Natural hazards: severe droughts and floods occur in central and southern provinces; devastating cyclones
Environment—current issues: a long civil war and recurrent drought in the hinterlands have resulted in increased migration of the population to urban and coastal areas with adverse environmental consequences; desertification; pollution of surface and coastal waters
Environment—international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
People
Population: 19,124,335 (July 1999 est.) note: the 1997 Mozambican census reported a population of 16,542,800; other estimates range as low as 16.9 million
Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (male 4,236,545; female 4,325,586)
15-64 years: 53% (male 4,941,048; female 5,181,282)
65 years and over: 2% (male 182,857; female 257,017) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.54% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 42.75 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Death rate: 17.31 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)