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

Area
Total area total: 801,590 km²
Land: 784,090 km²
Comparative: slightly less than twice the size of California

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

Coastline: 2,470 km

Maritime claims
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
Arable land: 4%
Permanent crops: 0%
Meadows and pastures: 56%
Forest and woodland: 20%
Other: 20%

Irrigated land: 1,150 km² (1989 est.)

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

Population: 18,115,250 (July 1995 est.)
Growth rate: 2.87% (1995 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Mozambican(s)
Adjective: Mozambican

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

Languages: Portuguese (official), indigenous dialects

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

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.)

Population growth rate: 2.87% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 44.6 births/1000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 15.94 deaths/1000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: NA migrant(s)/1000 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

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
Current issues natural hazards: severe droughts and floods occur in central and southern provinces; devastating cyclones
Current issues international agreements: party to - Endangered Species, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

Infant mortality rate: 126 deaths/1000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 48.95 years
Male: 47.04 years
Female: 50.92 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.19 children born/woman (1995 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: 10 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia; Cabo Delgado, Gaza, Inhambane, Manica, Maputo, Nampula, Niassa, Sofala, Tete, Zambezia

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
Chief of state: President Joaquim Alberto CHISSANO (since 6 November 1986)
Head of government: Prime Minister Pascoal MOCUMBI (since December 1994)
Cabinet: Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral
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

Judicial branch: Supreme Court

International organization participation: 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

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Hipolito Pereira Zozimo PATRICIO
In the us chancery: Suite 570, 1990 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20,036
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 293-7,146
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 835-0245
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Dennis Coleman JETT
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) 492,797
From the us FAX: [258] (1) 490,114

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 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.

Real gdp growth rate: 5.8% (1994 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $610 (1994 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: 5% (1989 est.)

Labor force: NA
By occupation: 90% engaged in agriculture

Unemployment rate: 50% (1989 est.)

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

Fiscal year: calendar year

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

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

Debt external: $5 billion (1992 est.)

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)

Electricity
Capacity: 2,360,000 kW
Production: 1.7 billion kWh
Production consumption per capita: 58 kWh (1993)

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

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $110 million, 7.3% of GDP (1993)

Airports: 192
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 4
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 11
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 5
With paved runways under 914 m: 112
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2438 m: 15
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 44

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

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

Disputes international: none