Current Environmental 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; elephant poaching for ivory is a problem

Geography

Source: CIA

Location: Southeastern Africa, bordering the Mozambique Channel, between South Africa and Tanzania

Geographic Coordinates: 18 15 S, 35 00 E

Area:

total: 801,590 sq km
land: 784,090 sq km
water: 17,500 sq km

Land Boundaries:

total: 4,571 km
border countries: 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:

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Natural Hazards: severe droughts; devastating cyclones and floods in central and southern provinces

Terrain

Mostly coastal lowlands, uplands in center, high plateaus in northwest, mountains in west

Elevation Extremes:

lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Monte Binga 2,436 m

Climate

Tropical to Subtropical

Government

Government Type: Republic

Capital: Maputo

Independence Date: 25 June 1975 (from Portugal)

Legal System: based on Portuguese civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

International Agreement

Environmental-international Agreement:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

People and Society

Population: 21,284,701

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 44.5% (male 4,762,335/female 4,711,422)
15-64 years: 52.7% (male 5,472,184/female 5,736,154)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male 251,026/female 351,580) (2008 est.)

Population Growth Rate: 1.792% (2008 est.)

Birth Rate: 38.21 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death Rate: 20.29 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net Migration Rate: NA

Life Expectancy at Birth:

total population: 41.04 years
male: 41.62 years
female: 40.44 years (2008 est.)

Total Fertility Rate: 5.24 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Languages: Emakhuwa 26.1%, Xichangana 11.3%, Portuguese 8.8% (official; spoken by 27% of population as a second language), Elomwe 7.6%, Cisena 6.8%, Echuwabo 5.8%, other Mozambican languages 32%, other foreign languages 0.3%, unspecified 1.3% (1997 census)

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 47.8%
male: 63.5%
female: 32.7% (2003 est.)

Water

Total Renewable Water Resources: 216 cu km (1992)

Freshwater Withdrawal (domestic, industrial, agricultural):

total: 0.63 cu km/yr (11%/2%/87%)
per capita: 32 cu m/yr (2000)

Agriculture

Agricultural Products: cotton, cashew nuts, sugarcane, tea, cassava (tapioca), corn, coconuts, sisal, citrus and tropical fruits, potatoes, sunflowers; beef, poultry

Irrigated Land: 1,180 sq km (2003)

Resources

Natural Resources: coal, titanium, natural gas, hydropower, tantalum, graphite

Land Use:

arable land: 5.43%
permanent crops: 0.29%
other: 94.28% (2005)

Energy

Health

Prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 12.2% (2003 est.)

Major Infectious Diseases:

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and plague
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008)

Contact

International Disputes: none

Trafficking in Persons:

current situation: Mozambique is a source and, to a much lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation; the use of forced and bonded child laborers is a common practice in Mozambique's rural areas; women and girls are trafficked from rural to urban areas of Mozambique, as well as to South Africa, for domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation; young men and boys are trafficked to South Africa for farm work and mining
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - for the second consecutive year, Mozambique is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking in 2007; while the government conducted investigations into cases of human trafficking, there were no prosecutions or convictions of traffickers; government efforts to protect victims of trafficking continued to suffer from limited resources and a lack of political commitment (2008)

Illicit Drugs: southern African transit point for South Asian hashish and heroin, and South American cocaine probably destined for the European and South African markets; producer of cannabis (for local consumption) and methaqualone (for export to South Africa); corruption and poor regulatory capability makes the banking system vulnerable to money laundering, but the lack of a well-developed financial infrastructure limits the country's utility as a money-laundering center

Economy

At independence in 1975, Mozambique was one of the world's poorest countries. Socialist mismanagement and a brutal civil war from 1977-92 exacerbated the situation. In 1987, the government embarked on a series of macroeconomic reforms designed to stabilize the economy. These steps, combined with donor assistance and with political stability since the multi-party elections in 1994, have led to dramatic improvements in the country's growth rate. Inflation was reduced to single digits during the late 1990s, and although it returned to double digits in 2000-06, in 2007 inflation had slowed to 8%, while GDP growth reached 7.5%. Fiscal reforms, including the introduction of a value-added tax and reform of the customs service, have improved the government's revenue collection abilities. In spite of these gains, Mozambique remains dependent upon foreign assistance for much of its annual budget, and the majority of the population remains below the poverty line. Subsistence agriculture continues to employ the vast majority of the country's work force. A substantial trade imbalance persists although the opening of the Mozal aluminum smelter, the country's largest foreign investment project to date, has increased export earnings. At the end of 2007, and after years of negotiations, the government took over Portugal's majority share of the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectricity (HCB) company, a dam that was not transferred to Mozambique at independence because of the ensuing civil war and unpaid debts. More power is needed for additional investment projects in titanium extraction and processing and garment manufacturing that could further close the import/export gap. Mozambique's once substantial foreign debt has been reduced through forgiveness and rescheduling under the IMF's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and Enhanced HIPC initiatives, and is now at a manageable level. In July 2007 the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) signed a Compact with Mozambique; the Mozambican government moved rapidly to ratify the Compact and propose a plan for funding.

GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $17.02 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $7.559 billion (2007 est.)

GDP- real growth rate: 7% (2007 est.)

GDP- per capita (PPP): $800 (2007 est.)

GDP- composition by sector:

agriculture: 23%
industry: 30.1%
services: 46.8% (2007 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line: 70% (2001 est.)

Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share:

lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 39.4% (2002)

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

Exports: aluminum, prawns, cashews, cotton, sugar, citrus, timber; bulk electricity

Export Partners: Italy 19.6%, Belgium 18.6%, South Africa 16.5%, Spain 12.6%, China 4.1% (2006)

Imports: machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, chemicals, metal products, foodstuffs, textiles

Import Partners: South Africa 36.8%, Australia 6.1%, China 4.6% (2006)

Economic Aid Recipient: $1.286 billion (2005)

Currency: metical (MZM)

Communications

Telephones- main line in use: 67,000 (2006)

Telephones- mobile/cellular: 3.3 million (2007)

Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 13, FM 17, shortwave 11 (2001)

Television Broadcast Stations: 1 (2000)

Internet Hosts: 15,231 (2007)

Internet Users: 178,000 (2005)

Transportation

Airports: 147 (2007)

Pipelines: gas 964 km; refined products 278 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 3,123 km
narrow gauge: 2,983 km 1.067-m gauge; 140 km 0.762-m gauge (2006)

Roadways:

total: 30,400 km
paved: 5,685 km
unpaved: 24,715 km (2000)

Ports and Terminals: Beira, Maputo, Nacala