River Makhaleng Gorges in the Highlands of Lesotho

Lots of collectible stamps to choose from: Great Britian, European, US, and the World! Discover best deals on many one of a kind rare stamps to collect atbargain prices. Perfect gifts for the family and loved ones!

Basutoland/ Lesotho

Lesotho (pronounced ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a land-locked country, entirely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. Formerly Basutoland, it is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. more...

Home

Africa

Asia

Commonwealth/ British...

Aden

Bahamas

Bahrain

Barbados

Basutoland/ Lesotho

Bechuanaland/ Botswana

Bermuda

British Antarctic Territory

British Guiana/ Guyana

British Honduras/ Belize

British Indian Ocean...

British Levant

British Virgin Islands

Brunei

Burma

Canada

Cayman Islands

Ceylon

Collections/ Mixture

Cook Is/ Aitutaki/ Penrhyn

Cyprus

Dominica

Falkland Is & Dependencies

Fiji

Gambia

Gibraltar

Gilbert & Ellice Is/...

Gold Coast/ Ghana

Grenada

Heligoland

Hong Kong

India

Jamaica

Kenya/ Uganda/ Tanganyika

Kuwait

Leeward Islands

Malaya/ Malaysia/ S. Setts.

Malta

Nauru

New Hebrides/ Vanuatu

New Zealand

Nigeria

Niue

Norfolk Island

North Borneo

Northern Rhodesia/ Zambia

Nyasaland/ BCA/ Malawi

Omnibus Issues

Other Commonwealth Stamps

Samoa

Sarawak

Somaliland Protectorate

South Africa

South West Africa/ Namibia

St Helena

St Kitts & Nevis

St Lucia

St Vincent/ Grenadines

Sudan

Tonga

Tuvalu

Ireland

Philately/ Postal History

Rest of the World

Thematics

United States

The name Lesotho roughly translates into "the land of the people who speak Sotho."

History

The earliest inhabitants of the area were Khoisan hunter-gatherers. They were largely replaced by Bantu-speaking tribes during Bantu migrations. The present Lesotho emerged as a single polity (state) under paramount chief Moshoeshoe I in 1822; it was recognized by Britain on 13 December 1843,and on 12 March 1868 became the High Commission Territories. On 30 April 1965 it was granted autonomy. Its name was changed when Lesotho gained full independence from the United Kingdom on October 4, 1966. In January 1970 the ruling Basotho National Party (BNP) lost the first post-independence general elections, with 23 seats to the Basutoland Congress Party's 36. Prime Minister Leabua Jonathan refused to cede power to the Basotho Congress Party (BCP), declared himself Tono Kholo (Sesotho translation of prime minister), and imprisoned the BCP leadership.

The BCP began a rebellion and then received training in Libya for its Lesotho Liberation Army (LLA) under the pretence of being Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA) soldiers of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). Deprived of arms and supplies by the Sibeko faction of the PAC in 1978, the 178-strong LLA was rescued from their Tanzanian base by the financial assistance of a Maoist PAC officer but launched the guerilla war with a handful of old weapons. The main force was defeated in northern Lesotho and thereafter guerrillas launched sporadic but usually ineffectual attacks. The campaign was severely compromised when Ntsu Mokhehle, the BCP leader, went over to Pretoria. In the early 1980s, several Basotho who sympathized with the exiled BCP were threatened with death and attacked by the government of Leabua Jonathan. In September 1981 Edgar Mahlomola Motuba was taken from his home and murdered. A few months later the family of Benjamin Masilo was attacked.

The BNP ruled by decree until January 1986 when a military coup forced them out of office. The Military Council that came into power granted executive powers to King Moshoeshoe II, who was until then a ceremonial monarch. In 1987, however, the King was forced into exile after a falling out with the army. His son was installed as King Letsie III.

The chairman of the military junta, Major General Justin Metsing Lekhanya, was ousted in 1991 and then replaced by Major General Elias Phisoana Ramaema, who handed over power to a democratically elected government of the BCP in 1993. Moshoeshoe II returned from exile in 1992 as an ordinary citizen. After the return to democratic government, King Letsie III tried unsuccessfully to persuade the BCP government to reinstate his father (Moshoeshoe II) as head of state. In August 1994, Letsie III staged a coup which was backed by the military and deposed the BCP government. The new government did not receive full international recognition. Member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) engaged in negotiations aimed at the reinstatement of the BCP government. One of the conditions put forward by the King for the return of the BCP government was that his father should be re-installed as head of state. After protracted negotiations, the BCP government was reinstated and the King abdicated in favor of his father in 1995, but Moshoeshoe II died in a car accident in 1996 and was again succeeded by his son, Letsie III. The ruling BCP split over leadership disputes in 1997.