The Basotho people (Sotho or Basuto) are a Bantu ethnic group whose ancestors originated from southern Africa since around the fifth century.

The Lesotho nation emerged from the accomplished diplomacy of Moshoeshoe I who gathered together disparate clans of Sotho–Tswana origin that had dispersed across southern Africa in the early 19th century. Most Sotho today live in South Africa, as the area of the Orange Free State was originally part of Moshoeshoe's nation (now Lesotho).

Sotho is the first language of 1.5 million people in Lesotho, or 85% of the population. Sotho is one of the two official languages in Lesotho, the other being English. Lesotho enjoys one of Africa's highest literacy rates, with 59% of the adult population being literate chiefly in Sotho.

The vast majority of Basotho are Christian.