Geography and Features

Lesotho is country located in southern Africa and is completely surrounded by South Africa. It is the only country to be completely surrounded by another single country. It is a small country spanning the area of only 11,583 square miles. Just like its size, it also has a small population. There are only around two million people that inhabit this country of Lesotho. On the border, only few miles from South Africa lies the capital, Maseru. The border to South Africa and Lesotho is considered to be one of the busiest borders in the world considering how much traffic is exchanged daily due to traveling and work.

When discussing the geography of Lesotho, it is hard not to mention how mountainous of a country it is. This enclave is the only independent state in the world to have the whole country at 1,000 meters above sea-level. Since this country is so small, it makes Lesotho the highest country in the world in terms of height above sea-level. Lesotho is almost split into three different areas. On the west side, there are the lowlands and the city area. On the east, there are the Maloti and Drakensburg Mountain Ranges. Dividing these two regions is the valley where Orange River is found. Contrary to most stereotypes received about Africa, Lesotho has a cold climate. This climate is cooler because Lesotho is further from the equator than most people think. Being colder, this has effected the spread of diseases such as malaria. Lesotho does have its own diseases to worry about though, and those are HIV/AIDs. Lesotho has the second largest AIDs rate in the world closing flowing their neighbor Swaziland. Almost one out of every four people living in Lesotho have this disease and it is killing this nation. 

When looking at the natural resources of Lesotho, one can see that geography has taken its toll. Because of the cool climate and mountainous terrain, farming is something that is scare. Not being on the coast and being a landlocked nation has also hurt Lesotho's chance at trading. Their main imports that they can not grow themselves come from South Africa. In exchange, Lesotho provides them with water that has been collected in dams in the mountains. Lesotho has used this along with technology to help create hydroelectric sources of energy. Along with water, Lesotho has diamonds located in the Maloti mines which provide revenue. Lesotho is also very reliant on tourist to take their famed pony treks along the mountains of the low lands.