Friday, May 13, 2016

Final Project

Lesotho Map
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lesotho-map.png

            Geography
            Lesotho is a 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. [1] 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 a 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.[2] 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.[3] Almost one out of every four people living in Lesotho have this disease and it is killing this nation. 
         
     Natural Resources

Lesotho Dam
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lesotho-map.png
            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 scarce. Not being on the coast and being a landlocked nation has also hurt Lesotho's chance at trading. Their main imports that they cannot 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.[4] The natural resources of Lesotho include the following: water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals. Lesotho is also an exporter of excess labor.[5] When one thinks about natural resources, usually water does not cross their mind. Due to the geography of Lesotho, water is very important. Being a land locked country, Lesotho relies on rainfall and the dams that have been constructed up in the mountains. This water not only provides a natural resource for Lesotho, but also sells it to South Africa when they are on a shortage. The newly built Polihali Dam provides water for 71 villages and the rest will be given to South Africa being used for industrial purposes.[6] This natural resource is almost invaluable and helps sustain this country and economy. Another natural resource that helps Lesotho’s economy is the diamond and minerals that are found here. In 2006, the Lesotho Promise was found. This 603 carat diamond was found at the Letseng mine in Lesotho and is the 15th largest diamond ever to be found.[7] The diamond was sold for 12.4 million dollars in October of 2006. As one can see this is a great addition to Lesotho’s economy.  The value of this source would only change if the rest of the world were to also change to standard of what the diamond is worth.

            Religion
           
Eugene Casalis (left) and Thomas Arbousset
http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/about/missionaries.php
            Looking at Lesotho, one can see that the country is predominately Christian. It is this way because of some the early missionary work that started in between the 1830’s to the 1850’s.[8] The first people to enter Lesotho for specific evangelical reasons were the French. In the late 1820’s Lesotho participated in battles with the Dutch who were trying to take over the land of the Basotho. King Moshoeshoe, the leader of the Basotho, needed to find a means to get horses and guns for his own people so they would have a chance to fight.[9] Moshoeshoe had heard of the advantages that other clans had received from having resident missionaries. Because of this, he invited three French missionaries from the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society (PEMS) to come to his country in hopes of acquiring guns through them to fight off the invaders. Thomas Arbousset, Eugene Casalis, and Constant Gosselin came to Thaba Bosiu in 1833 to share with these people the Catholic religion.[10] To this today, out of the 90% that are Christian, 45% are Catholic.[11] The effect that these men made was more than just an evangelical trip. They did end organizing a way for Moshoeshoe to get his needed guns and horses in order to fight off the Boers.
King Moshoeshoe
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moshoeshoe.jpg

            History
         
          To protect their land from the Boers, the Basotho fought a series of wars called the Free State - Boer War. These Boers were the Dutch immigrants who had come up from the Southern Cape. These wars can be separated between two wars. The Senekal’s War of 1858 and the Seqiti War, which spanned from 1865-68, were the two. The Senekal’s War started because of the tension and arguments between the land claims of who got what. In 1858, there was a formal declaration of war made by the Free State against the Basotho.[12] The Free State attacked Moshoeshoe’s stronghold at Thaba Bosiu but had little to no success. There was a peace treaty sign on October 15, 1858, but there was nothing peaceful about it.[13] The next war was the Seqiti War. This was the war that ended up shaping Lesotho's geography. In 1865 another war broke out and this time the Boers were able to easily take over. Moshoeshoe was forced to sue for peace in 1866 and the treaty of Thaba Bosiu was signed which entailed the giving of large territories to the Free State.[14] This was the war where Basutoland was needed to be placed under British protection until it later became Lesotho. Considering the small size of this country and the containment of the Basotho, this did not affect the culture much but it did shrink Lesotho’s original size down making it what it is today.
Thaba Bosiu
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Qiloane_Lesotho.jpg
           
















Bibliography

BBC News Online, "Lesotho Diamond put up for sale", BBChttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5409092.stm (accessed April 11, 2016).
Beck, Roger B. The History of South Africa. CT: Greenwood Press, 2000.
International River. “Lesotho Water Project.” 
            Internationalrivers.org. https://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/lesotho-water-project (accessed April 11, 2016).
“Lesotho.” Africa Research Bulletin 48, no. 3 (May 2011): 19048B. Accessed May 12, 2016. Wiley Online Library.
Lesotho. Washington: Superintendent of Documents, 2012, http://ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1545082094?accountid=12085. Accessed May 12, 2016.
Olivier, Willie and Olivier, Sandra. Touring in South Africa: The Great SA Road Trip Guide. SA: Struik, 2005.
One World Nations. “Lesotho.” Nationsonline.org. http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/lesotho.htm (accessed April 11, 2016).
The Lesotho Embassy in the USA. “Arrival of Missionaries.” http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/. http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/about/missionaries.php (accessed April 28, 2016).
US Department of State. “International Religious Freedom Report 2007.” State.gov.org. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2007/90104.htm (accessed April 28, 2016).
Welcome to the Mountain Kingdom. “About Lesotho.” Gov.ls. http://www.gov.ls/about/default.php (accessed April 18, 2016).
Images
Eugene Casalis (left) and Thomas Arbousset, http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/about/missionaries.php.




[1] Lesotho. Washington: Superintendent of Documents, 2012, http://ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1545082094?accountid=12085. Accessed May 12, 2016.
[2] “Lesotho.” Africa Research Bulletin 48, no. 3 (May 2011): 19048B. Accessed May 12, 2016. Wiley Online Library.
[3] Lesotho. Washington: Superintendent of Documents, 2012, http://ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1545082094?accountid=12085. Accessed May 12, 2016.
[4] Ibid.,
[5] One World Nations. “Lesotho.” Nationsonline.org. http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/lesotho.htm (accessed April 11, 2016).
[6] International River. “Lesotho Water Project.” Internationalrivers.org. https://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/lesotho-water-project (accessed April 11, 2016).
[7] BBC News Online, "Lesotho Diamond put up for sale", BBChttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5409092.stm (accessed April 11, 2016).
[8] The Lesotho Embassy in the USA. “Arrival of Missionaries.” http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/. http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/about/missionaries.php (accessed April 28, 2016).
[9] Welcome to the Mountain Kingdom. “About Lesotho.” Gov.ls. http://www.gov.ls/about/default.php (accessed April 18, 2016).
[10] The Lesotho Embassy in the USA. “Arrival of Missionaries.” http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/. http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/about/missionaries.php (accessed April 28, 2016).
[11] US Department of State. “International Religious Freedom Report 2007.” State.gov.org. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2007/90104.htm (accessed April 28, 2016).
[12] Roger B. Beck, The History of South Africa, (CT: Greenwood Press, 2000), 74.
[13] Ibid., 74.
[14] Willie Olivier and Sandra Olivier, Touring in South Africa: The Great SA Road Trip Guide, (SA: Struik, 2005) 116.





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