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.110.221.182 (talk) 06:05, 6 April 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Links with Ireland

There are multiple mentions of links with Ireland, can someone add some detail to these? It seems very unusual that there would be any particular reason for there to be special links between these two countries. Has someone entered it as a joke?

--

Please sign your messages.

I don't see why Ireland's maintenance with Lesotho is a joke? As former Commonwealth allies and as a prime example of the small countries Ireland supposedly aligns itself with, it seems fairly logical. Even so, there are lot of things in history which are just plain "very unusual". GavinZac (talk) 20:37, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Lesotho Scouts Association

Can someone render "Lesotho Scouts Association" and "Be Prepared", the Scout Motto, into Sotho? Thanks! Chris 15:35, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Human Development

This section is unnecessary and has absolutely nothing to do with Lesotho. Anyone interested in HDI can look at it's entry. I'm bringing it in line with other countries' pages by cutting this. It is sufficient to have the HDI in Lesotho's stat block (with a link to the HDI page btw). In addition, the stat does indicate that Lesotho's HDI is low and that it is ranked 149th.

"Human development

One notable indicator used to measure a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a ranking of 177 countries and territories, the HDI places Lesotho in the low human development category, at 149th place. NOTE: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators."

Forgot to sign. 41.242.246.162 08:03, 12 August 2007 (UTC)