Airports [time series]

203 total, 153 usable; 27 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 29 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air [time series]

5 major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

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

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

about 3,750 km of navigable routes

Merchant marine [time series]

5 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 7,806 GRT/12,873 DWT

Pipelines [time series]

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

Ports [time series]

Maputo, Beira, Nacala

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

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

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

fair system of troposcatter, open-wire lines, and radio relay; 57,400 telephones; stations--15 AM, 3 FM, 1 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 3 domestic

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Mozambique Armed Forces (including Army, Border Guard, Naval Command, Air Defense Forces)

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

8.4% of GDP (1987)

Military manpower [time series]

males 15-49, 3,295,067; 1,892,699 fit for military service

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounts for 50% of GDP, over 80% of labor force, 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

Aid [time series]

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $282 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $3.1 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $37 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $887 million

Budget [time series]

revenues $186 million; expenditures $239 million, including capital expenditures of $208 million (1988 est.)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

metical (plural--meticais); 1 metical (Mt) = 100 centavos

Electricity [time series]

2,265,000 kW capacity; 1,740 million kWh produced, 120 kWh per capita (1989)

Exchange rates [time series]

meticais (Mt) per US$1--800 (September 1989), 528.60 (1988), 289.44 (1987), 40.43 (1986), 43.18 (1985)

Exports [time series]

$100 million (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--shrimp 48%, cashews 21%, sugar 10%, copra 3%, citrus 3%; partners--US, Western Europe, GDR, Japan

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$4.4 billion (1988)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

$1.6 billion, per capita less than $110; real growth rate 5.0% (1988)

Imports [time series]

$764 million (c.i.f., 1988), including aid; commodities--food, clothing, farm equipment, petroleum; partners--US, Western Europe, USSR

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate 7% (1989 est.)

Industries [time series]

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

81.1% (1988)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

One of Africa's poorest countries, with a per capita GDP of little more than $100, 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, has resulted in successive years of economic growth since 1985. Agricultural output, nevertheless, is only at about 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.

Unemployment rate [time series]

40.0 (1988)

Climate [time series]

tropical to subtropical

Coastline [time series]

2,470 km

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly less than twice the size of California

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

severe drought and floods occur in south; desertification

Extended economic zone [time series]

200 nm;

Land boundaries [time series]

4,571 km total; Malawi 1,569 km, South Africa 491 km, Swaziland 105 km, Tanzania 756 km, Zambia 419 km, Zimbabwe 1,231 km

Land use [time series]

4% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 56% meadows and pastures; 20% forest and woodland; 20% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Natural resources [time series]

coal, titanium

Terrain [time series]

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

Maritime claims (Territorial sea) [time series]

12 nm

Area (Total area) [time series]

801,590 km2; land area: 784,090 km2

Administrative divisions [time series]

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

Capital [time series]

Maputo

Political parties (Communists) [time series]

about 60,000 FRELIMO members

Constitution [time series]

25 June 1975

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

Ambassador Valeriano FERRAO; Chancery at Suite 570, 1990 M Street NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202) 293-7146; US--Ambassador Melissa F. WELLS; Embassy at 3rd Floor, 35 Rua Da Mesquita, Maputo (mailing address is P. O. Box 783, Maputo); telephone 743167 or 744163

Executive branch (Elections) [time series]

national elections are indirect and based on mass meetings throughout the country

Executive branch [time series]

president, prime minister, Cabinet

Flag [time series]

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 [time series]

25 June 1975 (from Portugal)

Judicial branch [time series]

People's Courts at all levels Chief of State--President Joaquim Alberto CHISSANO (since 6 November 1986); Head of Government--Prime Minister Mario da Graca MACHUNGO (since 17 July 1986)

Legal system [time series]

based on Portuguese civil law system and customary law

Legislative branch [time series]

unicameral People's Assembly (Assembleia Popular)

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

People's Republic of Mozambique

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

ACP, AfDB, CCC, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IBRD, ICAO, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, ITU, NAM, OAU, SADCC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO

National holiday [time series]

Independence Day, 25 June (1975)

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) is the only legal party and is a Marxist organization with close ties to the USSR

Suffrage [time series]

universal adult at age 18

Government type (Type) [time series]

people's republic

Birth rate [time series]

47 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate [time series]

18 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

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

Infant mortality rate [time series]

138 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Labor force [time series]

NA, but 90% engaged in agriculture

Languages (Language) [time series]

Portuguese (official); many indigenous dialects

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

45 years male, 49 years female (1990)

Literacy [time series]

38%

Nationality [time series]

noun--Mozambican(s); adjective--Mozambican

Net migration rate [time series]

- 3 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Note [time series]

there are 800,000 Mozambican refugees in Malawi (1989 est.)

Organized labor [time series]

225,000 workers belong to a single union, the Mozambique Workers' Organization (OTM)

Population [time series]

14,565,656 (July 1990), growth rate 2.6% (1990)

Religions (Religion) [time series]

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

Total fertility rate [time series]

6.5 children born/woman (1990)