Yesterday, the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, stated that ‘nobody has ever heard of’ Lesotho. Of course, that’s not true, but for anyone new to Lesotho, here are some facts to get you started:
- Lesotho is an independent nation state, fully surrounded by South Africa. It is home to the Basotho people. The capital city is Maseru.
- Lesotho is a Constitutional Monarchy. Our current monarch is His Majesty King Letsie III.
- Lesotho is more than 75% mountainous, and is known as the ‘Mountain Kingdom’.
- Lesotho has the highest lowest point of any country in the world (1,400 metres).
- Lesotho has the second highest prevalence of HIV in the world at 22.7% (UNICEF)
- Lesotho is home to Kick4Life FC, a football (soccer) club, charity and social enterprise dedicated to social change which has just been shortlisted for the 2025 Laureus Sport for Good Award!
- Lesotho is twinned with Wales, through a national partnership dating to 1985. This was recently strengthened by a club twinning between Kick4Life FC in Lesotho and Wrexham AFC in Wales.
- LGBTQIA+ people in Lesotho can sometimes face hate, stigma and discrimination, including ‘blackmail, losing employment, and healthcare denial’. (NLM, 2020).
- Among its various community programmes focused on health, education, gender and employability, Kick4Life is currently delivering a project providing support to LGBTQIA+ people in Lesotho.
- Lesotho is a beautiful country with a rich culture. If you’d like to come and visit, we’d love to welcome you to stay at our social enterprise hotel – Hokahanya Inn & Conference Centre
