:Mozambique Geography
Total area:
801,590 km2
Land area:
784,090 km2
Comparative area:
slightly less than twice the size of California
Land boundaries:
4,571 km total; 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
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 NEGL%; meadows and pastures 56%; forest and
woodland 20%; other 20%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment:
severe drought and floods occur in south; desertification
:Mozambique People
Population:
15,469,150 (July 1992), growth rate 4.1% (1992); note - 1.5 million
Mozambican refugees; 900,000 in Malawi (1991 est.)
Birth rate:
46 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
17 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
12 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
134 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
46 years male, 49 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
6.4 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Mozambican(s); adjective - Mozambican
Ethnic divisions:
majority from 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); many indigenous dialects
Literacy:
33% (male 45%, female 21%) age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force:
NA, but 90% engaged in agriculture
Organized labor:
225,000 workers belong to a single union, the Mozambique Workers'
Organization (OTM)
:Mozambique Government
Long-form name:
Republic of Mozambique
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)
Constitution:
30 November 1990
Legal system:
based on Portuguese civil law system and customary law
National holiday:
Independence Day, 25 June (1975)
Executive branch:
president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch:
unicameral Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da Republica)
Judicial branch:
People's Courts at all levels
Leaders:
Chief of State:
President Joaquim Alberto CHISSANO (since 6 November 1986)
Head of Government:
Prime Minister Mario da Graca MACHUNGO (since 17 July 1986)
Political parties and leaders:
Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) - formerly a Marxist
organization with close ties to the USSR - was the only legal party before
30 November 1990 when the new Constitution went into effect establishing a
multiparty system; note - the government plans multiparty elections as early
as 1993; 14 parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party of Mozambique
(PALMO), the Mozambique National Union (UNAMO), and the Mozambique National
Movement (MONAMO) have already emerged
Suffrage:
universal adult at age 18
Elections:
draft electoral law provides for periodic, direct presidential and Assembly
elections
Communists:
about 200,000 FRELIMO members; note - FRELIMO no longer considers itself a
Communist party
Member of:
ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, FAO, FLS, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF,
INMARSAT, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, SADCC, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador Hipolito PATRICIO; Chancery at Suite 570, 1990 M Street NW,
Washington, DC 20036; telephone (202) 293-7146
US:
Ambassador Townsend B. FRIEDMAN, Jr.; Embassy at Avenida Kenneth Kuanda, 193
Maputo (mailing address is P. O. Box 783, Maputo); telephone [258] (1)
49-27-97, 49-01-67, 49-03-50; FAX [258] (1) 49-01-14
:Mozambique Government
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
:Mozambique 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, has resulted in successive years of economic growth since
1985. Agricultural output, nevertheless, is at about 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.
The continuation of civil strife through 1991 has dimmed chances of foreign
investment, and growth was a mere 1%. Living standards, already abysmally
low, dropped by 3-4% in both 1990 and 1991.
GDP:
exchange rate conversion - $1.7 billion, per capita $120; real growth rate
1.0% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
40.5% (1990 est.)
Unemployment rate:
50% (1989 est.)
Budget:
revenues $369 million; expenditures $860 million, including capital
expenditures of $432 million (1989 est.)
Exports:
$117 million (f.o.b., 1990 est.)
commodities:
shrimp 48%, cashews 21%, sugar 10%, copra 3%, citrus 3%
partners:
US, Western Europe, GDR, Japan
Imports:
$870 million (c.i.f., 1990 est.), including aid
commodities:
food, clothing, farm equipment, petroleum
partners:
US, Western Europe, USSR
External debt:
$4.9 billion (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 5% (1989 est.)
Electricity:
2,270,000 kW capacity; 1,745 million kWh produced, 115 kWh per capita (1991)
Industries:
food, beverages, chemicals (fertilizer, soap, paints), petroleum products,
textiles, nonmetallic mineral products (cement, glass, asbestos), tobacco
Agriculture:
accounts for 80% of the labor force, 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:
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:
metical (plural - meticais); 1 metical (Mt) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates:
meticais (Mt) per US$1 - 2,358 (1 May 1992), 1,811.18 (1991), 929.00 (1990),
800.00 (1989), 528.60 (1988), 289.44 (1987)