Mozambique

[Country map of Mozambique]

Map ©1996 NGS Cartographic Division. Developed in association with GeoSystems Global Corp. World Map

Geography

Location: Southern Africa, bordering the Mozambique Channel, between South Africa and Tanzania

Map references: Africa

Area:
total area: 801,590 sq km
land area: 784,090 sq km
comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of California

Land boundaries: total 4,571 km, Malawi 1,569 km, South Africa 491 km, Swaziland 105 km, Tanzania 756 km, Zambia 419 km, Zimbabwe 1,231 km

Coastline: 2,470 km

Climate: tropical to subtropical

Terrain: mostly coastal lowlands, uplands in center, high plateaus in northwest, mountains in west

Naturalresources: coal, titanium

Land use:
arable land: 4%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 56%
forest and woodland: 20%
other: 20%

Irrigated land: 1,150 sq km (1989 est.)


People

Population: 18,115,250 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (female 4,069,117; male 4,078,429)
15-64 years: 53% (female 4,882,292; male 4,630,193)
65 years and over: 2% (female 260,057; male 195,162) (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.87% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 44.6 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 15.94 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: NA migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
note: by the end of 1994, an estimated 1.6 million Mozambican refugees, who fled to Malawi, Zimbabwa, and SouthAfrica in earlier years from the civil war, had returned; an estimated 100,000 refugees remain to be repatriated from those countries

Infant mortality rate: 126 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 48.95 years
male: 47.04 years
female: 50.92 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.19 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Mozambican(s)
adjective: Mozambican

Ethnic divisions: indigenous tribal groups, Europeans about 10,000, Euro-Africans 35,000, Indians 15,000

Religions: indigenous beliefs 60%, Christian 30%, Muslim 10%

Languages: Portuguese (official), indigenous dialects

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population: 33%
male: 45%
female: 21%

Labor force: NA
by occupation: 90% engaged in agriculture


Government

Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Mozambique
conventional short form: Mozambique
local long form: Republica Popular de Mocambique
local short form: Mocambique

Digraph: MZ

Type: republic

Capital: Maputo

Administrative divisions: 10 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Cabo Delgado, Gaza, Inhambane, Manica, Maputo, Nampula, Niassa, Sofala, Tete, Zambezia

Independence: 25 June 1975 (from Portugal)

National holiday: Independence Day, 25 June (1975)

Constitution: 30 November 1990

Legal system: based on Portuguese civil law system and customary law

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal


Economy

Overview: One of Africa's poorest countries, Mozambique has failed to exploit the economic potential of its sizable agricultural, hydropower, and transportation resources. Indeed, national output, consumption, and investment declined throughout the first half of the 1980s because of internal disorders, lack of government administrative control, and a growing foreign debt. A sharp increase in foreign aid, attracted by an economic reform policy, resulted in successive years of economic growth in the late 1980s, but aid has declined steadily since 1989. Agricultural output is at only 75% of its 1981 level, and grain has to be imported. Industry operates at only 20%-40% of capacity. The economy depends heavily on foreign assistance to keep afloat. Peace accords signed in October 1992 improved chances of foreign investment, aided IMF-supported economic reforms, and supported continued economic recovery. Elections held in 1994 diverted government attention from the economy, resulting in slippage and delays in the economic reform program. Nonetheless, growth in 1994 was solid and can continue into the late 1990s given continued foreign help in meeting debt obligations.

National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $10.6 billion (1994 est.)

National product real growth rate: 5.8% (1994 est.)

National product per capita: $610 (1994 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 50% (1994 est.)

Unemployment rate: 50% (1989 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $252 million
expenditures: $607 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992 est.)

Exports: $150 million (f.o.b., 1994 est.)
commodities: shrimp 40%, cashews, cotton, sugar, copra, citrus
partners: Spain, South Africa, US, Portugal, Japan

Imports: $1.14 billion (c.i.f., 1994 est.)
commodities: food, clothing, farm equipment, petroleum
partners: South Africa, UK, France, Japan, Portugal

External debt: $5 billion (1992 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 5% (1989 est.)

Electricity:
capacity: 2,360,000 kW
production: 1.7 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 58 kWh (1993)

Industries: food, beverages, chemicals (fertilizer, soap, paints), petroleum products, textiles, nonmetallic mineral products (cement, glass, asbestos), tobacco

Agriculture: accounts for 50% of GDP and about 90% of exports; cash crops - cotton, cashew nuts, sugarcane, tea, shrimp; other crops - cassava, corn, rice, tropical fruits; not self-sufficient in food

Currency: 1 metical (Mt) = 100 centavos

Fiscal year: calendar year


Transportation

Railroads:
total: 3,288 km
narrow gauge: 3,140 km 1.067-m gauge; 148 km 0.762-m gauge

Highways:
total: 26,498 km
paved: 4,593 km
unpaved: gravel, crushed stone, stabilized earth 829 km; unimproved earth 21,076 km

Inland waterways: about 3,750 km of navigable routes

Pipelines: crude oil (not operating) 306 km; petroleum products 289 km

Ports: Beira, Inhambane, Maputo, Nacala, Pemba

Merchant marine:
total: 3 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 4,533 GRT/8,024 DWT

Airports:
total: 192
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 11
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 5
with paved runways under 914 m: 112
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 15
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 44

Note:
note: highway traffic impeded by land mines not removed at end of civil war


Flag by Dream Maker Software, Inc.
Information obtained from CIA, The World Factbook 1995