_#_Climate: tropical to subtropical
_#_Terrain: mostly coastal lowlands, uplands in center, high plateaus
in northwest, mountains in west
_#_Natural resources: coal, titanium
_#_Land use: arable land 4%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 56%; forest and woodland 20%; other 20%; includes irrigated
NEGL%
_#_Environment: severe drought and floods occur in south;
desertification
_*_People
_#_Population: 15,113,282 (July 1991), growth rate 4.6% (1991);
note--900,000 Mozambican refugees in Malawi (1990 est.)
_#_Birth rate: 46 births/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Death rate: 17 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Net migration rate: 17 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
_#_Infant mortality rate: 134 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
_#_Life expectancy at birth: 46 years male, 49 years female (1991)
_#_Total fertility rate: 6.4 children born/woman (1991)
_#_Nationality: noun--Mozambican(s); adjective--Mozambican
_#_Ethnic divisions: majority from indigenous tribal groups; Europeans
about 10,000, Euro-Africans 35,000, Indians 15,000
_#_Religion: indigenous beliefs 60%, Christian 30%, Muslim 10%
_#_Language: Portuguese (official); many indigenous dialects
_#_Literacy: 33% (male 45%, female 21%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
_#_Labor force: NA, but 90% engaged in agriculture
_#_Organized labor: 225,000 workers belong to a single union,
the Mozambique Workers' Organization (OTM)
_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Republic of Mozambique
_#_Type: republic
_#_Capital: Maputo
_#_Administrative divisions: 10 provinces (provincias,
singular--provincia); Cabo Delgado, Gaza, Inhambane, Manica, Maputo,
Nampula, Niassa, Sofala, Tete, Zambezia
_#_Independence: 25 June 1975 (from Portugal)
_#_Constitution: 30 November 1990
_#_Legal system: based on Portuguese civil law system and customary
law
_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 25 June (1975)
_#_Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
_#_Legislative branch: unicameral Assembly of the Republic
(Assembleia da Republica)
_#_Judicial branch: People's Courts at all levels
_#_Leaders:
Chief of State--President Joaquim Alberto CHISSANO (since 6
November 1986);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Mario da Graca MACHUNGO
(since 17 July 1986)
_#_Political parties and leaders:
Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO)--formerly a Marxist
organization with close ties to the USSR--was the only legal party before
30 November 1990 when the new Constitution went into effect establishing
a multiparty system; note--the government has announced that multiparty
elections will be held in 1991; parties such as
the Liberal Democratic Party of Mozambique (PALMO),
the Mozambique National Union (UNAMO),
and the Mozambique National Movement (MONAMO) have already emerged
_#_Suffrage: universal adult at age 18
_#_Elections: electoral law--to be ratified in 1991--will provide
for periodic, direct presidential and Assembly elections
_#_Communists: about 200,000 FRELIMO members; note--FRELIMO no
longer considers itself a Communist party
_#_Member of: ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, FAO, FLS, G-77,
IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU,
LORCS, NAM, OAU, SADCC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO
_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Hipolito PATRICIO; Chancery
at Suite 570, 1990 M Street NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202)
293-7146;
US--Ambassador Townsend B. FRIEDMAN, Jr.; Embassy at Avenida
Kenneth Kuanda, 193 Maputo (mailing address is P. O. Box 783, Maputo);
telephone [258] (1) 49-27-97, 49-01-67, 49-03-50
_#_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
_*_Economy
_#_Overview: 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 at about 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.
_#_GDP: $1.6 billion, per capita $110; real growth rate 5.0%
(1989 est.)
_#_Inflation rate (consumer prices): 22.9% (1990 est.)
_#_Unemployment rate: 50% (1989 est.)
_#_Budget: revenues $186 million; expenditures $239 million,
including capital expenditures of $208 million (1988 est.)
_#_Exports: $90 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
commodities--shrimp 48%, cashews 21%, sugar 10%, copra 3%,
citrus 3%;
partners--US, Western Europe, GDR, Japan
_#_Imports: $764 million (c.i.f., 1989 est.), including aid;
commodities--food, clothing, farm equipment, petroleum;
partners--US, Western Europe, USSR
_#_External debt: $5.1 billion (1990 est.)
_#_Industrial production: growth rate 5% (1989 est.)
_#_Electricity: 2,265,000 kW capacity; 1,740 million kWh produced,
120 kWh per capita (1989)
_#_Industries: food, beverages, chemicals (fertilizer, soap, paints),
petroleum products, textiles, nonmetallic mineral products (cement,
glass, asbestos), tobacco
_#_Agriculture: accounts for 90% of the labor force, 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
_#_Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $350
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $3.8 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $37 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $890 million
_#_Currency: metical (plural--meticais); 1 metical (Mt) = 100 centavos
_#_Exchange rates: meticais (Mt) per US$1--1,700 (November 1990),
800.00 (1989), 528.60 (1988), 289.44 (1987), 40.43 (1986), 43.18 (1985)
_#_Fiscal year: calendar year
_*_Communications
_#_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
_#_Highways: 26,498 km total; 4,593 km paved; 829 km gravel, crushed
stone, stabilized soil; 21,076 km unimproved earth
_#_Inland waterways: about 3,750 km of navigable routes
_#_Pipelines: 306 km crude oil (not operating); 289 km refined
products
_#_Ports: Maputo, Beira, Nacala
_#_Merchant marine: 5 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 7,806
GRT/12,873 DWT
_#_Civil air: 5 major transport aircraft
_#_Airports: 197 total, 145 usable; 27 with permanent-surface runways;
1 with runways over 3,659 m; 5 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 27 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
_#_Telecommunications: fair system of troposcatter, open-wire lines,
and radio relay; 57,400 telephones; stations--15 AM, 3 FM, 1 TV;
earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT and 3 domestic
_*_Defense Forces
_#_Branches: Mozambique Armed Forces (including Army, Naval
Command, Air Defense Forces, Border Guards), Militia
_#_Manpower availability: males 15-49, 3,407,234; 1,957,123 fit for
military service
_#_Defense expenditures: $NA, 8.4% of GDP (1987)
_%_
_@_Namibia
_*_Geography
_#_Total area: 824,290 km2; land area: 823,290 km2
_#_Comparative area: slightly more than half the size of Alaska
_#_Land boundaries: 3,935 km total; Angola 1,376 km, Botswana
1,360 km, South Africa 966 km, Zambia 233 km
_#_Coastline: 1,489 km
_#_Maritime claims:
Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;