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steped down after 18 years in office. His newly elected successor,
Armando Emilio GUEBUZA, has promised to continue the sound economic
policies that have encouraged foreign investment.
Geography Mozambique
Location:
South-eastern Africa, bordering the Mozambique Channel, between
South Africa and Tanzania
Geographic coordinates:
18 15 S, 35 00 E
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 801,590 sq km
water: 17,500 sq km
land: 784,090 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly less than twice the size of California
Land boundaries:
total: 4,571 km
border countries: Malawi 1,569 km, South Africa 491 km, Swaziland
105 km, Tanzania 756 km, Zambia 419 km, Zimbabwe 1,231 km
Coastline:
2,470 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical to subtropical
Terrain:
mostly coastal lowlands, uplands in center, high plateaus in
northwest, mountains in west
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Monte Binga 2,436 m
Natural resources:
coal, titanium, natural gas, hydropower, tantalum, graphite
Land use:
arable land: 5.1%
permanent crops: 0.3%
other: 94.6% (2001)
Irrigated land:
1,070 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
severe droughts; devastating cyclones and floods occur in central
and southern provinces
Environment - current issues:
a long civil war and recurrent drought in the hinterlands have
resulted in increased migration of the population to urban and
coastal areas with adverse environmental consequences;
desertification; pollution of surface and coastal waters; elephant
poaching for ivory is a problem
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
the Zambezi flows through the north-central and most fertile part
of the country
People Mozambique
Population:
18,811,731
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the
effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower
life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower
population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of
population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected; the 1997
Mozambican cen
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