Mozambique
Name
| Official name | Republic of Mozambique — República de Moçambique |
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| Former names | The People's Republic of Mozambique (1975–90); Portuguese East Africa, the Overseas Province of Mozambique (1951–75) and the Colony of Mozambique before; the Captaincy of Mozambique under Goa (to 1752); the Sultanate of Sofala and the Swahili sheikhdoms of the coast |
| Demonym | Mozambican |
| Meaning of the name | From Mussa Bin Bique — Musa al-Biq — the Arab sheikh of the island the Portuguese found in 1498, his name Moçambique on their charts for the island, then the colony, then the nation; the only country named for a person's Arabic name |
| Motto | None official |
Quick facts
| Capital | Maputo — Lourenço Marques until 1976, the capital since 1898 in place of the Island of Mozambique; about 1.1 million in the city, 3 million in the metropolis with Matola; at the southern tip of a country 2,000 km long |
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| Largest cities | Maputo; Matola, about 1.6 million, the industrial city of the smelter across the bay; Nampula, about 800,000, the city of the north; Beira, the port of the center, about 600,000; Chimoio; Quelimane; Tete of the coal; Nacala of the deep harbor; Pemba of the gas coast; Lichinga; Xai-Xai; Inhambane |
| Official language | Portuguese — the language of the state and the schools, spoken by about half and the mother tongue of a sixth, the cities' language; Emakhuwa of the north the mother tongue of a quarter, Xichangana of the south, Cinyanja, Cisena, Elomwe, Echuwabo, Cindau, Xitswa, Kimwani, Shimakonde and the rest of the Bantu languages; English of the neighbors; the only Portuguese-speaking country of the Commonwealth |
| Currency | Mozambican metical — MZN, MT; plural meticais; 100 centavos; since 16 June 1980, the new metical of 1 July 2006; about 64 to the U.S. dollar |
| Time zone | Central Africa Time, UTC+2; no summer time |
| Calling code | +258 |
| Internet domain | .mz |
| ISO 3166 codes | MZ · MOZ · 508 |
| Vehicle registration code | MOC |
| Driving side | Left |
| Electricity | 220 V, 50 Hz; plug types C, F and M |
| Independence | 25 June 1975, from Portugal, by the Lusaka Accord of 7 September 1974 after the Carnation Revolution — Samora Machel the first president, the Portuguese of 250,000 gone within a year |
| National days | 25 June, Independence Day; 3 February, Heroes' Day, for Eduardo Mondlane's murder of 1969; 7 April, Women's Day, for Josina Machel; 7 September, Victory Day, for the Lusaka Accord; 25 September, Armed Forces Day, for the first shots of 1964; 4 October, Peace and Reconciliation Day, for the Rome accord of 1992; 1 May; 1 January; 25 December, Family Day |
| Constitution | 30 November 1990 — the Constitution that ended the one-party state of 1975, in force 30 November 1990: the multiparty republic, the president elected by the people for five years and twice, the Assembly of the Republic of 250, the courts, the Council of State; revised 16 November 2004 and in 2018 for the provincial governors elected on the winning list and the decentralization of the peace deal; the Constitution of 1975 of the People's Republic before |
| Population | 27,909,798 at the census of 2017; about 34.5 million (INE, 2026 est.) — from 12 million in 1980; half under 17 |
| Area | 799,380 km² (308,642 sq mi) — land 786,380 km², water 13,000 km²; the sixteenth-largest in Africa |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | Three horizontal bands of green, black and yellow separated by thin white stripes, with a red triangle at the hoist bearing a yellow five-pointed star on which lie an open book, a hoe and an AK-47 rifle with a fixed bayonet — the green for the land's riches, the black for Africa, the yellow for the minerals, the white for peace, the red for the struggle; the book for education, the hoe for the peasants and the rifle for the defense and vigilance of the nation — adopted 1 May 1983, the only national flag in the world that carries a modern firearm, the competition of 2005 to replace it left unresolved.Flag of Mozambique |
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| Coat of arms | A cog wheel enclosing a map of the country over the sea and the rising sun, crossed by the AK-47 and the hoe with the open book beneath, the red star above, framed by a stalk of sugarcane and an ear of corn tied with the ribbon "República de Moçambique"; adopted 1990 with the new Constitution, the emblem of 1975 with the country's new name |
| National anthem | "Pátria Amada" ("Beloved Homeland") — words and music by Salomão Manhiça, adopted 30 April 2002 in place of "Viva, Viva a FRELIMO," the party anthem of 1975 that the multiparty state could not keep; "Moçambique nossa terra gloriosa" |
| National motto | None official |
| National colors | Green, black, yellow, white and red |
| National animal | The elephants of Gorongosa and Niassa, the herds of the war's survivors, and the lions of the restoration; the dugong of Bazaruto, the last of the western Indian Ocean; widely cited |
| National tree | The cashew — the caju of the Portuguese groves, the nuts and the beer of the north, once the world's first producer; the baobab; the mangroves of the delta; widely cited |
| National dish | Matapa — the cassava leaves stewed with peanuts, garlic and coconut milk, with prawns or crab; the frango à zambeziana, the piri-piri chicken of the Zambezi that the Portuguese took to the world; the prawns of Maputo, the camarão of the grills; the xima, the maize porridge; the caril of the coast; the 2M and Laurentina beers; widely cited |
| National sport | Football, the Mambas of the Cup of Nations of 1986, 1996, 1998, 2010, 2024 and 2025, the country of Eusébio, born at Lourenço Marques in 1942 and the star of Portugal, and of Reinildo Mandava; basketball of the women's team, the Africa champions of 2003; the 800 meters of Maria Mutola, the "Maputo Express," the Olympic gold of Sydney 2000, the only one; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag by the law of 1983 and the Constitution; the arms by the Constitution of 1990; the anthem by the law of 2002; the animals, tree, dishes and sports widely cited |
Geography
| Location | Southeast Africa on the Indian Ocean — the Mozambique Channel between the mainland and Madagascar; Tanzania to the north across the Rovuma, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, Eswatini and South Africa to the southwest; the coast of Africa's east from the Tropic of Capricorn to the eleventh parallel |
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| Land borders | 4,783 km (2,972 mi) with six neighbors — Malawi 1,498, Zimbabwe 1,402, Tanzania 840, South Africa 496, Zambia 439, Eswatini 108; the Ressano Garcia crossing of the trucks and the migrants to South Africa, the Machipanda to Zimbabwe, the Unity Bridge of the Rovuma to Tanzania of 2010; Malawi's claim to the whole of Lake Niassa the old quarrel |
| Coastline | 2,470 km (1,535 mi) — the third-longest of Africa, from the Rovuma to Ponta do Ouro: the Quirimbas of the north and the Bazaruto of the south, the Island of Mozambique, the beaches of Tofo, Vilanculos and Ponta do Ouro, the Zambezi delta, the harbors of Nacala, Beira and Maputo Bay; the Mozambique Channel of the cyclones and the whale sharks |
| Highest point | Monte Binga, 2,436 m (7,992 ft), in the Chimanimani on the Zimbabwean border; Mount Namuli of Zambezia, 2,419 m |
| Lowest point | The Indian Ocean, 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 345 m (1,132 ft) |
| Rivers | The Zambezi — 820 km of its 2,574 through the country from the Zambian border past the Cahora Bassa dam and Tete to the delta below Quelimane, the fourth river of Africa; the Limpopo of the south through Xai-Xai, the floods of 2000; the Save of the center; the Rovuma, the Tanzanian border for 650 km; the Lúrio, the Ligonha and the Messalo of the north; the Pungwe and the Buzi of Beira; the Incomati, the Umbeluzi and the Maputo of the capital's bay |
| Lakes | Lake Niassa — Malawi — the eastern shore of the third lake of Africa, 700 m deep and the most fish species of any lake, the Mozambican quarter; the Cahora Bassa reservoir of 2,700 km² behind the dam of 1974; the Chiuta and Chilwa of the Malawi border; the coastal lakes of Inhambane, the Chidenguele; the Massingir reservoir of the Elephants river |
| Terrain | The coastal lowlands over nearly half the country, the widest in Africa, the plains of Gaza and Zambezia; the plateaus of the interior rising to the Angónia highlands and the Niassa plateau; the mountains of the western border, the Chimanimani of Binga, the Gorongosa massif of 1,863 m, the Namuli inselbergs; the Zambezi valley and the Tete lowlands of the coal; the Makonde plateau of the far north; the mangroves and the dunes of the coast |
| Climate | Tropical to subtropical — the wet season of October to March with the cyclones of the channel and the dry season of April to September; 800 to 1,500 mm on the coast and the north, 500 in the Limpopo valley; Maputo at 23°C, Tete the hottest at 40°C; the droughts of El Niño, the 2024 harvest lost; the floods of the Zambezi and the Limpopo |
| Natural hazards | Cyclones — Idai of 14 March 2019 that drowned Beira with 600 dead in Mozambique and 1,300 in all, among the deadliest storms of the southern hemisphere, Kenneth six weeks later, Eloise of 2021, Freddy of 2023 that crossed the channel twice, Chido of 15 December 2024 with 120 dead in Cabo Delgado, Dikeledi of January 2025, Gezani of 14 February 2026 over Inhambane; the floods of the Limpopo of February 2000 with 800 dead and Rosita born in a tree, the Maputo floods of 21 January 2026 with 13 dead and thousands in the camps; the droughts; the earthquake of 23 February 2006 of magnitude 7 at Machaze; the cholera of the camps; the insurgency of the north that displaced 1.3 million at its peak |
| Natural resources | Natural gas — the Rovuma basin of about 100 trillion cubic feet off Cabo Delgado, among the largest finds of the century, and the Pande and Temane fields of Inhambane; coal of the Moatize basin of Tete; aluminum smelted at Mozal from imported alumina; graphite of Balama, the largest mine in the world; rubies of Montepuez, the largest deposit; the heavy mineral sands of Moma, the ilmenite and zircon; gold, tantalum, gemstones; the hydropower of the Zambezi; the timber and the cashews; the prawns and the fish; the farmland |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 56%, the pasture most of it, the arable about 7%; forest about 44%, the miombo woodlands; the smallholders of 4 million families on their machambas |
| National parks | Gorongosa, the park of 1960 emptied by the war and restored since 2004 with the Carr Foundation's money, the lions, elephants and buffalo back, "the Serengeti of the south" reborn; Niassa, the reserve of 42,000 km², one of the largest in Africa, the lions and the elephants of the north, the insurgents' shadow since 2025; Limpopo, joined to South Africa's Kruger in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park of 2002; Bazaruto, the marine park of 1971 of the dugongs; Quirimbas; Zinave and Banhine; Maputo National Park of 2021 with its elephants and the beaches of the reserve; Chimanimani |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 1 — the Island of Mozambique (1991), the Swahili and Portuguese town of the coral stone on the island of 3 km, the fort of São Sebastião of 1558, the oldest complete fort of sub-Saharan Africa, and the chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte of 1522, the oldest European building of the southern hemisphere, the capital of the colony until 1898; the Chopi timbila xylophones (2008), the Gule Wamkulu dance of the Chewa (2008, shared) and the Nyau on the intangible list; Gorongosa on the tentative list |
| Administrative divisions | 11 provinces — Maputo City, the capital, and Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane, Sofala, Manica, Tete, Zambezia, Nampula, Niassa and Cabo Delgado — under governors elected on the winning party's list since 2019 and the secretaries of state named by the president; 154 districts; 53 municipalities with elected councils, the disputed vote of 11 October 2023 |
People
| Population | 27,909,798 (census of 2017); about 34.5 million (2026 est.) |
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| Population density | About 43 per km² (112 per sq mi) — the coast and the north crowded, Nampula and Zambezia the provinces of 6 million each, the Niassa and the Gaza interior empty |
| Population growth | About 2.8% a year — the population doubling every 25 years |
| Median age | About 17 years — among the youngest in the world |
| Life expectancy | About 62 years |
| Fertility rate | About 4.5 births per woman |
| Urban population | About 40% |
| Adult literacy | About 63% — the men at 74%, the women at 53% |
| Ethnic groups | Makhuwa about 26%, the largest people, of Nampula, Zambezia and Cabo Delgado; Tsonga about 12%, the Changana and Ronga of the south and Maputo, Machel's people; Lomwe about 10%; Sena about 8% of the Zambezi; Ndau and Shona of the center; Chuwabo; Yao, the Muslim traders of Niassa; Makonde of the northern plateau, the carvers and the fighters of Frelimo; Nyanja of the lake; Mwani of the Cabo Delgado coast, the Swahili shore of the insurgency; the Portuguese, the Indians of Gujarat and Goa, the Chinese and the mestiços of the cities under 1%; some 40 peoples, no census by ethnicity |
| Languages | Emakhuwa the mother tongue of 26.1%, Portuguese of 16.6% and the second language of half, Xichangana 8.6%, Cinyanja 5.8%, Cisena 5.4%, Elomwe 5.4%, Echuwabo 4.5%, Cindau 3.7%, Xitswa 3.6%, Shimakonde, Kimwani, Ciyao, Xironga and the rest (census of 2017); Portuguese the language of the state, the schools and the young of the cities, English of the trade and the neighbors; the Mozambican Portuguese of the writers, Mia Couto and Paulina Chiziane |
| Religion | Roman Catholic 27.2%, the church of the colony and of the bishops who questioned the count of 2024, the bishop of Quelimane shot dead in his residence on 6 June 2026; Muslim 18.9%, the Sunni of the northern coast and the Yao of Niassa, the Swahili heritage; the Zionist churches 15.6%, the African churches of the south; the evangelical and Pentecostal churches 15.3%, the Universal Church of the Brazilians; Anglican 1.7%; the traditional faith of the ancestors and the curandeiros beneath; none 13.9% (census of 2017); the insurgents of Cabo Delgado the Islamic State's in name and the disaffected Mwani and Makhuwa young in the analysts' view |
| Human Development Index | 0.493 (2023 data, 2025 report) — low; about 183rd of 193 |
| Health | HIV in about 12% of the adults, among the highest rates in the world, 2 million living with it; malaria the largest killer, the cholera of the floods and the camps, the tuberculosis; the maternity wards and the hospitals of the provinces, one doctor for 10,000; the child mortality falling and the stunting of a third of the children |
| Sport | Football — the Mambas of the Cup of Nations, the group stage of Morocco in the winter of 2025–26, the league of Ferroviário and Costa do Sol, Eusébio and Reinildo; basketball, the women's Afrobasket of 2003 and the AfroBasket hosted in 2011; Maria Mutola's gold of 2000 and the 800-meter world titles, Lurdes Mutola; the Ferroviário and the swimming; the Maputo marathon; the capulana of the fans |
| Diaspora | About 1.5 million abroad — South Africa first, the miners of the Rand since the 1890s and the migrants of the border, the xenophobic violence of 2008 and 2015; Portugal, about 100,000; Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania; the remittances; the 250,000 Portuguese who left in 1975 and the returns |
Government
| Form of government | Unitary presidential republic under the Constitution of 1990 — the president elected by the people for five years and two terms as head of state and government and commander of the forces, the prime minister he names to run the ministries; the Assembly of the Republic of 250 elected on proportional lists; the Constitutional Council; the provincial assemblies and the governors of the reform of 2019; Frelimo the ruling party since 1975, in a state the Freedom House rates "partly free" |
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| President | Daniel Francisco Chapo (Frelimo), since 15 January 2025 — the fifth president and the first born after independence; born 6 January 1977 at Inhaminga in Sofala, a law graduate and lecturer, the district administrator and the governor of Inhambane of 2016–24, the party's secretary-general; the candidate chosen by Frelimo's central committee in May 2024 over the establishment; declared elected on 9 October 2024 with 65.17% by the National Elections Commission and the Constitutional Council on 23 December 2024, Mondlane at 24.19%, Ossufo Momade of Renamo 6.3%, Lutero Simango of the MDM 4.1%, turnout 43%; "the irregularities during counting and the unjustified alteration of election results," the European Union's observers reported, the bishops "the truth of the vote"; inaugurated 15 January 2025 as the capital was shut and hundreds protested, "social harmony cannot wait," he said; the host of TotalEnergies at Afungi on 29 January 2026, "a decisive step"; "there are no towns occupied by insurgents," he said of the north in January 2026 |
| Prime Minister | Maria Benvinda Levi (Frelimo), since 18 January 2025 — the second woman in the office after Luísa Diogo of 2004–10, who died 16 January 2026; born 1961, a lawyer, the justice minister of 2010–15 and the director of the police academy; the government of 15 ministers named in January 2025 and the state reform of the coalition talks |
| The 2024 election | Held 9 October 2024 for the president, the Assembly of 250 and the provincial assemblies: Chapo 65.17% by the official count; VENÂNCIO MONDLANE, the former Renamo deputy standing for the small Podemos party after the parties of his alliance were barred, 24.19% by the count and 53% by his own tally of the polling-station sheets; the Assembly — Frelimo 171 seats, Podemos 43, Renamo 28, the MDM 8, sworn 13 January 2025; the killing of Mondlane's lawyer Elvino Dias and the Podemos official Paulo Guambe in their car in Maputo on 18 October 2024 the spark; the general strike and the marches called from Mondlane's exile on Facebook, 1.5 million in the streets on 7 November, the barricades, the looting, the Ressano Garcia border shut; the police's live fire — about 360 dead by the Decide platform's count, 300 by the human rights groups', most of them protesters and dozens of them children, 400 by the wider counts, 4,000 arrested; the protests ended 24 March 2025; the government's "the results are final" and "the violence of the demonstrators," the opposition's "the electoral truth"; the United States and the EU "questioned the credibility" |
| The dialogue | The political commitment signed 5 March 2025 by the president and nine parties for "an inclusive national dialogue" on the state reform, the decentralization and the electoral law, made law in April; the first meeting of Chapo and Mondlane on 23 March 2025 at the presidency, "a significant step forward," the president's office said, the amnesty for the protesters agreed, the reparations for the dead promised; Mondlane's armored-car ambush of 5 March 2025 when the police rammed his convoy and fired on it, the government denying an attempt on his life; his ANAMOLA — the National Alliance for a Free and Autonomous Mozambique — founded 3 April 2025 and registered 15 August 2025 after Podemos split from him, the youth its base; the attorney general's charges against him of 2025 for the incitement of the protests, "persecution," he says; the municipal elections of October 2028 the first test, the general election of October 2029 the second |
| Cabo Delgado | The insurgency of the north since the attack on Mocímboa da Praia of 5 October 2017 — the "al-Shabaab" of the Mwani and Makhuwa young, sworn to the Islamic State as its Mozambique province since 2019, the beheadings and the burned villages; Mocímboa held by the insurgents from August 2020 to August 2021; the attack on Palma of 24 March 2021 that killed hundreds, 800 by some counts, beside TotalEnergies' camp and stopped the gas; the Rwandan army of about 2,500 from July 2021, paid by Kigali and then by the European Union, that took Mocímboa back on 8 August 2021 and holds Afungi, and the SADC mission of 2021–24; ACLED's count of 2,342 attacks and 6,515 dead since 2017, 2,732 of them civilians, by September 2026, 1.3 million displaced at the peak; the resurgence of 2024–25 into Niassa and the coast, "sporadic attacks, mainly at the village level," the president said in 2026; the accusation that soldiers killed dozens of civilians held in containers at Afungi in 2021, reported in 2024 and denied by the army, the French inquiry into TotalEnergies' knowledge; the "prejudice that Cabo Delgado is all about terrorism," Chapo's phrase |
| Parliament | The Assembly of the Republic — Assembleia da República — 250 deputies elected for five years by proportional representation in the provinces and the diaspora; Margarida Talapa (Frelimo) the Speaker since January 2025; Frelimo 171, Podemos 43, Renamo 28, the MDM 8; the Council of State; the provincial assemblies |
| The next election | The municipal elections in October 2028; the presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections in October 2029 |
| Renamo and the peace | The civil war of 1977–92 between Frelimo's state and Renamo, the rebels raised by Rhodesia and armed by apartheid South Africa, a million dead and the country in ruins, ended by the Rome accord of 4 October 1992; Renamo's return to arms in 2013–19 and the Maputo Accord of 6 August 2019 signed by Nyusi and Ossufo Momade, the disarmament of the last 5,000 fighters completed in 2023; Renamo the second party from 1994 to 2024 and the third since, Momade challenged within it, Afonso Dhlakama's party since his death of 3 May 2018; the Nkomati accord of 1984 with South Africa; Samora Machel's death in the crash of 19 October 1986 at Mbuzini on the South African side, the cause never settled |
| The hidden debts | The US$2 billion of loans of 2013–14 by Credit Suisse and VTB to three state companies for the tuna boats and the coast guard, hidden from the parliament and the IMF and guaranteed by the finance minister Manuel Chang — revealed in April 2016, the aid cut, the currency halved, the default of 2017; the bribes of US$200 million; Chang extradited from South Africa to New York and sentenced there to eight and a half years on 17 January 2024, the former president Guebuza's son sentenced to 12 years at Maputo in 2022; Credit Suisse's US$475 million of penalties and the London judgment of 2024 against Privinvest; the debt about 95% of GDP the legacy |
| Legal system | Civil law of the Portuguese codes with the customary courts of the communities; the Constitutional Council of seven that confirmed the count of 2024; the Supreme Court; the death penalty abolished by the Constitution of 1990; the police of the UIR rapid intervention unit of the protests' fire, the bullets the rights groups counted; the courts of the tuna bonds |
| Local government | 53 municipalities with elected councils, the elections of 11 October 2023 that the opposition said were rigged and the Constitutional Council partly reran, the protests of 2023 the rehearsal for 2024; the provincial governors elected since 2019 on the winning list, all eleven Frelimo's; the district administrators of the state; the régulos, the traditional chiefs, recognized again since 2000 |
| Defense | The Mozambique Defence Armed Forces, the FADM, of about 11,000 with the police and the UIR — the army of the Rome accord's two sides; the Rwandan Defence Force of about 2,500 to 4,000 in Cabo Delgado since July 2021; the SADC mission of 2021–24; the Wagner Group's failure of 2019 and the Dyck Advisory Group's helicopters of 2020; the European Union's training mission; the Tanzanian and the South African help; the Cahora Bassa of the strategic assets |
| Foreign policy | The non-alignment of the Machel years become the balance of the powers — Portugal of the language and the CPLP, Brazil of the churches and the television; South Africa of the trade, the power, the miners and the Ressano Garcia; Rwanda of the soldiers; China of the bridge, the roads and the airport; the United States of the Millennium compact of 2023 and the Exim loan of the gas; India of the Rovuma stakes; the Gulf and Japan of the LNG; the Commonwealth joined 13 November 1995, the first member never a British colony; the SADC, its chair of 2023–24; the African Union |
| United Nations | Member since 16 September 1975; the ONUMOZ peacekeepers of 1992–94 who oversaw the peace and the first election; the Security Council seat of 2023–24; the humanitarian appeals of the north |
| Other memberships | The Commonwealth (1995); the CPLP of the Portuguese-speaking states (1996); the SADC (1980, a founder as the SADCC); the African Union; the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation; the Non-Aligned Movement; the WTO (1995); the Indian Ocean Rim Association; the Francophonie as an observer |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$23 billion (2025, IMF) |
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| GDP per capita | About US$650 (2025) — among the ten lowest in the world |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$1,600 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 1.9% in 2024 in the post-election unrest that cost about US$500 million, about 3% in 2025 and about 4% expected in 2026 with the gas works; inflation about 4%; the metical at about 64 to the dollar, held by the central bank; the poverty of 62% below the national line |
| Economy by sector | Agriculture about 26% and four in five of the workers; industry about 22%, the smelter, the mines and the gas; services about 52% |
| Currency | Mozambican metical (MZN) |
| Gas | The Rovuma basin — Coral South, Eni's floating LNG plant of 3.4 million tons a year that shipped the country's first cargo on 13 November 2022, and Coral North, its twin, approved in 2025; MOZAMBIQUE LNG of TotalEnergies, Mitsui, ENH, ONGC, Bharat and PTT — the US$20 billion project at Afungi for 13 million tons a year, halted by the force majeure declared 26 April 2021 after Palma, the force majeure lifted 7 November 2025 and "the full restart" announced by Pouyanné and Chapo at Afungi on 29 January 2026, 6,000 workers by April and 45% built by July, the first gas in 2029, US$35 billion for the state over its life by the president's count, the U.S. Exim loan of US$4.7 billion reapproved in 2025; Rovuma LNG of ExxonMobil and Eni, 18 million tons, toward its decision; "how much ordinary Mozambicans will benefit," the civil society's question; the Pande and Temane gas piped to South Africa since 2004 and the Temane power plant |
| Aluminum, coal and the mines | Mozal, the smelter of Matola of 2000, about 580,000 metric tons a year and the largest export for two decades, the power from Cahora Bassa and South Africa the fight of 2025–26; the coal of Moatize in Tete, about 10 million tons a year to India and Japan by the Nacala railway, Vale's mine sold to Vulcan in 2022; the graphite of Balama, Syrah's mine, the world's largest, shut by the protests of 2024–25 and reopened; the rubies of Montepuez, Gemfields' auctions, the largest deposit in the world; the heavy sands of Moma of Kenmare; the gold of Manica |
| Farming and the sea | Maize, cassava, rice, beans and the machambas of 4 million smallholders; the cashews of the north, the world's largest producer before the war and a tenth of it now; the sugar of Xinavane and Maragra, the tobacco of Tete, the cotton, the tea of Gurué, the bananas of Nampula; the prawns of Maputo and the Sofala bank; the sesame; the drought and the cyclones the harvest's enemies |
| Energy | Cahora Bassa, the dam of 1974 on the Zambezi, 2,075 MW, the largest hydropower plant of southern Africa, Mozambican since 2007, its power sold to South Africa and Zimbabwe and a fifth kept; the Mphanda Nkuwa dam of 1,500 MW downstream for 2031; the Temane gas plant; the electricity for a third of the people and the "Energy for All" of 2030; the LNG of the future; the Mozal smelter's hunger for power |
| Trade and the corridors | Exports about US$8 billion — aluminum, coal, gas, electricity, heavy sands, rubies, cashews, prawns — to India, South Africa, China and Europe; the corridors of the neighbors' trade, Maputo for South Africa's Gauteng, Beira for Zimbabwe and Zambia, Nacala for Malawi; the imports of fuel and food; the Chinese and Portuguese investors, the South African supermarkets |
| Public finances | Public debt about 95% of GDP, the hidden debts of 2016 and the default of 2017 the wound; the IMF's program of 2022–25 and the talks of 2026; the wage bill of the state the burden; the sovereign wealth fund of the law of 2023 for the gas; the budget of 2026 and the Millennium compact's US$500 million; the aid of the donors that the debts halved |
| Income classification | Low income (World Bank); a least developed country |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airports | Maputo International Airport at Mavalane, rebuilt by the Chinese in 2010, about a million passengers; Beira; Nampula; Pemba of the gas; Tete; Nacala of the airport of 2014 that waited for flights; Vilanculos of the beaches; Inhambane |
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| Airline | LAM — Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique — the state carrier of 1980 of the losses and the groundings, its management given to South Africa's Fly Modern Ark in 2024; the Ethiopian, South African, Kenya Airways, TAP and Qatar links; Airlink to Johannesburg |
| Main ports | Maputo, the largest, the port of the Transvaal since 1895 with the Ressano Garcia railway, the chrome, coal and cars of South Africa; Beira, the port of Zimbabwe and the center, drowned by Idai in 2019; Nacala, the deepest natural harbor of the East African coast and the coal terminal of the Nacala corridor; Pemba, the base of the gas; Quelimane; the Palma port of the LNG |
| Railways | About 3,100 km (1,930 mi) of the Cape gauge in three unconnected systems — the CFM; the southern lines of Maputo to Ressano Garcia, Goba and Chicualacuala; the Beira corridor to Machipanda and the Sena line of 575 km to Moatize, rebuilt 2010; the Nacala corridor of 912 km from Moatize through Malawi to Nacala, built by Vale in 2017 for the coal; the Nampula–Cuamba line; no passenger service of note |
| Roads | About 30,000 km (18,600 mi), about 7,000 paved — the EN1 from Maputo north to Pemba, 2,500 km, the spine of the country, the EN6 of the Beira corridor; the Maputo–Katembe bridge of 10 November 2018, 3 km of main span, the longest suspension bridge of Africa, built by the Chinese for the road to Ponta do Ouro and South Africa; the Armando Guebuza bridge of Caia over the Zambezi of 2009 and the Tete bridge; the chapas minibuses; the driving on the left |
| The coast | The dhows of the Swahili shore, the Island of Mozambique's bridge of 1967, the ferries of Maputo bay to Katembe and Inhaca, the Bazaruto boats; the cyclone warnings of the channel |
History in dates
| c. 100–500 | The Bantu peoples arrive |
|---|---|
| c. 900 | The Swahili coast — Sofala and the gold of Great Zimbabwe |
| 1498 | Vasco da Gama at the Island of Mozambique, 2 March |
| 1505 | The Portuguese fort at Sofala |
| 1558 | The fort of São Sebastião on the island |
| 1752 | A colony in its own right, apart from Goa |
| 1895 | Gungunhana defeated at Chaimite, 28 December |
| 1898 | Lourenço Marques the capital |
| 1917 | The Barue revolt of the Zambezi |
| 1951 | An "overseas province" of Portugal |
| 1960 | The Mueda massacre, 16 June |
| 1962 | Frelimo founded at Dar es Salaam, 25 June — Eduardo Mondlane |
| 1964 | The war of independence begins, 25 September |
| 1969 | Mondlane killed by a parcel bomb, 3 February |
| 1974 | The Lusaka Accord, 7 September |
| 1975 | Independence, 25 June — Samora Machel |
| 1976 | Maputo, 3 February; the Rhodesian border closed |
| 1977 | The civil war with Renamo, to 1992 |
| 1980 | The metical; the SADCC |
| 1984 | Nkomati, 16 March |
| 1986 | Machel dies at Mbuzini, 19 October — Chissano |
| 1990 | The Constitution, 30 November |
| 1992 | The Rome peace, 4 October |
| 1994 | The first multiparty election, 27–29 October |
| 1995 | The Commonwealth, 13 November |
| 2000 | The floods, February — 800 dead; Mutola's gold, September |
| 2005 | Guebuza president |
| 2007 | Cahora Bassa Mozambican, 27 November |
| 2010 | The Rovuma gas found, February |
| 2015 | Nyusi president, 15 January |
| 2016 | The hidden debts revealed, April |
| 2017 | The insurgency begins, 5 October |
| 2018 | Dhlakama dies, 3 May; the Katembe bridge, 10 November |
| 2019 | Idai, 14 March; the Maputo Accord, 6 August |
| 2021 | Palma, 24 March; the force majeure, 26 April; the Rwandans, July |
| 2022 | The first LNG cargo, 13 November |
| 2024 | Chang sentenced, 17 January; the election, 9 October; Dias and Guambe killed, 18 October; the protests; Chido, 15 December; the ruling, 23 December |
| 2025 | Chapo, 15 January; Levi, 18 January; the commitment, 5 March; Chapo meets Mondlane, 23 March; the protests end, 24 March; ANAMOLA, 15 August; the force majeure lifted, 7 November |
| 2026 | Diogo dies, 16 January; the floods, 21 January; the restart, 29 January; Gezani, 14 February; the bishop killed, 6 June |
Records & firsts
| The only flag with a modern rifle | The AK-47, since 1983 |
|---|---|
| The only country named for a person's Arabic name | Mussa Bin Bique |
| The largest ruby deposit in the world | Montepuez |
| The largest graphite mine | Balama |
| The largest hydropower plant of southern Africa | Cahora Bassa, 2,075 MW |
| The longest suspension bridge of Africa | Maputo–Katembe, 2018 |
| The first Commonwealth member never a British colony | 1995 |
| The oldest European building of the southern hemisphere | The chapel of 1522 |
| One of the deadliest storms of the south | Idai, 2019 |
| The largest protests since independence | 1.5 million, 7 November 2024 |
| A US$2 billion secret | The hidden debts of 2013–14 |
| A US$20 billion restart | Afungi, 29 January 2026 |
| The Maputo Express | Mutola's gold, 2000 |
| The first president born after independence | Chapo, 2025 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Mozambique?
The Republic of Mozambique — República de Moçambique in Portuguese — independent of Portugal on 25 June 1975 after ten years of the war that Frelimo fought from Tanzania, the People's Republic of the Marxist years until the Constitution of 1990 made it the Republic. The name is a man's: Mussa Bin Bique, the Arab sheikh who ruled the island off the northern coast when Vasco da Gama anchored there in 1498, whose name the Portuguese gave to the island, then to the colony and its capital, and at last to the whole country, which is the only one in the world named after a single person's Arabic name.
What is the capital of Mozambique?
Maputo — Lourenço Marques until 3 February 1976, named for the Portuguese trader who explored Delagoa Bay in 1544 and renamed for the river and the chief of the south — the capital since 1898, when the Portuguese moved it from the Island of Mozambique for the railway to the Transvaal's gold; about 1.1 million people in the city and 3 million with Matola across the bay, at the far southern tip of a country 2,000 km long, the Katembe bridge of 2018 the longest suspension bridge of Africa across its harbor. Matola, the industrial city of the Mozal smelter, Nampula, the "capital of the north," Beira, the port of the center, Chimoio, Quelimane, Tete and Pemba of the gas coast follow.
How big is Mozambique, and how many people live there?
About 799,380 km² (308,642 sq mi) — twice the size of California, a little smaller than Turkey, the sixteenth-largest country of Africa — a strip of the Indian Ocean coast 2,470 km long from Tanzania to South Africa, with Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Eswatini behind it and the Zambezi through its middle. The census of 2017 counted 27,909,798 people; the statistics institute projects about 34.5 million for 2026, growing 2.8 percent a year with half the population under 17, most of them along the coast and in the north, where the Makhuwa are the largest people; nine in ten live on less than US$3 a day, in one of the poorest countries on earth by the income counts.
What are the highest and lowest points of Mozambique?
Monte Binga, 2,436 m (7,992 ft), in the Chimanimani mountains on the Zimbabwean border in the west of Manica province, a few meters higher than Mount Namuli of the north; and the Indian Ocean. The Zambezi enters from Zambia through the Cahora Bassa gorge, where the dam of 1974 holds the largest hydropower plant of southern Africa, and reaches the sea below Quelimane in a delta of mangroves; the Limpopo of the south and the Rovuma of the Tanzanian border are the other rivers of the map, the Bazaruto and Quirimbas archipelagos the islands of the coast, and Lake Niassa, the Malawi of the other shore, the great water of the northwest.
What currency does Mozambique use?
The Mozambican metical (ISO code MZN, MT), of 100 centavos, introduced on 16 June 1980 in place of the escudo of the colony, named for the mithqal of the Arab gold traders of the coast; the "new metical" of 1 July 2006 dropped three zeros from the old, and about 64 meticais buy a U.S. dollar. Clocks keep Central Africa Time, UTC+2, all year; Mozambique drives on the left, unlike the Portuguese, because its roads lead to South Africa.
Who governs Mozambique?
President Daniel Chapo of Frelimo, the party that has ruled since independence, head of state and government since 15 January 2025 — the first president born after 1975 — declared the winner of the election of 9 October 2024 with 65 percent by the electoral authorities and the Constitutional Council, a count that the European Union's observers, the Catholic bishops and the opposition candidate Venâncio Mondlane rejected, Mondlane claiming 53 percent for himself; the protests he called from October 2024 to March 2025 were the largest since independence and were put down with about 360 dead, most shot by the police, before the two men met on 23 March 2025 and Mondlane founded his own party. Maria Benvinda Levi is prime minister, the second woman in the office. The insurgency of Cabo Delgado in the north and the restart of TotalEnergies' US$20 billion gas project there on 29 January 2026 are the two faces of the government's year. The next elections are due in 2028 and 2029.
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