Mozambique

Find a country's flag, map or national anthem here. Click on a letter to find the country:

Mozambique

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name República de Moçambique/Republic of Mozambique Area 799,380 sq km/308,640 sq mi Capital Maputo (and chief port) Language Portuguese (official), 16 African languages Religion animist 48%, Muslim 20%, Roman Catholic 16%, Protestant 16% Time difference GMT +2 Major holidays 1 January, 3 February, 7 April, 1 May, 25 June, 7, 25 September, 25 December


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Beira, Nampula, Nacala, Chimoio Major ports Beira, Nacala, Quelimane Physical features mostly flat tropical lowland; mountains in west; rivers Zambezi and Limpopo Airports three international airports and 22 other airports with paved runways; total passengers carried: 281,000 (2003 est) Railways total length: 3,114 km/1,935 mi; total passenger journeys: 3.7 million (2001) Roads total road network: 30,400 km/18,890 mi, of which 18.7% paved (1999 est); passenger cars: 2.2 per 1,000 people (1998)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Armando Emilio Guebuza from 2005 Head of government Luisa Diogo from 2004 Political system emergent democracy Political executive limited presidency Administrative divisions 11 provinces Political parties National Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), free market; Renamo, or Mozambique National Resistance (MNR), former rebel movement, right of centre Death penalty abolished in 1990 Armed forces 11,200 (2006 est) Conscription two years Defence spend (% GDP) 1.4 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 2.5 (2001 est) Health spend (% GDP) 2.9 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency metical GDP (US$) 6.6 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 7.9 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 6.1 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 1,270 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 7.4% (2006 est) Labour force 53% of population: 83% agriculture, 8% industry, 9% services (1990) Foreign debt (US$) 4.7 billion (2004 est) Major trading partners South Africa, Belgium, Australia, Spain, China, Portugal, the Netherlands Resources coal, salt, bauxite, graphite; reserves of iron ore, gold, precious and semi-precious stones, marble, natural gas (all largely unexploited in 1996) Industries aluminium smelting (one of the world's top producers), food products, steel, engineering, textiles and clothing, beverages, tobacco, chemical products Exports alumimium, electricity, shrimps, lobsters and other crustaceans, cashew nuts, raw cotton, coal, sugar, sisal, copra. Principal market: Belgium 24.8% (2005) Imports machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, capital goods, crude petroleum and petroleum products, textiles, metal products, chemicals. Principal source: South Africa 58.7% (2005) Arable land 5.4% (2006 est) Agricultural products cassava, maize, bananas, rice, groundnuts, copra, cashew nuts, cotton, sugar cane; fishing (shrimps, prawns, and lobsters) is principal export activity; forest resources (eucalyptus, pine, and rare hardwoods)


POPULATION

Population 20,158,100 (2006 est) Population growth rate 1.8% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 25 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 38 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 44%, 15–59 51%, 60+ 5% (2005 est) Ethnic groups the majority belong to local groups, the largest being the Makua-Lomue, who comprise about 38% of the population; the other significant group is the Tsonga (24%) Life expectancy 42 (men); 42 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 152 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 7 Literacy rate 62% (men); 31% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 0.3 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 0.9 (2002 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 16.1 (2005 est) AIDS deaths 140,000 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 76 (urban); 24 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 0.4 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 6.2 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 44 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 21 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 0.6 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 0.7 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

1st–4th centuries AD Bantu-speaking peoples settled in Mozambique. 8th–15th century Arab gold traders established independent city-states on coast. 1498 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama was first European visitor; most important local power was Maravi kingdom of the Mwene Matapa peoples, who controlled much of the Zambezi basin. 1626 Mwene Matapa formally recognized Portuguese sovereignty. Portuguese soldiers set up private agricultural estates and used slave labour to exploit gold and ivory resources. late 17th century Portuguese temporarily pushed south of Zambezi by the ascendant Rozwi kingdom. 1752 First Portuguese colonial governor appointed; slave trade outlawed. late 19th century Concessions given by Portugal to private companies to develop and administer parts of Mozambique. 1930 Colonial Act established more centralized Portuguese rule, ending concessions to monopolistic companies and forging closer integration with Lisbon. 1951 Became overseas province of Portugal and cheap labour reserve for South Africa's mines. 1962 Frelimo (National Front for the Liberation of Mozambique) established in exile in Tanzania by Marxist guerrillas, including Samora Machel, to fight for independence. 1964 Fighting broke out between Frelimo forces and Portuguese troops, starting ten-year liberation war; Portugal despatched 70,000 troops to Mozambique. 1969 Eduardo Mondlane, leader of Frelimo, assassinated. 1975 Following revolution in Portugal, independence achieved as socialist republic, with Machel as president, Joaquim Chissano as prime minister, and Frelimo as sole legal party; Portuguese settlers left country; Lourenço Marques renamed Maputo; key enterprises nationalized. 1977 Renamo resistance group formed, with covert backing of South Africa. 1979 Machel encouraged Patriotic Front guerrillas in Rhodesia to accept Lancaster House Agreement, creating Zimbabwe. 1983 Good relations restored with Western powers. 1984 Nkomati Accord of nonaggression signed with South Africa. 1986 Machel killed in air crash near South African border; succeeded by Chissano. 1988 Tanzanian troops withdrawn from Mozambique. 1989 Renamo continued attacks on government facilities and civilians. 1990 One-party rule officially ended; Frelimo abandoned Marxist–Leninism and embraced market economy. 1992 Peace accord signed with Renamo. 1993 Price riots in Maputo as result of IMF reforms to restructure economy devastated by war and drought. 1994 Demobilization of contending armies completed; Chissano and Frelimo re-elected in first multiparty elections; Renamo agreed to cooperate with government. 1995 Mozambique admitted to Commonwealth. 2000 Severe flooding; estimated 10,000 lives and 1 million homes lost; Paris Club of rich countries agreed to suspend Mozambique's foreign debt repayment. 2001 Further flooding; another 80,000 people displaced. 2004 Frelimo candidate Armando Guebuza elected president; party retained power in parliamentary elections. 2006 G8 industrial nations agreed debt relief programme. 2007 Flooding left thousands homeless again.


© Research Machines plc 2008. All rights reserved. Helicon Publishing is a division of Research Machines plc.