MOZAMBIQUE
Geography People Government Economy Transportation Communications Defense Forces
MOZAMBIQUE
@Mozambique:Geography
Location: Southern Africa, bordering the Mozambique Channel, between
South Africa and Tanzania
Map references: Africa
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MOZAMBIQUE - MAJOR CITIES
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Latitude, Internat'l Time
Population Longitude Phone Code Zone
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MAPUTO 1,070,000 25.58S, 32.35E 258- GMT+2
Beira 292,000 19.49S, 34.52E 258- GMT+2
Nampula 197,000 15.07S, 39.15E 258- GMT+2
Nacala 102,000 14.33S, 40.40E 258- GMT+2
Machaze 46,000 20.51S, 33.26E 258- GMT+2
Mandie 26,000 16.30S, 33.31E 258- GMT+2
Chibuto 26,000 24.40S, 33.33E 258- GMT+2
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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
Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
International disputes: none
Climate: tropical to subtropical
Terrain: mostly coastal lowlands, uplands in center, high plateaus in
northwest, mountains in west
Natural resources: 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.)
Environment:
current issues: civil strife and recurrent drought in the hinterlands
have resulted in increased migration to urban and coastal areas with
adverse environmental consequences; desertification; pollution of
surface and coastal waters
natural hazards: severe droughts and floods occur in central and
southern provinces; devastating cyclones
international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Ozone Layer
Protection; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Law of the Sea
@Mozambique: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 South Africa 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
@Mozambique: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
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Joaquim Alberto CHISSANO (since 6 November
1986)
head of government: Prime Minister Pascoal MOCUMBI (since December
1994)
cabinet: Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral
Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da Republica): draft electoral
law provides for periodic, direct presidential and Assembly elections
note: as called for in the 1992 peace accords, presidential and
legislative elections took place during 27-29 October 1994; fourteen
parties, including the Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO)
participated; Joaquim Alberto CHISSANO was elected president and his
FRELIMO party gathered a slim majority in the 250 seat legislature
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders: Front for the Liberation of Mozambique
(FRELIMO), Joaquim Alberto CHISSANO, chairman; the ruling party since
independence, FRELIMO was the only legal party before 30 November 1990
when the new Constitution went into effect establishing a multiparty
system
Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, FAO, FLS, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO,
ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, SADC, UN, UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Hipolito Pereira Zozimo PATRICIO
chancery: Suite 570, 1990 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
telephone: [1] (202) 293-7146
FAX: [1] (202) 835-0245
US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Dennis Coleman JETT
embassy: Avenida Kenneth Kuanda, 193 Maputo
mailing address: P. O. Box 783, Maputo
telephone: [258] (1) 492797
FAX: [258] (1) 490114
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of green (top), black, and yellow
with a red isosceles triangle based on the hoist side; the black band
is edged in white; centered in the triangle is a yellow five-pointed
star bearing a crossed rifle and hoe in black superimposed on an open
white book
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
Economic aid:
recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $350 million;
Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-89), $4.4 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $37 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $890 million
Currency: 1 metical (Mt) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: meticais (Mt) per US$1 - 5,220.63 (1st quarter 1994),
3,874.24 (1993), 2,550.40 (1992), 1,763.99 (1991), 1,053.09 (1990)
Fiscal year: calendar year
@Mozambique: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
@Mozambique:Communications
Telephone system: NA telephone density; fair system of troposcatter,
open-wire lines, and radio relay
local: NA
intercity: microwave radio relay and tropospheric scatter
international: 5 INTELSAT (2 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean) earth
stations
Radio:
broadcast stations: AM 29, FM 4, shortwave 0
radios: NA
Television:
broadcast stations: 1
televisions: NA
@Mozambique:Defense Forces
Branches: Army, Naval Command, Air and Air Defense Forces, Militia;
note - by late 1994, the army and former RENAMO rebels had
demobilized; under UN supervision and training, recruits from both the
army and rebel forces joined an integrated force that is still forming
Manpower availability: males age 15-49 4,061,109; males fit for
military service 2,331,793 (1995 est.)
Defense expenditures: exchange rate conversion - $110 million, 7.3% of
GDP (1993)
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