Irrigated land: 30 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: periodic droughts
Environment - current issues: population pressure forcing settlement in marginal areas results in overgrazing, severe soil erosion, and soil exhaustion; desertification; Highlands Water Project controls, stores, and redirects water to South Africa
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping
Geography - note: landlocked; surrounded by South Africa
@Lesotho:People
Population: 2,143,141 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2000 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 40% (male 426,556; female 421,563) 15-64 years: 56% (male 575,580; female 619,280) 65 years and over: 4% (male 42,274; female 57,888) (2000 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.65% (2000 est.)
Birth rate: 31.74 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)