KEY FACTS
Joined Commonwealth: 1995
Population: 25,203,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 3.7% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 185
Official language: Portuguese
Time: GMT plus 2hr
Currency: Mozambique metical (MT)
Geography
Area: 799,380 sq km
Coastline: 2,470 km
Capital: Maputo
Mozambique is in south-east Africa and borders (anti-clockwise, from north) the United Republic of Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Swaziland and the Indian Ocean. The country is divided into eleven provinces (from south to north): Maputo, Maputo city, Gaza, Inhambane, Manica, Sofala, Zambézia, Tete, Nampula, Niassa and Cabo Delgado.
Main towns:
Maputo (capital, pop. 1.13m in 2010), Matola (greater Maputo, 757,800), Nampula (Nampula province, 534,800), Beira (Sofala, 440,400), Chimoio (Manica, 259,200), Nacala (Nampula, 221,400), Quelimane (Zambézia, 204,700), Tete (Tete, 170,000), Lichinga (Niassa, 162,100), Pemba (Cabo Delgado, 160,500), Garue (Zambézia, 129,000), Gurué (Zambézia, 122,300), Xai-Xai (Gaza, 119,700), Maxixe (Inhambane, 107,900), Cuamba (Niassa, 102,500), Angoche (Nampula, 86,400), Dondo (Sofala, 79,700), Montepuez (Cabo Delgado, 79,000), Mocuba (Zambézia, 71,200) and Inhambane (Inhambane, 66,500).
Society
KEY FACTS 2012
Population per sq km: 32
Life expectancy: 50 years
Net primary enrolment: 86%
Population:
25,203,000 (2012); 31 per cent of people live in urban areas and seven per cent in urban agglomerations of more than one million people; growth 2.8 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 39 per 1,000 people (48 in 1970); life expectancy 50 years (39 in 1970 and 43 in 1990). Ethnic groups include Makua–Lomwe in the north, Makonde in the far north, Thonga in the southern lowlands, Chopi and Thonga in the Inhambane coastal province, and Shona mainly in the central Manica and Sofala provinces.
Language:
Portuguese (official) and three main African groups: Tsonga, Sena–Nyanja, Makua–Lomwe. English is widely spoken.
Education:
There are seven years of compulsory education starting at the age of six. Primary school comprises seven years and secondary five, with cycles of three and two years. Some 31 per cent of pupils complete primary school (2011). The school year starts in January.Tertiary education is provided at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane (in Maputo); Universidade Pedagógica (Maputo, with branches in Beira and Nampula); Instituto Superior de Relações Internacionais (Maputo); and Universidade Lúrio (established in 2006, with campuses at Nampula, Pemba and Niassa, in the three most northerly provinces). Private tertiary institutions include the Higher Polytechnic and University Institute (1996, Maputo, with a branch in Quelimane); Catholic University (1997, Beira); and Higher Institute for Science and Technology of Mozambique (1997,Maputo). The female–male ratio for gross enrolment in tertiary education is 1.60:1 (2011). Literacy among people aged 15–24 is 72 per cent (2010).
