Protection; signed, but not ratified
- Desertification, Law of the Sea

People
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Population: 17,877,927 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 46% (male 4,141,915; female 4,115,191)
15-64 years: 51% (male 4,324,102; female 4,868,518)
65 years and over: 3% (male 184,606; female 243,595) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.65% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 45.51 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 18.97 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
note: by the end of 1994, an estimated 1.6 million Mozambican
refugees, who fled to Malawi, Zimbabwe, and South Africa in earlier
years from the civil war, had returned; an estimated 100,000
refugees remain to be repatriated from those countries

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.89 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.94 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 125.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 44.34 years
male: 43.21 years
female: 45.5 years (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.23 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Mozambican(s)
adjective: Mozambican

Ethnic divisions: indigenous tribal groups 99.66% (Shangaan,
Chokwe, Manyika, Sena, Makua, and others), Europeans 0.06%,
Euro-Africans 0.2%, Indians 0.08%

Religions: indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 30%, Muslim 20%

Languages: Portuguese (official), indigenous dialects

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1995 est.)
total population: 40.1%
male: 57.7%
female: 23.3%

Government
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Name of country:
conventional long form: Republic of Mozambique
conventional short form: Mozambique
local long form: Republica Popular de Mocambique
local short form: Mocambique

Data code: MZ

Type of government: 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)

National holiday: Independence Day, 25 June (1975)

Constitution: 30 November 1990

Legal system: based on Portuguese civil law system and customary
law

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: