Background: Almost five centuries as a Portuguese colony came to a close with independence in 1975. Large-scale emigration by whites economic dependence on South Africa a severe drought and a prolonged civil war hindered the country's development. The ruling party formally abandoned Marxism in 1989 and a new constitution the following year provided for multiparty elections and a free market economy. A UN-negotiated peace agreement with rebel forces ended the fighting in 1992.

Map reference: Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total: 801,590 km²
Land: 784,090 km²

Land boundaries:

Coastline: 2,470 km
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical to subtropical

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

Natural resources: coal, titanium

Land use
Permanent crops: 0%
Meadows and pastures: 56%
Forest and woodland: 20%
Other: 20%

Irrigated land: 1,150 km² (1989 est.)

Population: 16,341,777 (July 1993 est.)
Growth rate: 6.06% (1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Mozambican(s)
Adjective: Mozambican

Ethnic groups:

Languages: Portuguese (official), indigenous dialects

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

Population growth rate: 6.06% (1993 est.)

Birth rate: 45.35 births/1000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate: 16.71 deaths/1000 population (1993 est.)

Net migration rate: 31.95 migrant(s)/1000 population (1993 est.)

Environment
Current issues: severe drought and floods occur in south; desertification

Infant mortality rate: 131.4 deaths/1000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 48.03 years
Male: 46.22 years
Female: 49.9 years (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.31 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
Total population: 33%
Male: 45%
Female: 21%

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Mozambique
Conventional short form: Mozambique
Local long form: Republica Popular de Mocambique
Local short form: Mocambique

Government type: republic

Capital: Maputo

Administrative divisions:

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: president, prime minister, Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da Republica)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

International organization participation:

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Hipolito PATRICIO
In the us chancery: Suite 570, 1990 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20,036
In the us telephone: (202) 293-7,146
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Townsend B. FRIEDMAN, Jr.
From the us embassy: Avenida Kenneth Kuanda, 193 Maputo
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 783, Maputo
From the us telephone: 258 (1) 49-27-97, 49-01-67, 49-03-50
From the us fax: 258 (1) 49-01-14

Flag description: 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, 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 has dimmed chances of foreign investment, and growth was a mere 0.3% in 1992. Living standards, already abysmally low, fell further in 1991-92.

Real gdp growth rate: 0.3% (1992 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $115 (1992 est.)

Agriculture products: 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

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

Industrial production growth rate: growth rate 5% (1989 est.)

Labor force: NA

Unemployment rate: 50% (1989 est.)

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

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports
Commodoties: shrimp 48%, cashews 21%, sugar 10%, copra 3%, citrus 3%
Partners: US, Western Europe, Germany, Japan

Imports: $899 million (c.i.f., 1991 est.)
Commodoties: food, clothing, farm equipment, petroleum
Partners: US, Western Europe, USSR

Exchange rates: meticais (Mt) per US$1 - 2,74.15 (January 1993), 2,433.34 (1992), 1,434.47 (1991), 929.00 (1990), 800.00 (1989), 528.60 (1988)

Electricity
Production: 2,270,000 kW capacity; 1,745 million kWh produced, 115 kWh per capita (1991)

Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: exchange rate conversion - $118 million, 8% of GDP (1993 est.)

Airports: 194
With permanentsurface runways: 25
With runways over 3659 m: 1
With runways 2440-3659 m: 4
With runways 1220-2439 m: 26

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

Waterways: about 3,750 km of navigable routes

Merchant marine:

Disputes international: none