Lesotho People 2001

Population: 2,177,062
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 2001 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 39.28% (male 430,147; female 424,994)
15-64 years: 56.03% (male 588,440; female 631,404)
65 years and over: 4.69% (male 43,033; female 59,044) (2001 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.49% (2001 est.)

Birth rate: 31.24 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Death rate: 15.7 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.63 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2001 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 82.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 48.84 years
male: 47.97 years
female: 49.74 years (2001 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.08 children born/woman (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 23.57% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 240,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 16,000 (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Mosotho (singular), Basotho (plural)
adjective: Basotho

Ethnic groups: Sotho 99.7%, Europeans, Asians, and other 0.3%,

Religions: Christian 80%, indigenous beliefs 20%

Languages: Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83%
male: 72%
female: 93% (1999 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Lesotho on this page is re-published from the 2001 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Lesotho People 2001 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Lesotho People 2001 should be addressed to the CIA.