Lesotho — World Gazetteer, 2005 edition
Lesotho had an estimated population of 2,393,207 in 2005, with 11 places recorded. Archived from the World Gazetteer, the reference work formerly published at this domain.
For current figures: Lesotho today — population now 2,389,336, against 2,393,207 in 2005.
| Source | 2005 | Now | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Gazetteer (the work cited) | 2,393,207 | — | — |
| UN World Population Prospects | 1,953,076 | 2,389,336 | +22% |
The two sources differ by 23% for 2005. The Gazetteer figure is the one the citation you followed refers to; the UN pair is the like-for-like comparison.
Cities and towns, 2005
| # | Place | Region | Population (2005) | Today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maseru | Maseru | 118,355 | — |
| 2 | Mafeteng | Mafeteng | 57,059 | 45,287 now |
| 3 | Hlotse | Leribe | 47,675 | 43,967 now |
| 4 | Mohaleʿs Hoek | Mohaleʿs Hoek | 40,514 | 46,593 now |
| 5 | Maputsoa | Leribe | 32,117 | — |
| 6 | Qachaʿs Nek | Qachaʿs Nek | 25,573 | 25,573 now |
| 7 | Quthing | Quthing | 24,130 | 33,910 now |
| 8 | Butha Buthe | Butha-Buthe | 16,330 | 40,599 now |
| 9 | Mokhotlong | Mokhotlong | 8,809 | 14,461 now |
| 10 | Thaba-Tseka | Thaba-Tseka | 5,423 | — |
| 11 | Teyateyaneng | Berea | 5,115 | — |
The Today column links to our current page for the same place, where one matches by name and plausible size; the figure shown there is today's, never 2005's. A dash means no confident match, which is more honest than a guessed link.
Administrative divisions, 2005
| # | Name | Population (2005) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leribe | 414,314 |
| 2 | Mohaleʿs Hoek | 393,818 |
| 3 | Mafeteng | 351,601 |
| 4 | Maseru | 316,155 |
| 5 | Quthing | 228,800 |
| 6 | Butha-Buthe | 188,480 |
| 7 | Thaba-Tseka | 158,144 |
| 8 | Mokhotlong | 149,044 |
| 9 | Qachaʿs Nek | 125,988 |
| 10 | Berea | 66,863 |
The complete dataset is available as a free CSV download, with attribution to Stefan Helders / World Gazetteer.