Mozambique

Airports

total: 194 usable: 134 with permanent-surface runways: 24 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 5 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 28

Highways

total: 26,498 km paved: 4,593 km unpaved: gravel, crushed stone, stabilized earth 829 km; unimproved earth 21,076 km

Inland waterways

about 3,750 km of navigable routes

Merchant marine

4 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,686 GRT/9,742 DWT

Pipelines

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

Ports

Maputo, Beira, Nacala

Railroads

3,288 km total; 3,140 km 1.067-meter gauge; 148 km 0.762-meter narrow gauge; Malawi-Nacala, Malawi-Beira, and Zimbabwe-Maputo lines are subject to closure because of insurgency

Telecommunications

fair system of troposcatter, open-wire lines, and radio relay; broadcast stations - 29 AM, 4 FM, 1 TV; earth stations - 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 3 domestic Indian Ocean INTELSAT

Branches

Army, Naval Command, Air and Air Defense Forces, Militia note: as of early 1994, Mozambique was demobilizing and reorganizing its defence forces

Defense expenditures

exchange rate conversion - $118 million, 8% of GDP (1993)

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 3,890,532; fit for military service 2,233,824

Agriculture

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

Budget

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

Currency

1 metical (Mt) = 100 centavos

Economic aid

recipient: 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

Electricity

capacity: 2,270,000 kW production: 1.745 billion kWh consumption per capita: 115 kWh (1991)

Exchange rates

meticais (Mt) per US$1 - 4,941.3 (October 1993), 2,550.40 (1992), 1,763.99 (1991), 1,053.09 (1990), 844.34 (1989)

Exports

$164.4 million (f.o.b., 1993 est.) commodities: shrimp 48%, cashews 21%, sugar 10%, copra 3%, citrus 3% partners: US, Western Europe, Germany, Japan

External debt

$5 billion (1992 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Imports

$1.03 billion (c.i.f., 1993 est.) commodities: food, clothing, farm equipment, petroleum partners: US, Western Europe, USSR

Industrial production

growth rate 5% (1989 est.)

Industries

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

40% (1993 est.)

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $9.8 billion (1993 est.)

National product per capita

$600 (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate

4.1% (1993 est.)

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.

Unemployment rate

50% (1989 est.)

Area

total area: 801,590 sq km land area: 784,090 sq km comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of California

Climate

tropical to subtropical

Coastline

2,470 km

Environment

current issues: civil strife in the hinterlands has resulted in increased migration to urban and coastal areas with adverse environmental consequences; desertification; pollution of surface and coastal waters natural hazards: severe drought and floods occur in central and southern provinces international agreements: party to - Endangered Species; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

1,150 sq km (1989 est.)

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

Land use

arable land: 4% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 56% forest and woodland: 20% other: 20%

Location

Southern Africa, bordering the Mozambique Channel between South Africa and Tanzania opposite the island of Madagascar

Map references

Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

coal, titanium

Terrain

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

Administrative divisions

10 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Cabo Delgado, Gaza, Inhambane, Manica, Maputo, Nampula, Niassa, Sofala, Tete, Zambezia

Capital

Maputo

Constitution

30 November 1990

Digraph

MZ

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission: Ambassador Hipolito Pereira Zozimo PATRICIO chancery: Suite 570, 1990 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: (202) 293-7146

Executive branch

chief of state: President Joaquim Alberto CHISSANO (since 6 November 1986) head of government: Prime Minister Mario da Graca MACHUNGO (since 17 July 1986) cabinet: Cabinet

FAX

(202) 835-0245

FAX

[258] (1) 49-01-14

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

Independence

25 June 1975 (from Portugal)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

based on Portuguese civil law system and customary law

Legislative branch

unicameral Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da Republica); draft electoral law provides for periodic, direct presidential and Assembly elections

Member of

ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, FAO, FLS, G-77, GATT, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INMARSAT, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO

Names

conventional long form: Republic of Mozambique conventional short form: Mozambique local long form: Republica Popular de Mocambique local short form: Mocambique

National holiday

Independence Day, 25 June (1975)

Political parties and leaders

Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), Joaquim Alberto CHISSANO, chairman; formerly a Marxist organization with close ties to the USSR; FRELIMO was the only legal party before 30 November 1990, when the new Constitution went into effect establishing a multiparty system note: under the terms of the 1992 peace accords multiparty elections are scheduled for October 1994; 11 parties, including the Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO), Alfonso DHLAKAMA, president, are registered to participate

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission: Ambassador Dennis JETT embassy: Avenida Kenneth Kuanda, 193 Maputo mailing address: P. O. Box 783, Maputo telephone: [258] (1) 49-27-97

Birth rate

44.97 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

16.33 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

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

Infant mortality rate

128.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

NA by occupation: 90% engaged in agriculture

Languages

Portuguese (official), indigenous dialects

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 48.49 years male: 46.63 years female: 50.41 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1990 est.) total population: 33% male: 45% female: 21%

Nationality

noun: Mozambican(s) adjective: Mozambican

Net migration rate

30.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

17,346,280 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

5.87% (1994 est.)

Religions

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

Total fertility rate

6.25 children born/woman (1994 est.)