Africa · Southern Africa
Lesotho
Lesotho covers about 30,100 km² (11,600 mi²), the 142nd largest of the 246 places listed here. That is close to Armenia, at about 29,600 km².
- 30,100km²Area, main territory
- 2.0 millionPopulation
- 0.98In Belgiums
50 km
- Lesotho
Facts
| Area, main territory | 30,100 km²11,600 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 30,400 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| In Belgiums | 0.98 |
| Capital | Maseru |
| Population | 2.0 millionWikidata, 2016 |
| Density | 67 people per km² |
| Latitude range | 31°S to 29°S |
| In other languages | Lesoto Español · Lesoto Português · レソト 日本語 · 莱索托 中文 · 레소토 한국어 |
| Continent | Africa#45 of 54 countries by area |
What the numbers say about Lesotho
- Russia, the largest place listed, is 564× the size of Lesotho.
- At 67 people per km², Lesotho is the 102nd most densely populated of the 185 places over 1,000 km²; the median is 72 per km².
- On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 30°S is drawn about 1.3× too large in area, so Lesotho looks bigger there than it is.
- Laid out flat, Lesotho's main territory stretches about 232 km north to south and 236 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 30,400 km² agrees with our measured area of 30,100 km², to within 2%.
How Lesotho measures up
Lesotho holds 0.1% of the land area and 0.1% of the people of the 54 countries listed for Africa. In Southern Africa it is the 4th largest of 5.
| Where it ranks | Figure | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 30,100 km² | 141st of 239 |
| Population | 2.0 million | 148th of 237 |
| Density | 67 per km² | 102nd of 185 |
| Farthest north | 29.6°S | 207th of 212 |
| Compared with | Its area | Lesotho is |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 30,700 km² | 0.98× its size |
| United Kingdom | 244,000 km² | 0.12× its size |
| Germany | 358,000 km² | 0.08× its size |
| Japan | 374,000 km² | 0.08× its size |
| France | 548,000 km² | 0.05× its size |
| India | 3,151,000 km² | 0.01× its size |
| Brazil | 8,473,000 km² | 1 in 281 its size |
| United States | 9,447,000 km² | 1 in 314 its size |
| Russia | 16,980,000 km² | 1 in 564 its size |
Where Lesotho sits
- Lesotho's centre lies at 29.6°S, 28.2°E, in the southern and eastern hemispheres, about 3,290 km from the equator.
- Its main territory spans 31°S to 29°S, about 230 km from its southern edge to its northern.
Closest neighbours, by distance between centres
If Lesotho had other densities
- At Bangladesh's density of 1,252 people per km², Lesotho would have 37.7 million people. It has 2.0 million.
- At Canada's density of 3.7 people per km², Lesotho would have 112,000 people. It has 2.0 million.
- At the median density of the places listed, 72 per km², it would have 2.2 million.
About the same size as
Largest in Africa
Compare Lesotho
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Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded
- Official figures
- Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-11
- Population
- Wikidata, 2016; covers the whole country, overseas territory included
- Data built
- 2026-11-11