Lesotho the world for gender parity, while neighboring South Africa ranks 17th. Lesotho Lesotho (, ) officially the Kingdom of Lesotho () is an enclaved country within the border of South Africa. It is just over in size and has a population of around /1e6 round 0 million. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho was previously the British Crown Colony of Basutoland, but it declared independence from the United Kingdom on 4 October 1966. It is now a fully sovereign state that is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Southern African Development Community
Lesotho many regional economic organisations, including the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). It is also active in the United Nations (UN), the African Union(AU), the Non-Aligned Movement, the Commonwealth, and many other international organisations. Prince Seeiso Simoné Seeiso is the present High Commissioner of the Kingdom of Lesotho to the Court of St. James's. The UN is represented by a resident mission as well, including UNDP, UNICEF, WHO, FAO, WFP, UNFPA and UNAIDS. Lesotho also has maintained ties with the United Kingdom (Wales in particular), Germany, the United States and other Western states. Although