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Mozambique



 
 
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique ( or República de Moçambique, ), is a country in southeastern Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
 bordered by the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
 to the east, Tanzania
Tanzania

Tanzania , officially the United Republic of Tanzania , is a country in East Africa that is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south....
 to the north, Malawi
Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique, which surrounds it on the east, south and west....
 and Zambia
Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
 to the northwest, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
 to the west and Swaziland
Swaziland

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south, and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique....
 and South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
 to the southwest. It was explored by Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama

D. Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portugal in the Age of Discovery, one of the most successful in the European Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India....
 in 1498 and colonized by Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 in 1505. By 1510, the Portuguese
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 had control of all of the former Arab sultanates on the east African coast.






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Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique ( or República de Moçambique, ), is a country in southeastern Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
 bordered by the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
 to the east, Tanzania
Tanzania

Tanzania , officially the United Republic of Tanzania , is a country in East Africa that is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south....
 to the north, Malawi
Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique, which surrounds it on the east, south and west....
 and Zambia
Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
 to the northwest, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
 to the west and Swaziland
Swaziland

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south, and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique....
 and South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
 to the southwest. It was explored by Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama

D. Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portugal in the Age of Discovery, one of the most successful in the European Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India....
 in 1498 and colonized by Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 in 1505. By 1510, the Portuguese
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 had control of all of the former Arab sultanates on the east African coast. From about 1500, Portuguese
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 trading posts and forts became regular ports of call on the new route to the east.

It is a member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries
Community of Portuguese Language Countries

The Community of Portuguese Language Countries is the intergovernmental organization for friendship among lusophone nations where Portuguese is an official language....
 and the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as the Commonwealth or the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organization of fifty-three independent member states....
, and an observer of the Francophonie. Mozambique (Moçambique) was named after Muça Alebique, a sultan.

Mozambique is an LEDC (less economically developed country).

History


Early migrations

Between the first and fourth centuries AD, waves of Bantu
Bantu languages

The Bantu languages constitute a grouping belonging to the Niger-Congo languages family. This grouping is deep down in the genealogical tree of the Bantoid grouping, which in turn is deep down in the Niger-Congo tree....
-speaking people migrated from the west and north through the Zambezi River valley and then gradually into the plateau and coastal areas. They established agricultural communities or societies based on herding cattle. They brought with them iron making technology which they used to make weapons for the conquest of their neighbors. Cities in Mozambique during its Middle Ages were not sturdily built, so many medieval cities in the country, such as the medieval trade port Sofala, have little remains. Nevertheless several Swahili trade ports dotted the coast of the country before the arrival of Arabs and the Portuguese.

Arab and Portuguese rule

When Portuguese
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 explorers reached East Africa
East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN subregion, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
 in 1498, Swahili
Swahili people

The Swahili are a people and culture found on the coast of East Africa, mainly the coastal regions and the islands of Kenya and Tanzania, and north Mozambique....
 and Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
 commercial and slave trading settlements had existed along the coast and outlying islands for several centuries. From about 1500, Portuguese trading posts and forts became regular ports of call on the new route to the east.
Mozambique N2
The voyage of Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama

D. Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portugal in the Age of Discovery, one of the most successful in the European Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India....
 around the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope

The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headlands and bays on the Atlantic Ocean coast of South Africa. There is a very common misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa and the dividing point between the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Oceans, but in fact the southernmost point is Cape Agulhas, about 150 kilometres t...
 into the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
 in 1498 marked the Portuguese entry into trade, politics, and society in the Indian Ocean world. The Portuguese gained control of the Island of Mozambique
Island of Mozambique

The Island of Mozambique lies off northern Mozambique, between the Mozambique Channel and Mossuril Bay. It has a population of around 14,000 people and is part of Nampula Province....
 and the port city of Sofala
Sofala

Sofala, at present known as Nova Sofala, used to be the chief seaport of the Monomotapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in Sofala Province of Mozambique....
 in the early 16th century, and by the 1530s small groups of Portuguese trader
Merchant

Merchants function as professionals who deal with trade, dealing in commodities that they do not produce themselves, in order to produce profit....
s and prospector
Prospecting

Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is synonymous in some ways with mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale and at least semi-scientific effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore deposi...
s penetrated the interior regions seeking gold
Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
, where they set up garrisons and trading posts at Sena and Tete
Tete

Tete is the capital city of Tete Province in Mozambique. It is located on the Zambezi River, and is the site of a one-kilometre-long suspension bridge....
 on the Zambezi River and tried to gain exclusive control over the gold trade. The Portuguese attempted to legitimate and consolidate their trade and settlement positions through the creation of prazos (land grants) tied to Portuguese settlement and administration. While prazos were originally developed to be held by Portuguese, through intermarriage they became African Portuguese or African Indian centres defended by large African slave armies known as Chikunda. Historically within Mozambique there was slavery. Human beings were bought and sold by African tribal chiefs, Arab traders, and the Portuguese. Many Mozambican slaves were supplied by tribal chiefs who raided warring tribes and sold their captives to the prazeiros.

Although Portuguese influence gradually expanded, its power was limited and exercised through individual settlers and officials who were granted extensive autonomy. The Portuguese were able to wrest much of the coastal trade from Arabs between 1500 and 1700, but, with the Arab seizure of Portugal's key foothold at Fort Jesus
Fort Jesus

File:Fort Jesus.jpgFile:Building in Fort Jesus.jpgFort Jesus is a Portugal fort built in 1593 by order of King Philip II of Spain , then ruler of the joint Portuguese Empire and Spanish Empire Kingdoms, located on Mombasa Island to guard the Old Port of Mombasa, Kenya....
 on Mombasa Island
Mombasa Island

Mombasa Island is a 5 km by 3 km coral outcrop located on Kenya's coast on the Indian Ocean, which is connected to the mainland by a causeway. The city of Mombasa is located on the island....
 (now in Kenya) in 1698, the pendulum began to swing in the other direction. As a result, investment lagged while Lisbon
Lisbon

Lisbon is the Capital and largest city of Portugal. It is also the seat of the Lisbon and capital of the Lisbon region. Its municipalities of Portugal, which matches the city proper excluding the larger continuous conurbation, has a municipal population of 564,477 in , while the Lisbon Metropolitan Area in total has around 2.8 million inha...
 devoted itself to the more lucrative trade with India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 and the Far East
Far East

The Far East is a term current in English language to refer to the countries of East Asia. The term is often expanded to also include Southeast Asia and South Asia, for economic and cultural reasons, for example because Buddhism is common to East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia....
 and to the colonisation of Brazil
Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
. During the 18th and 19th centuries the Mazrui and Omani Arabs
History of Oman

Sorry, no overview for this topic
 reclaimed much of the Indian Ocean trade, forcing the Portuguese to retreat south. Many prazos had declined by the mid-19th century, but several of them survived. During the 19th century other European powers, particularly the British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and the French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, became increasingly involved in the trade and politics of the region.

By the early 20th century the Portuguese had shifted the administration of much of Mozambique to large private companies, like the Mozambique Company
Mozambique Company

The Mozambique Company, in Portuguese language the Companhia de Mo?ambique, was a royal company in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique, that had the concession of the lands that include the present provinces of Manica Province and Sofala Province....
, the Zambezia Company and the Niassa Company
Niassa Company

The Niassa Company, in Portuguese language the Companhia do Niassa, was a royal chartered company in the Portugal colony of Mozambique, then known as Portuguese East Africa, that had the concession of the lands that include the present provinces of Cabo Delgado Province and Niassa Province between 1891 and 1929....
, controlled and financed mostly by the British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, which established railroad lines to neighbouring countries. Although slavery had been legally abolished in Mozambique, at the end of the 19th century the Chartered companies enacted a forced labor policy and supplied cheap – often forced – Africa
Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
n labor to the mines
Mining

Mining is the extraction of value minerals or other geology materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, Sodium chloride and potash....
 and plantation
Plantation

A plantation is usually a large farm or Estate , especially in a tropical or semitropical country, like Brazil or Nicaragua on which cotton, tobacco, lice coffee, sugar cane and the like are cultivated, usually by resident laborers....
s of the nearby British colonies and South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
. The Zambezia Company, the most profitable chartered company, took over a number of smaller prazeiro holdings, and established military outposts to protect its property. The chartered companies built roads and ports to bring their goods to market including a railroad linking present day Zimbabwe with the Mozambican port of Beira
Beira, Mozambique

Beira is the second largest city in Mozambique. It lies in the central region of the country in Sofala Province, where the Pungue River meets the Indian Ocean....
.

Since policies and development plans were primarily designed by the ruling authorities for the benefit of Mozambique's Portuguese population, little attention was paid to Mozambique's tribal integration and the development of its native communities. This affected a majority of the indigenous population who suffered both state-sponsored discrimination and enormous social pressure. Many felt they had received too little opportunity or resources to upgrade their skills and improve their economic and social situation to a degree comparable to that of the Europeans.

The Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), initiated a guerrilla campaign against Portuguese rule in September 1964. This conflict, along with the two others already initiated in the other Portuguese colonies of Angola
Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordering Namibia to the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, and Zambia to the east, and with a west coast along the Atlantic Ocean....
 and Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau

The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in western Africa, and one of the smallest states in continental Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
, became part of the so-called Portuguese Colonial War
Portuguese Colonial War

The Portuguese Colonial War , also known as the Overseas War in Portugal or in the Portuguese Empire as the War of liberation , was fought between Portuguese military history and the emerging nationalist movements in Portuguese Empire between 1961 and 1974....
 (1961–1974). From a military standpoint, the Portuguese regular army maintained control of the population centres while the guerrilla forces sought to undermine their influence in rural and tribal areas in the north and west. As part of their response to FRELIMO the Portuguese government began to pay more attention to creating favourable conditions for social development and economic growth.

After 10 years of sporadic warfare and Portugal's return to democracy through a leftist military coup in Lisbon
Lisbon

Lisbon is the Capital and largest city of Portugal. It is also the seat of the Lisbon and capital of the Lisbon region. Its municipalities of Portugal, which matches the city proper excluding the larger continuous conurbation, has a municipal population of 564,477 in , while the Lisbon Metropolitan Area in total has around 2.8 million inha...
 which replaced Portugal's Estado Novo
Estado Novo (Portugal)

Estado Novo is the name of the Portugal authoritarian regime installed in 1933, following the army-led 28th May 1926 coup d'?tat of 28 May 1926 against the democratic Portuguese First Republic....
 regime for a military junta
Military junta

A military junta is a government ruled by a committee of military leaders. The term derives from the Spanish junta meaning committee, specifically a board of directors....
 (the Carnation Revolution
Carnation Revolution

The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril, was a left-leaning military coup started on April 25, 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, that effectively changed the Portuguese regime from an authoritarianism dictatorship to a democracy after two years of a transitional period known as PREC , characterized by social turmoil and...
 of April 1974), FRELIMO took control of the territory. Within a year, most of the 250,000 Portuguese in Mozambique had left – some expelled by the government of the newly-independent territory, some fleeing in fear – and Mozambique became independent from Portugal on June 25, 1975.

Conflict and civil war


The new government, under president Samora Machel
Samora Machel

Samora Mois?s Machel was a Mozambique military commander, revolutionary socialism leader and eventual President of Mozambique. Machel led the country to independence in 1975 until his death in 1986, when his presidential aircraft crashed in mountainous terrain where the borders of Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa converge....
, gave shelter and support to South African (African National Congress
African National Congress

The African National Congress has been South Africa's governing party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in May 1994....
) and Zimbabwean (Zimbabwe African National Union
Zimbabwe African National Union

The Zimbabwe African National Union was a militant organization that fought against white minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union ....
) liberation movements while the governments of first Rhodesia
Rhodesia

Rhodesia was the name adopted when the formerly British colonies of Southern Rhodesia declared itself independent on 11 November 1965. The name was also used with the establishment of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979....
 and later South Africa (at that time still operating the Apartheid laws) fostered and financed an armed rebel movement in central Mozambique called the Mozambican National Resistance
Mozambican National Resistance

The Mozambican National Resistance is a conservative political party in Mozambique led by Afonso Dhlakama. It fought against the FRELIMO in the Mozambican Civil War from 1975 to 1992 and against the Zimbabwean government of Robert Mugabe....
 (RENAMO). Hence, civil war
Mozambican Civil War

The Mozambican Civil War began in 1977, two years after the end of the Mozambican War of Independence. The ruling party, FRELIMO , was violently opposed from 1977 by the Rhodesian, and later South African, funded Mozambican National Resistance ....
, sabotage from the neighbouring white-ruled state of Rhodesia and the Apartheid regime of South Africa, and economic collapse characterized the first decade of Mozambican independence. Also marking this period were the mass exodus of Portuguese nationals and Mozambicans of Portuguese heritage, a weak infrastructure, and government nationalisation of privately owned industries. During most of the civil war, the government was unable to exercise effective control outside of urban areas, many of which were cut off from the capital. An estimated one million Mozambicans perished during the civil war, 1.7 million took refuge in neighbouring states, and several million more were internally displaced. On October 19, 1986 Samora Machel was on his way back from an international meeting in Zambia
Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
 in the presidential Tupolev Tu-134
Tupolev Tu-134

The Tupolev Tu-134 is a Soviet Union twin-engined airliner, similar to the American Douglas DC-9. One of the most widely used aircraft in the former Warsaw Pact countries, the number in active service is decreasing because of noise restrictions....
 aircraft when the plane crashed in the Lebombo Mountains
Lebombo Mountains

The Lebombo Mountains, also called Lubombo Mountains, are a long, narrow mountain range of mountains in Southern Africa stretching from Hluhluwe in KwaZulu-Natal in the south to Punda Maria in the Limpopo Province in South Africa in the north....
, near Mbuzini. There were nine survivors but President Machel and twenty-four others died, including ministers and officials of the Mozambique government. The United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
' Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 delegation issued a minority report contending that their expertise and experience had been undermined by the South Africans. Representatives of the Soviet Union advanced the theory that the plane had been intentionally diverted by a false navigational beacon
VHF omnidirectional range

VOR, short for VHF Omni-directional Radio Range, is a type of radio navigation system for aircraft. A VOR ground station broadcasts a VHF radio composite signal including the station's identifier in morse code , and data that allows the airborne receiving equipment to derive a Bearing #Types of bearings from the station to the aircraft...
 signal, using a technology provided by military intelligence operatives of the South African government. Machel's successor, Joaquim Chissano
Joaquim Chissano

Joaquim Alberto Chissano served as the second Heads of state of Mozambique for nineteen years from 6 November 1986 until 2 February 2005. Since stepping down as president, Chissano has become an statesman and is called upon by international bodies, such as the United Nations, to be an Diplomacy or negotiation....
, continued the reforms and began peace talks with RENAMO. The new constitution enacted in 1990 provided for a multi-party political system, market-based economy, and free elections. The civil war ended in October 1992 with the Rome General Peace Accords
Rome General Peace Accords

The Rome General Peace Accords between the Mozambican Civil War parties, the Frelimo and the Renamo , put an end to the Mozambique Civil War. It was signed on October 4, 1992....
, first brokered by the CCM, the Christian Council of Mozambique (Council of Protestant Churches) and then taken over by Community of Sant'Egidio
Community of Sant'Egidio

The Community of Sant'Egidio is a Christian community that is officially recognized by the Catholic Church as a "Church public lay association"....
. Under supervision of the ONUMOZ peacekeeping force of the United Nations, peace returned to Mozambique.

By mid-1995 the more than 1.7 million Mozambican refugees who had sought asylum in neighbouring Malawi
Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique, which surrounds it on the east, south and west....
, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
, Swaziland
Swaziland

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south, and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique....
, Zambia
Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, Tanzania
Tanzania

Tanzania , officially the United Republic of Tanzania , is a country in East Africa that is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south....
, and South Africa as a result of war and drought had returned, as part of the largest repatriation witnessed in sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, a further estimated four million internally displaced persons returned to their areas of origin.

Foreign relations

While allegiances dating back to the liberation struggle remain relevant, Mozambique's foreign policy has become increasingly pragmatic. The twin pillars of Mozambique's foreign policy are maintenance of good relations with its neighbors and maintenance and expansion of ties to development partners.

During the 1970s and the early 1980s, Mozambique's foreign policy was inextricably linked to the struggles for majority rule in Rhodesia
Rhodesia

Rhodesia was the name adopted when the formerly British colonies of Southern Rhodesia declared itself independent on 11 November 1965. The name was also used with the establishment of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979....
 and South Africa as well as superpower competition and the Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
. Mozambique's decision to enforce UN sanctions against Rhodesia and deny that country access to the sea led Ian Smith
Ian Smith

Ian Douglas Smith Legion of Merit Independence Decoration served as the Prime Minister of Rhodesia of the United Kingdom self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia from 13 April 1964 to 11 November 1965 and as the first Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 11 November 1965 to 1 June 1979 during white minority rule....
's government to undertake overt and covert actions to destabilize the country. Although the change of government in Zimbabwe in 1980 removed this threat, the government of South Africa continued to finance the destabilization of Mozambique. Mozambique also belonged to the Front Line States
Front Line States

Front Line States was an organization established to achieve black majority rule in South Africa. It no longer exists. Former members included Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe....
.

The 1984 Nkomati Accord
Nkomati Accord

The Nkomati Accord was a peace treaty signed on 16 March 1984 between the Mozambique and the apartheid government of the Republic of South Africa....
, while failing in its goal of ending South African support to RENAMO, opened initial diplomatic contacts between the Mozambican and South African governments. This process gained momentum with South Africa's elimination of apartheid, which culminated in the establishment of full diplomatic relations in October 1993. While relations with neighbouring Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania show occasional strains, Mozambique's ties to these countries remain strong.

In the years immediately following its independence, Mozambique benefited from considerable assistance from some Western countries, notably the Scandinavia
Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a historical and geographical subregion in northern Europe that includes the Scandinavian Peninsula. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark; some authorities also include Finland and some might even include Iceland....
ns. The Soviet Union and its allies, however, became Mozambique's primary economic, military, and political supporters and its foreign policy reflected this linkage. This began to change in 1983; in 1984 Mozambique joined the World Bank
World Bank

The World Bank is a bank that provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries for development programs with the stated goal of reducing poverty....
 and International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund is an international organization that oversees the global financial system by following the macroeconomic policies of its member countries, in particular those with an impact on exchange rates and the balance of payments....
. Western aid by the Scandinavia
Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a historical and geographical subregion in northern Europe that includes the Scandinavian Peninsula. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark; some authorities also include Finland and some might even include Iceland....
n countries of Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
, Norway
Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
, Denmark
Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries....
 and Iceland
Iceland

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland , is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland....
 quickly replaced Soviet support. Finland
Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
 and the Netherlands
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
 are becoming increasingly important sources of development assistance. Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 also maintains a profile in Mozambique as a result of its key role during the peace process. Relations with Portugal
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
, the former colonial power, continue to be important, as Portuguese investors play a visible role in Mozambique's economy.

Mozambique is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement
Non-Aligned Movement

The Non-Aligned Movement is an international organization of states considering themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc....
 and ranks among the moderate members of the African bloc in the United Nations
United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
 and other international organisations. Mozambique also belongs to the African Union
African Union

The African Union is an intergovernmental organisation consisting of 53 African states. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity ....
 (formerly the Organisation of African Unity
Organisation of African Unity

The Organisation of African Unity or Organisation de l'Unit? Africaine was established on 25 May 1963. It was disbanded on 9 July 2002 by its last Chairman of the Organization of African Unity, South African President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki, and replaced by the African Union ....
) and the Southern African Development Community
Southern African Development Community

The Southern African Development Community is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 15 southern African states....
. In 1994, the government became a full member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, in part to broaden its base of international support but also to please the country's sizable Muslim population. Similarly, in early 1996 Mozambique joined its Anglophone
Anglophone

An Anglophone is someone who speaks the English language. As an adjective, it refers to belonging to an English-speaking population especially in a country where two or more languages are spoken....
 neighbours in the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as the Commonwealth or the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organization of fifty-three independent member states....
. It is the only nation to join the Commonwealth that was never part of the British Empire
British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, and other Dependent territory ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries....
. In the same year, Mozambique became a founding member and the first President of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries
Community of Portuguese Language Countries

The Community of Portuguese Language Countries is the intergovernmental organization for friendship among lusophone nations where Portuguese is an official language....
 (CPLP), and maintains close ties with other Lusophone
Lusophone

A Lusophone is someone who speaks the Portuguese language natively or by adoption. As an adjective, it means "Portuguese-speaking". The word itself is derived from the name of the ancient Ancient Rome Roman province of Lusitania, which covered an area that is today Portugal....
 states.

Provinces, districts, and postos

Mozambique is divided into ten province
Province

A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state....
s (provincias) and one capital city (cidade capital) with provincial status. The provinces are subdivided into 129 district
District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipality, or subdivisions of municipalities....
s (distritos). The districts are further divided in 405 "Postos Administrativos" (Administrative Posts) and then into Localidades (Localities), the lowest geographical level of the central state administration. Since 1998, 33 "Municípios" (Municipalities) have been created in Mozambique.

Geography and climate

At 309,475 square miles (801,590 km²), Mozambique is the world's 35th-largest country (after Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
). It is comparable in size to Turkey
Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in southwest Asia and Thrace in the Balkans region of Southern Europe....
.

Mozambique is located on the southeast coast of Africa. It is bound by Swaziland
Swaziland

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south, and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique....
 to the south, South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
 to the southwest, Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
 to the west, Zambia
Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
 and Malawi
Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique, which surrounds it on the east, south and west....
 to the northwest, Tanzania
Tanzania

Tanzania , officially the United Republic of Tanzania , is a country in East Africa that is bordered by Kenya and Uganda on the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique on the south....
 to the north and the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
 to the east. The country is divided into two topographical regions by the Zambezi River. To the north of the Zambezi River, the narrow coastline moves inland to hills and low plateaux, and further west to rugged highlands, which include the Niassa highlands, Namuli or Shire highlands, Angonia highlands, Tete
Tete

Tete is the capital city of Tete Province in Mozambique. It is located on the Zambezi River, and is the site of a one-kilometre-long suspension bridge....
 highlands and the Makonde
Makonde

The Makonde are an ethnic group in southeast Tanzania and northern Mozambique. The Makonde developed their culture on the Mueda Plateau in Mozambique....
 plateau. To the south of the Zambezi River, the lowlands are broader with the Mashonaland plateau and Lebomo mountains located in the deep south.
Gurue Mount Murresse
The country is drained by five principal rivers and several smaller ones with the largest and most important the Zambezi. The country has three lakes, Lake Niassa or Malawi, Lake Chiuta
Lake Chiuta

Lake Chiuta is a shallow lake on the border between Malawi and Mozambique. It lies to the north of Lake Chilwa, which has no outlet, and the lakes are separated by a sandy ridge....
 and Lake Shirwa
Lake Shirwa

Lake Shirwa is a lake located in Mozambique. It was discovered in 1859 by the Scottish explorer, David Livingstone.References ...
, all in the north. The major cities are Maputo
Maputo

Maputo, formerly Louren?o Marques, is the Capital and largest city of Mozambique. A port on the Indian Ocean, its economy is centered around the harbour....
, Beira
Beira, Mozambique

Beira is the second largest city in Mozambique. It lies in the central region of the country in Sofala Province, where the Pungue River meets the Indian Ocean....
, Nampula
Nampula

Nampula is the capital city of Nampula Province in Mozambique.It has a population of 303,346 , making it the third largest city in Mozambique after Maputo and Beira, Mozambique....
, Tete
Tete

Tete is the capital city of Tete Province in Mozambique. It is located on the Zambezi River, and is the site of a one-kilometre-long suspension bridge....
, Quelimane
Quelimane

Quelimane is a seaport in Mozambique. It is the administrative Capital of the Zambezia Province and the province's largest city, and stands 25 kilometer from the mouth of the Rio dos Bons Sinais ....
, Chimoio
Chimoio

Chimoio is the capital of Manica Province in Mozambique. It is the fifth-largest city in Mozambique.Chimoio's name under Portugal administration was Vila Pery....
, Pemba
Pemba, Mozambique

Pemba is a port city in Mozambique. It is the capital of the province of Cabo Delgado Province and lies on a peninsula in Pemba Bay.The town was founded by the Niassa Company in 1904 as Porto Am?lia, after a queen of Portugal, at the peninsula's south western tip and has grown around a port....
, Inhambane
Inhambane

Inhambane is a town located in southern Mozambique, lying on Inhambane Bay, 470 km northeast of Maputo. It is the capital of the Inhambane Province and has according to the 2007 census has a population of 63,837, growing from the 1997 census of 54,157....
, Xai-Xai
Xai-Xai

Xai-Xai is a city in the south of Mozambique. It is the capital of Gaza Province. As of 2007 it has a population of 116,343 ...
 and Lichinga
Lichinga

Lichinga is the capital city of Niassa Province of Mozambique. It lies almost 1500 m above sea level on the Lichinga Plateau, east of Lake Niassa ....
.

Mozambique has a tropical climate with two seasons, a wet season from October to March and a dry season from April to September. Climatic conditions, however, vary depending on altitude. Rainfall is heavy along the coast and decreases in the north and south. Annual precipitation varies from 500 to 900 mm (20 to 35 inches) depending on the region with an average of 590 mm (23 inches). Cyclones are also common during the wet season. Average temperature ranges in Maputo are from 13 to 24 degrees Celsius (55 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit) in July to 22 to 31 degrees Celsius (72 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit) in February.

Politics

Mozambique is a multi-party democracy
Democracy

Democracy is a form of government in which power is held directly or indirectly by citizens under a free electoral system. It is derived from the Greek language d?????at?a , "popular government" which was coined from d???? , "people" and ???t?? , "rule, strength" in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political syst...
 under the 1990 constitution
Constitution

A constitution is a system for government — often codified as a written document — that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity....
. The executive branch comprises a president, prime minister
Heads of government of Mozambique

List of Heads of Government of Mozambique'Affiliations:-Mozambican Liberation Front = Frente da Liberta??o de Mo?ambique ...
, and Council of Ministers. There is a National Assembly
Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique

The unicameral Assembly of the Republic is Mozambique's legislative body.The First President of the Peoples Republic of Mozambique national Assembly was President Samora Moises Machel....
 and municipal assemblies. The judiciary comprises a Supreme Court and provincial, district, and municipal courts. Suffrage
Suffrage

Suffrage is the civil right to vote, or the exercise of that right. In that context, it is also called political franchise or simply the franchise....
 is universal at eighteen.

In the 1994 elections
Elections in Mozambique

Elections in Mozambique gives information on election and election results in politics of Mozambique.Mozambique elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature....
, Joaquim Chissano was elected President with 53% of the vote, and a 250-member National Assembly was voted in with 129 Liberation Front of Mozambique (FRELIMO) deputies, 112 Mozambican National Resistance
Mozambican National Resistance

The Mozambican National Resistance is a conservative political party in Mozambique led by Afonso Dhlakama. It fought against the FRELIMO in the Mozambican Civil War from 1975 to 1992 and against the Zimbabwean government of Robert Mugabe....
 (RENAMO) deputies, and nine representatives of three smaller parties that formed the Democratic Union (UD). Since its formation in 1994, the National Assembly has made progress in becoming a body increasingly more independent of the executive. By 1999, more than one-half (53%) of the legislation passed originated in the Assembly.

After some delays, in 1998 the country held its first local elections to provide for local representation and some budgetary authority at the municipal level. The principal opposition party, RENAMO, boycotted the local elections, citing flaws in the registration process. Independent slates contested the elections and won seats in municipal assemblies. Turnout was very low.

In the aftermath of the 1998 local elections, the government resolved to make more accommodations to the opposition's procedural concerns for the second round of multiparty national elections in 1999. Working through the National Assembly, the electoral law was rewritten and passed by consensus in December 1998. Financed largely by international donors, a very successful voter registration was conducted from July to September 1999, providing voter registration cards to 85% of the potential electorate (more than seven million voters).

The second general elections were held December 3–5, 1999, with high voter turnout
Voter turnout

Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voting who cast a ballot in an election. After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracy since the 1960s....
. International and domestic observers agreed that the voting process was well organised and went smoothly. Both the opposition and observers subsequently cited flaws in the tabulation process that, had they not occurred, might have changed the outcome. In the end, however, international and domestic observers concluded that the close result of the vote reflected the will of the people.

President Chissano won the presidency with a margin of 4% points over the RENAMO-Electoral Union coalition candidate, Afonso Dhlakama, and began his five-year term in January, 2000. FRELIMO increased its majority in the National Assembly with 133 out of 250 seats. RENAMO-UE coalition won 116 seats, one went independent, and no third parties are represented.

The opposition coalition did not accept the National Election Commission's results of the presidential vote and filed a formal complaint to the Supreme Court. One month after the voting, the court dismissed the opposition's challenge and validated the election results. The opposition did not file a complaint about the results of the legislative vote.

The second local elections, involving thirty-three municipalities with some 2.4 million registered voters, took place in November 2003. This was the first time that FRELIMO, RENAMO-UE, and independent parties competed without significant boycotts. The 24% turnout was well above the 15% turnout in the first municipal elections. FRELIMO won twenty-eight mayoral positions and the majority in twenty-nine municipal assemblies, while RENAMO won five mayoral positions and the majority in four municipal assemblies. The voting was conducted in an orderly fashion without violent incidents. However, the period immediately after the elections was marked by objections about voter and candidate registration and vote tabulation, as well as calls for greater transparency.

Armando Guebuza 2005
In May 2004, the government approved a new general elections law that contained innovations based on the experience of the 2003 municipal elections.

Presidential and National Assembly elections took place on December 1–2, 2004. FRELIMO candidate Armando Guebuza won with 64% of the popular vote. His opponent, Afonso Dhlakama of RENAMO, received 32% of the popular vote. FRELIMO won 160 seats in Parliament. A coalition of RENAMO and several small parties won the 90 remaining seats. Armando Guebuza was inaugurated as the President of Mozambique on February 2, 2005. RENAMO and some other opposition parties made claims of election fraud and denounced the result. These claims were supported by international observers (among others by the European Union Election Observation Mission to Mozambique and the Carter Centre) to the elections who criticised the fact that the National Electoral Commission (CNE) did not conduct fair and transparent elections. They listed a whole range of shortcomings by the electoral authorities that benefited the ruling party FRELIMO. However, according to EU observers, the elections shortcomings have probably not affected the final result in the presidential election. On the other hand, the observers have declared that the outcome of the parliamentary election and thus the distribution of seats in the National Assembly does not reflect the will of the Mozambican people and is clearly to the disadvantage of RENAMO. The Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders

Reporters Without Borders, or RWB is a Paris-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985 by current Secretary General Robert M?nard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud....
' Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2006 ranked Mozambique 45th out of 168 countries.

Economy

Women in Mozambique With Maize
The official currency is the New Metical
Mozambican metical

The metical is the currency of Mozambique, abbreviated with the symbol MZN or MTn. It is nominally divided into 100 centavos, which have inflated out of use since the currency's introduction....
 (as of 2007, 1 USD is roughly equivalent to 25 Meticals), which replaced old Meticals at the rate of a thousand to one. The old currency will be redeemed by the Bank of Mozambique
Bank of Mozambique

The Bank of Mozambique is the central bank of Mozambique. The bank does not function as a commercial bank, and has the responsibility of governing the monetary policy of the country....
 until the end of 2012. The US dollar
United States dollar

The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States and was defined by the Coinage Act of 1792 to be between 371 and 416 grains of silver ....
, South African rand
South African rand

The rand is the currency of South Africa. It takes its name from the Witwatersrand , the ridge upon which Johannesburg is built and where most of South Africa's gold deposits were found....
, and recently the euro
Euro

The euro is the official currency of 16 out of 27 European Union member state of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain....
 are also widely accepted and used in business transactions. The minimum legal salary is around US$60 per month. Mozambique is a member of the Southern African Development Community
Southern African Development Community

The Southern African Development Community is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 15 southern African states....
 (SADC). The SADC free trade
Free trade

Free trade is a type of trade policy that allows traders to act and transact without coercive interference from government. Thus, the policy permits trading partners mutual gains from trade, with goods and services produced according to the law of comparative advantage....
 protocol is aimed at making the Southern African region more competitive by eliminating tariff
Tariff

A tariff is a tax imposed on goods when they are moved across a political boundary. They are usually associated with protectionism, the economic policy of restraining trade between nations....
s and other trade barrier
Trade barrier

A trade barrier is a general term that describes any government policy or regulation that restricts international trade. The barriers can take many forms, including the following terms that include many restrictions in international trade within multiple countries that import and export any items of trade....
s.

Rebounding growth

The resettlement of civil war
Mozambican Civil War

The Mozambican Civil War began in 1977, two years after the end of the Mozambican War of Independence. The ruling party, FRELIMO , was violently opposed from 1977 by the Rhodesian, and later South African, funded Mozambican National Resistance ....
 refugees and successful economic reform have led to a high growth rate: the average growth rate from 1993 to 1999 was 6.7%; from 1997 to 1999 it averaged more than 10% per year. The devastating floods of early 2000
2000 Mozambique flood

The 2000 Mozambique flood was a natural disaster that occurred in February and March 2000. The catastrophic flooding was caused by heavy rainfall that lasted for five weeks and made many homeless....
 slowed GDP growth to 2.1%. A full recovery was achieved with growth of 14.8% in 2001. In 2003, the growth rate was 7%. The government projects the economy to continue to expand between 7%-10% a year for the next five years, although rapid expansion in the future hinges on several major foreign investment projects, continued economic reform, and the revival of the agriculture, transportation, and tourism sectors. More than 75% of the population engages in small-scale agriculture, which still suffers from inadequate infrastructure, commercial networks, and investment. However, 88% of Mozambique's arable land is still uncultivated
Tillage

Tillage is the agricultural preparation of the soil by ploughing, ripping, or turning it. Tillage can also mean the land that is tilled. There are two types of tillage: primary and secondary tillage....
. In addition, the profitable exploitation of valuable titanium reserves has the potential to uplift this poverty-stricken region of Africa. As a natural resource, it could play a significant role in solving unemployment and poverty.

Inflation

The government's tight control of spending and the money supply, combined with financial sector reform, successfully reduced inflation
Inflation

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. The term "inflation" once referred to increases in the money supply ; however, economic debates about the relationship between money supply and price levels have led to its primary use today in describing price inflatio...
 from 70% in 1994 to less than 5% in 1998–99. Economic disruptions stemming from the devastating floods of 2000 caused inflation to jump to 12.7% that year, and it was 13% in 2003. Mozambique's currency, the Metical
Mozambican metical

The metical is the currency of Mozambique, abbreviated with the symbol MZN or MTn. It is nominally divided into 100 centavos, which have inflated out of use since the currency's introduction....
 (MZM), devaluated
Devaluation

Devaluation is a reduction in the value of a currency with respect to other monetary units. In common modern usage, it specifically implies an official lowering of the value of a country's currency within a fixed exchange rate system, by which the monetary authority formally sets a new fixed rate with respect to a foreign reference currency....
 by 50% to the dollar in 2001, although in late 2001 it began to stabilize. Since then, it has held steady at about 24,000 MZM to 1 U.S. dollar. New Metical replaced old Meticals at a rate of a thousand to one on January 1 2007, bringing the exchange rate to 25 (new) MZN to 1 USD.

Economic reforms

More than 1,200 state-owned enterprises
Nationalization

Nationalization, also spelled nationalisation, is the act of taking an industry or assets into the public ownership of a national government or state....
 (mostly small) have been privatised. Preparations for privatisation and/or sector liberalisation are underway for the remaining parastatal enterprises, including telecommunications, energy, ports, and railways. The government frequently selects a strategic foreign investor when privatising a parastatal. Additionally, customs duties have been reduced, and customs management has been streamlined and reformed. The government introduced a value-added tax in 1999 as part of its efforts to increase domestic revenues. Plans for 2003–04 include Commercial Code reform; comprehensive judicial reform; financial sector strengthening; continued civil service reform; and improved government budget, audit, and inspection capability. Further political instability resulting from the floods left thousands homeless, displaced within their own country.

Improving trade imbalance

Mil Meticais
Imports remain almost 40% greater than exports, but this is a significant improvement over the 4:1 ratio of the immediate post-war years. In 2003, imports were $1.24 billion and exports were $910 million. Support programs provided by foreign donors and private financing of foreign direct investment mega-projects and their associated raw materials have largely compensated for balance-of-payments shortfalls. The medium-term outlook for exports is encouraging, since a number of foreign investment projects should lead to substantial export growth and a better trade balance. MOZAL, a large aluminium smelter that commenced production in mid-2000, has greatly expanded the nation's trade volume. Traditional Mozambican exports include cashews, shrimp, fish, copra, sugar, cotton, tea, and citrus fruits. Most of these industries are being rehabilitated. As well, Mozambique is less dependent on imports for basic food and manufactured goods because of steady increases in local production.

Demographics

The north-central provinces of Zambezia and Nampula are the most populous, with about 45% of the population. The estimated four million Macua
Macua (people)

The Macua are a Bantu peoples people living in northern Mozambique. They live mostly in the Nampula Province region. The Macua speak a Bantu language, but use only eight of the more than twenty noun classes....
 are the dominant group in the northern part of the country; the Sena and Shona
Shona people

Shona is the name collectively given to several groups of people in Zimbabwe and southern Mozambique. Numbering about nine million people, who speak a range of related dialects whose standardized form is also known as Shona language ....
 (mostly Ndau
Ndau

The Ndau is an ethnic group which inhabits the Zambezi valley, in central Mozambique all the way to the coast, and eastern Zimbabwe, south of Mutare....
) are prominent in the Zambezi valley, and the Shangaan (Tsonga)
Shangaan

The Shangaan are a large group of people living mainly in southern Mozambique in Maputo and in Gaza Province; there is also a large Shangaan grouping in Limpopo Province in South Africa....
 dominate in southern Mozambique. Other groups include Makonde
Makonde

The Makonde are an ethnic group in southeast Tanzania and northern Mozambique. The Makonde developed their culture on the Mueda Plateau in Mozambique....
, Yao, Swahili
Swahili people

The Swahili are a people and culture found on the coast of East Africa, mainly the coastal regions and the islands of Kenya and Tanzania, and north Mozambique....
, Tonga
Tonga people

The Tonga are an ethnic group living in northern Malawi. A related ethnic group also called the Tonga people of Zambia and Zimbabwe are found in Zambia and Zimbabwe, with some in Mozambique....
, Chopi, and Nguni
Nguni

Nguni languages are mostly spoken by Nguni people, which are group of clans and nations living in south-east Africa.The languages are a group of Bantu languages spoken in southern Africa including Zulu language, Xhosa language, Swati language, amaHlubi,Phuthi language and Ndebele language ....
 (including Zulu
Zulu

The Zulu are the largest South African ethnic group of an estimated 10-11 million people who live mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa....
). Bantu people comprise 99.66% of the population, with the rest including White Africans (largely of Portuguese
Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Located in southwestern Europe, Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east....
 ancestry), Euro-Africans (mestiço
Mestizo

Mestizo is a Spanish language term that was used in the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed Europe and Indigenous peoples of the Americas ancestry in Latin America....
 people of mixed Bantu and Portuguese heritage), and India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
ns . Roughly 20,000 people of Indian descent
Indians in Mozambique

Indians in Mozambique form the sixth-largest Indian diaspora community in Africa, according to the statistics of India's Ministry of External Affairs ....
 reside in Mozambique. During Portuguese colonial rule, a large minority of people of Portuguese
Portuguese people

The Portuguese people are the ethnic group or nation native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of Southern Europe-Western Europe Europe....
 descent lived permanently in almost all areas of the country, and Mozambicans with Portuguese blood at the time of independence numbered about 360,000. Most of these left the region after independence from Portugal in 1975. The remaining minorities in Mozambique claim heritage from Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
, Portuguese India
Portuguese India

Portuguese India was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India. At the time of British India's independence in 1947, Portuguese India included a number of enclaves on India's western coast, including Goa proper, as well as the coastal enclaves of Daman and Daman and Diu, and the enclaves of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which lie inl...
 and Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
 countries. There are also some 10,000 Chinese
Overseas Chinese

Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese people birth or descent who live outside the territories administered by the rival governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China ....
.

Despite the influence of Islamic coastal traders and European colonisers, the people of Mozambique have largely retained an indigenous culture based on small-scale agriculture. Mozambique's most well-known art forms are wood sculpture, for which the Makonde
Makonde

The Makonde are an ethnic group in southeast Tanzania and northern Mozambique. The Makonde developed their culture on the Mueda Plateau in Mozambique....
 in northern Mozambique are particularly renowned, and dance. The middle and upper classes continue to be heavily influenced by the Portuguese colonial and linguistic heritage.

Languages

Portuguese
Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and Portugal. It is derived from the Latin language spoken by the Romanization Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago....
 is the official and most widely spoken language of the nation, because Bantus speak several of their different languages (most widely used of these are Swahili
Swahili language

Swahili is the first language of the Swahili people , who inhabit several large stretches of the Indian Ocean coastline from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique, including the Comoros Islands....
, Makhuwa, Sena
Sena language

The Sena language is spoken in the four provinces of central Mozambique : Tete, Sofala, Zambezia and Manica.According to an actual estimate of Sena speakers in 1997 there were about 900,000 with Sena as mother-tongue and at least 1.5 million including those who speak Sena as second language....
, Ndau
Ndau language

Ndau is one of the Shona language dialects. It is spoken by people from the region of Chipinge. Some of its words are very similar to that of Sindebele language and often this dialect can sound very different from that of basic Shona....
, and Shangaan
Tsonga language

The Tsonga or Xitsonga language is spoken in southern Africa by the Tsonga people, also known as the Shangaan....
 — these have many Portuguese-origin words), but 40% of all people speak it — 33.5%, mostly Bantus, as their second language and only 6.5%, mostly white Mozambicans and mestiços, speak it as their first language. Arabs, Chinese, and Indians speak their own languages (Indians from Portuguese India speak any of the Portuguese Creole
Portuguese Creole

Portuguese creoles are creole languages which have been significantly influenced by Portuguese language....
s of their origin) aside from Portuguese as their second language. Most educated Mozambicans speak English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
, which is used in schools and business as second or third language.

Education

Under Portuguese rule, educational opportunities for poor Mozambicans were limited; most of the Bantu population was illiterate, and many could not speak Portuguese. In fact, most of today's political leaders were educated in missionary schools. After independence, the government placed a high priority on expanding education, which reduced the illiteracy rate to about two-thirds as primary school enrollment increased. Unfortunately in recent years, school construction and teacher training enrollments have not kept up with population increases. With post-war enrollments reaching all-time highs, the quality of education has suffered. All Mozambicans are required by law to attend school through the primary level. After grade 7, students must take standardised national exams to enter secondary school, which runs from 8th to 10th grade. Secondary school students study Portuguese, mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, history, geography, physical education, technical drawing, and English (which all schoolchildren begin in grade 6). Another round of national exams after grade 10 allows passage into pre-university school (grades 11 and 12), in which students have the opportunity to study all of the former subjects (minus physical education) plus philosophy and French. Space in Mozambican universities is extremely limited; thus most students who complete pre-university school do not immediately proceed onto university studies. Many go to work as teachers or are unemployed. There are also institutes specialising in agricultural, technical, or pedagogical studies which students may attend after grade 10 in lieu of a pre-university school, which give more vocational training. A lot of children in Mozambique don't go to primary school because they have to work for their families' subsistence farms for a living. Since independence from Portugal in 1975, a number of Mozambican students continued to be admitted every year at Portuguese high schools, polytechnical institutes, and universities, through bilateral agreements between the Portuguese Government and the Mozambican Government.

Religion

The Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 has established twelve dioceses (Beira, Chimoio, Gurué, Inhambane, Lichinga, Maputo, Nacala, Nampula, Pemba, Quelimane, Tete, and Xai-Xai - archdioceses are Beira
Beira

Beira can refer to:*Beira , the mother to all the gods and goddesses in the Celtic mythology of Scotland*Beira, Portugal, the name of a region in north-central Portugal; three provinces were later known by the name:...
, Maputo
Maputo

Maputo, formerly Louren?o Marques, is the Capital and largest city of Mozambique. A port on the Indian Ocean, its economy is centered around the harbour....
 and Nampula
Nampula

Nampula is the capital city of Nampula Province in Mozambique.It has a population of 303,346 , making it the third largest city in Mozambique after Maputo and Beira, Mozambique....
). Statistics for the dioceses range from a low 7.44% Catholics in the population in the diocese of Chimoio, to 87.50% in Quelimane diocese (2006 official Catholic figures).

Muslims are particularly present in the north of the country. They are organised in several "tariqa" or brotherhoods (of the Qadiriya or Shadhuliyyah branch). Two national organisations also exist - the Conselho Islamico de Moçambique (reformists) and the Congresso Islamico de Mocambique (pro-sufi). There are also important Indo-Pakistani associations as well as some Shia and particularly Ismaili communities.

Among the main Protestant churches are Igreja União Baptista de Moçambique
Baptist

A Baptist is a member of a Christian denomination characterized by the rejection of infant baptism in favor of believer's baptism by Baptism#Immersion....
, the Assembleias de Deus
Assemblies of God

The World Assemblies of God Fellowship, or Assemblies of God for short, is the world's largest Pentecostal denomination, with over 283,413 churches and outstations in over 110 countries and approximately 57 to 60 million adherents worldwide....
, the Seventh-day Adventists, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, the Igreja do Evangelho Completo de Deus
Gospel

In Christianity, a gospel is generally one of the first four books of the New Testament that describe the birth, life, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus....
, the Igreja Metodista Unida, the Igreja Presbiteriana de Moçambique, the Igreja de Cristo
Christ

Christ is the English language term for the Greek meaning "the anointing", which is a title given to the Reigning Messiah in the given age of the Zodiac....
 and the Assembleia Evangélica de Deus. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is also present as well as the Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses is a restorationism, Millenarianism Christianity religious movement. Sociology of religion have classified the group as an Adventism sect....
, the Brazilian Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God

File:Catedral da Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus.jpgUniversal Church of the Kingdom of God is a rapidly growing Brazilian church . The UCKG is spreading worldwide and is a registered charity in many countries, also known by the name 'UCKG HelpCentre'....
 and Igreja Crista Maranata.

The Roman Catholic community makes up 23.8 percent of the population of Mozambique. There are also 17.8 percent of the population who are Muslim
Muslim

:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
s, and people of the Zionist Christian community make up 17.5% of the country's population. 17.8% of the people have other beliefs and 23.1% have no religious beliefs.

See also

  • List of Mozambique-related topics
  • Communications in Mozambique
    Communications in Mozambique

    Telephones - main lines in use:69,700 Telephones - mobile cellular:2,360,000Telephone system:general assessment:fair system but not available generally ...
  • Liga dos Escuteiros de Moçambique
    Liga dos Escuteiros de Moçambique

    The Liga dos Escuteiros de Mo?ambique , the national Scouting organization of Mozambique, was founded in 1960, and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1999....
  • List of conservation areas of Mozambique
    List of conservation areas of Mozambique

    Below is a list of conservation areas in Mozambique....
  • Military of Mozambique
    Military of Mozambique

    Military branches:Army, Naval Command, Air and Air Defense Forces, MilitiaMilitary manpower - availability:males age 15-49:...
  • Public holidays in Mozambique
    Public holidays in Mozambique

    Sorry, no overview for this topic
  • Transport in Mozambique
    Transport in Mozambique

    Sorry, no overview for this topic
  • Portuguese East Africa
    Portuguese East Africa

    Portuguese East Africa is the common name by which the Portuguese Empire's territorial expansion in East Africa was known across different periods of time....


Bibliography

  • Abrahamsson, Hans Mozambique: The Troubled Transition, from Socialist Construction to Free Market Capitalism London: Zed Books, 1995
  • Cahen, Michel Les bandits: un historien au Mozambique_, Paris: Gulbenkian, 1994
  • Pitcher, Anne Transforming Mozambique: The politics of privatisation, 1975–2000 Cambridge, 2002
  • Newitt, Malyn A History of Mozambique Indiana University Press
  • Varia, "Religion in Mozambique", LFM: Social sciences & Missions No. 17, December 2005
  • Mwakikagile, Godfrey, Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era, Third Edition, New Africa Press, 2006, "Chapter Seven: "The Struggle for Mozambique: The Founding of FRELIMO in Tanzania," pp. 206–225, ISBN 978-0980253412; Mwakikagile, Godfrey, Africa and America in The Sixties: A Decade That Changed The Nation and The Destiny of A Continent, First Edition, New Africa Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0980253429


External links


Government
  • Official Government Portal
  • National Statistical Office
  • [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/world-leaders-m/mozambique.html Chief of State and Cabinet Members]


General information
  • from BBC News
    BBC News

    BBC News, formerly BBC News and Current Affairs, is the department within the BBC responsible for the corporation's news-gathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online....
  • from UCB Libraries GovPubs


News media


Business, investment and legal information
  • Club of Mozambique - Business Portal
  • AFIM - Association of Mozambique Investors
  • ACM - Associação Comercial de Moçambique


Economics, trade and development


Politics


Forums
  • (in Portuguese)


Tourism*


Other
  • Mozambique Country Profile
  • Has links to free articles on current affairs.


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