Lesotho may be taken as a classic case of how African countries have attempted to cope with the demands of census operations. This paper discusses in respect of Lesotho the existing cartographic base for census mapping; census organization; methodology of census taking in Lesotho; geographical planning and specific strategies evolved in census mapping for the recent 1986 population census; some of the basic problems encountered in enumeration area mapping during the 1986 census; and also the use of census enumeration areas as a frame for national household survey capability programme and post-census cartographic activities.