A camptown, in the country of
Lesotho
Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...
, refers to a district capital for one of the ten
districts of Lesotho
The Kingdom of Lesotho is divided into ten districts, each headed by a district administrator. Each district has a capital known as a camptown. The districts are further subdivided into 80 constituencies, which consist of 129 local community coun ...
. The largest camptown is the city of
Maseru
Maseru is the capital and largest city of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, Maseru lies directly on the Lesotho–South Africa border. Maseru had a population of 330,760 in the 2016 census. The ...
in
Maseru District
Maseru is a district of Lesotho. Maseru is also the name of the district's capital, and is the only city in the district and also the capital of the country. It is the largest urban area in the country, and therefore the only city. The city of ...
. Camptowns are usually commerce hubs for the district and are the location for the central government offices for the district. Camptowns usually take the same name as the district in which they are located. For example, as mentioned the camptown for Maseru is Maseru but also the camptown for
Thaba-Tseka District
Thaba-Tseka is a district of Lesotho. Thaba-Tseka is also the name of the district's capital or camptown, which is the only town in the district. In the east, Thaba-Tseka borders on the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. Domestically, it bord ...
is
Thaba-Tseka
Thaba-Tseka is the capital city or camptown of the Thaba-Tseka District in Lesotho. It has a population of 15,248 (2016 census).
Thaba-Tseka was also the subject of the case studies in James Ferguson's book ''The Anti-Politics Machine'', which i ...
. The exceptions to this rule are
Berea District : ''For the city mentioned in the Bible, see Berea (Bible).''
Berea is a Districts of Lesotho, district of Lesotho. In the west, Berea borders on the Free State (South African province), Free State Province of South Africa. Domestically, it borders ...
whose capital is called
Teyateyaneng
Teyateyaneng is a town located in the district of Berea in Lesotho. Usually abbreviated to T.Y., Teyateyaneng takes its name from the two twin rivers which run on the north (Tebe-tebe River) and the South (Teja-tejana River). Both rivers lead to ...
,
Quthing District
Quthing is a district of Lesotho. Moyeni (also known as Quthing), is the camp town or capital of the district. There are two of the most important sets of dinosaur footprints in the region. There is a large panel of Bushman paintings at Qomoqomon ...
whose capital is called
Moyeni and
Leribe District
Leribè is a district of Lesotho. It has an area of 2,828 km2 and a population in 2016 of approximately 337,500. Hlotse is the capital or camptown of the district. The district has one additional town, namely Maputsoe. In the west, Leribe bo ...
whose capital is most often called
Hlotse
Hlotse (also Leribe) is an important market town in Lesotho. It is situated on the Hlotse River, near the South African border. The town was founded in 1876 by a British missionary, Reverend John Widdicombe. It was a colonial centre until Lesoth ...
.
It presumably derives from the 19th century police camps, then (now archaic) in Sesotho ''likampo''. Official colonial government terminology was ''government reserve'', which prosaically became ''urban area'' post-independence.
Subdivisions of Lesotho
Types of administrative division
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