Lesotho
Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. Constitutional government was restored in 1993 after 23 years of military rule.
Maseru, Roma, Teyateyaneng, and several other populated areas suffered significant civil disorder, looting, and violence in September 1998. Prime Minister Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili had come to power in May 1998 after his Lesotho Congress for Democracy won a landslide victory in elections. Foreign observers described the vote as acceptable but the opposition Basutoland Congress Party and Basotho National Party protested against the results. Protests turned to unrest and Mosilisi felt obliged to call for South African assistance. After an initial military fiasco in which the South Africans met unexpectedly stiff resistance, an international military force from South Africa and Botswana took control of the country and restored order at the beginning of October 1998. As in 1998, South Africa has on several other occasions intervened in Lesotho's politics.
Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa; due to scarce resources, the tiny country has historically been heavily economically dependent on South Africa. Over the decades thousands of workers have sought jobs in South African mines. A poor economy has been hard hit by Asian textile competition, and thousands of jobs in the industry have been lost.
Lesotho has had a restive, if not especially violent, period of independence with several parties, army factions and the royal family competing for power in coups and mutinies. The position of king has been reduced to a symbolic and unifying role.
Lesotho has one of the world's highest rates of HIV-Aids infection.
