1995 Edition

Area

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

Climate

tropical to subtropical

Coastline

2,470 km

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

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

1,150 sq km (1989 est.)

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

Land use

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

Location

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

Map references

Africa

Maritime claims

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

coal, titanium

Terrain

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

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.)

Birth rate

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

Death rate

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

Ethnic divisions

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

Infant mortality rate

126 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Labor force

NA by occupation: 90% engaged in agriculture

Languages

Portuguese (official), indigenous dialects

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 48.95 years male: 47.04 years female: 50.92 years (1995 est.)

Literacy

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

Nationality

noun: Mozambican(s) adjective: Mozambican

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

Population

18,115,250 (July 1995 est.)

Population growth rate

2.87% (1995 est.)

Religions

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

Total fertility rate

6.19 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Administrative divisions

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

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

Capital

Maputo

Constitution

30 November 1990

Digraph

MZ

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

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

FAX

[1] (202) 835-0245

[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

Independence

25 June 1975 (from Portugal)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

based on Portuguese civil law system and customary law

Legislative branch

unicameral

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

Names

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

National holiday

Independence Day, 25 June (1975)

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

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

republic

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

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

Budget

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

Currency

1 metical (Mt) = 100 centavos

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

Electricity

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

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)

Exports

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

External debt

$5 billion (1992 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Imports

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

Industrial production

growth rate 5% (1989 est.)

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

50% (1994 est.)

National product

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

National product per capita

$610 (1994 est.)

National product real growth rate

5.8% (1994 est.)

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.

Unemployment rate

50% (1989 est.)

Radio

broadcast stations: AM 29, FM 4, shortwave 0 radios: NA

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

Television

broadcast stations: 1 televisions: NA

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

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

Merchant marine

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

Note

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

Pipelines

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

Ports

Beira, Inhambane, Maputo, Nacala, Pemba

Railroads

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

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

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $110 million, 7.3% of GDP (1993) ________________________________________________________________________ NAMIBIA

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 4,061,109; males fit for military service 2,331,793 (1995 est.)