dent, prime minister, Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral People's Assembly (Assembleia Popular)

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) is the only legal party and is a Marxist organization with close ties
to the USSR

Suffrage: universal adult at age 18

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

Communists: about 60,000 FRELIMO members

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

Diplomatic representation: 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

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 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.

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 81.1% (1988)

Unemployment rate: 40.0 (1988)

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