The city was established as a police camp and assigned as the capital after the country became a British protectorate in 1869.

It was located 24 kilometres (15 mi) west of Basotho King Moshoeshoe I's stronghold of Thaba Bosiu, the previous de facto capital.

During their rule between 1871 and 1884, Basutoland was treated similarly to territories that had been forcefully annexed, much to the chagrin of the Basotho.

When Basutoland gained its independence and became the Kingdom of Lesotho in 1966, Maseru remained the country's capital.

[5] Prior to Lesotho's independence, Maseru had remained relatively small; it was contained within well-defined colonial boundaries and had little room for growth, while the British had little interest in developing the city.

After 1966 Maseru experienced rapid expansion: its area increased around sevenfold, from around 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi) to the current area of 138 square kilometres (53 sq mi), due to incorporation of nearby peri-urban villages to the city proper.

[5] After the 1998 parliamentary elections in Lesotho led to suspicions of vote fraud and a military intervention by South Africa, much of the city was damaged by riots and pillaging.

The city lies in a shallow valley at the foot of the Hlabeng-Sa-Likhama, foothills of the Maloti Mountains.

The average mean daily temperature during summer — from December to March in the Southern Hemisphere — is 22 °C (72 °F).

The South African N8 road leads from the Maseru Bridge border post west towards Ladybrand and Bloemfontein.

The western business district holds larger office buildings, department stores and several banks.

[1] Maseru's economy is one that is growing at a very rapid speed,[16] which is notable particularly in terms of foreign investment and tourism since independence from Britain, and economic ruin when political violence broke out in 1998.

The one to the north of the central business districts along Moshoeshoe Road holds flour mills and other major companies.

[1] Up until 2004 Maseru had a growing textile industry supported by and invested in by Chinese manufacturing concerns.