Mozambique is a Southern African country. Mozambique is located on the southeastern coast of Africa and borders South Africa and Swaziland to the south and southwest, Zimbabwe to the west, Zambia and Malawi to the northwest, and Tanzania to the north, with the east coast bathed. across the Indian Ocean which, through the Mozambique channel, separates it from the island of Madagascar. It has an area of 801 590 km2. The main cities are Maputo (ex-Lourenço Marques), the capital, Beira and Nampula.
The Zambezi River, the largest river in the country, divides Mozambique in half, constituting an authentic natural border between the two distinct geographic regions that exist in the country: the northern region, of high lands, with fertile soils and where there is greater forest concentration; and the southern region, of low lands and with poorer soils, with a landscape characterized by the existence of savannas.
Climate
Mozambique’s climate is tropical monsoon, with the existence of a rainy season under the action of the northeast sea monsoon (which runs from November to March) and a dry season under the influence of the southwestern land monsoon (from April to October). It should be noted that the northern region is more humid than that of the south, a fact that the influence of the monsoons coming from the Indian Ocean and which affect the north coast most strongly, since the south coast is somewhat protected by geographical barrier constituted by the island of Madagascar. Areas with an altitude of more than 1000 meters have a tropical climate of altitude that approaches, due to its characteristics, temperate climates.
Economy
The main economic sector is agriculture, whose main productions are maize, cassava, beans and rice, the activity being complemented by cattle raising. On the other hand, agricultural production for export is based on sugar, tea and citrus fruits, products increased in the colonial era and which continued to be produced. Forest exploitation also decreased after independence, despite the interest already shown by international investors. Fishing activity has progressed, since the income from the capture and sale of mackerel, sardines, tuna and, above all, shrimp and lobster, has been increasing gradually since the beginning of the 70s.
The industrial sector includes small industries linked to both mining and the manufacture of raw materials for export. Both aspects are little explored, mainly related to mining, since the mineral resources are considerable, because, in addition to having the largest reserve of tantalite (rare ore and very important for the electronics industry), they are found easily other ores with high levels of quality, such as iron, bauxite, copper, graphite, marble, garnet (precious stone) and lime stone.
Mozambique’s main trading partners are South Africa, Spain, Japan and Portugal.
Population
It has a population that, in 2015, was estimated at 25 313 113 residents. The birth and death rates are respectively of 38.58% and 12.1%. Average life expectancy is 52.94 years.
In terms of ethnolinguistic composition, the most numerous group is that of macuas (47%), followed by tsonga (23%), malawi (12%) and shonas (11%). Traditional beliefs are followed by 48% of the population, with Catholics accounting for 28% and Muslims for 18%. The official language is Portuguese.
History
When Vasco da Gama’s fleet reached the Mozambican coast, it found a territory with a complex political, economic and social system, structured by peoples who not only inhabited that area since the 3rd century AD. C., as well as had commercial contacts with Arabs and Asians since the end of the first millennium, contacts that were based on the successful exploration of gold, iron and copper. For Mozambique democracy and rights, please check getzipcodes.
Starting from Sofala and the Island of Mozambique, Portuguese explorers penetrated the interior of the territory, establishing the first commercial warehouses and making the first land concessions to the colonists along the Zambezi River, as a measure to obtain control of the routes at the same time that the Portuguese were populating the territory. This whole process had, from the beginning, to fight against Arab movements in the region, managing Portugal to control practically the entire Mozambican coast until the beginning of the 18th century, a situation that was reversed from the moment when the Portuguese lost, in 1698, Fort Jesus in Mombasa (Kenya) for the Arabs.
During the 18th century, another trade flourished in the territory – the slave trade. In fact, due to the need for existing labor in Brazil, the natives of the interior regions began to be captured to be sold as slaves. And despite the agreements made in the middle of the 19th century between Portugal and England with a view to the cessation of this trade, the truth is that the clandestine slave trade continued until the early years of the 20th century.
Still in the 19th century, Portugal faced another setback in Mozambican territory: the triggering of tribal conflicts in southwest Mozambique, originating in attacks perpetrated, either by the emerging kingdom of the Zulos, or by the Zwangendaba and Soshangane peoples (who refused to subjugate themselves to the Portuguese). The latter was responsible for the founding of the state of Gaza, in southern Mozambique, which was dismantled by the Portuguese only in 1897, thus passing the entire territory to be controlled by Portugal.
With the borders defined through diplomatic agreements with England (in which Portugal was forced to yield to English interests due to the high debts it owed to England), Mozambique developed through the implantation of large private companies that were dedicated to agriculture , mining or even the construction of roads and railways. These companies grew at the expense of the use of forced labor, the imposition of high taxes and the establishment of low wages.
This situation did not change when the 1926 coup d’état in Portugal instituted a dictatorship (baptized after the Estado Novo) that came to directly control the colonies, including Mozambique. The Portuguese government ended in this case with concessions to private companies, and instituted protectionist policies at the time of the Great Depression of 1930. These measures would result in the accumulation of capital that would only be invested in the 1950s, in large projects for the development of communications infrastructure. This investment coincided with the arrival of thousands of Portuguese settlers who wanted to take advantage of the various opportunities that the Estado Novo offered them and which were refused to Mozambicans.
This aspect of Portuguese overseas politics led to the emergence of independence ideals. These ideals were consolidated in 1962 with the birth of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) which, after some internal disagreements, started an armed guerrilla policy in 1964, a war that, for Portugal, represented yet another conflict to join that occurred in the other Portuguese colonies in Africa.
The coup d’état of April 25, 1974, which occurred in Portugal, overthrew the dictatorship and implanted democracy, opening the doors to the process of decolonization. FRELIMO, taking advantage of its military positions in the North and Center of Mozambique, led the process of independence, declaring, on June 25, 1975, the People’s Republic of Mozambique as an independent state with a Constitution that allowed only the existence of one party – FRELIMO.
However, shortly after independence, Mozambique plunged into a civil war that opposed FRELIMO to the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO). This movement had the support of the governments of Rhodesia and South Africa (in response to the support given by FRELIMO both to the opposition guerrilla and to the ANC movement), in addition to the support of former Portuguese settlers and some sections of the Mozambican population..
This conflict had extremely negative consequences on the life of the country, and even the Nkomati agreement, signed in 1984, which foresaw the end of South African support for RENAMO, managed to change the bellicose framework that characterized Mozambique. The situation was only overcome with the peace agreement signed between FRELIMO and RENAMO on October 4, 1992, after a constitutional amendment that foresaw the opening of political life to forces other than FRELIMO.
On October 27 and 28, 1994, the first multiparty elections took place for the legislature and the presidency of the Republic, the results of which gave victory to FRELIMO (44.3%) and Joaquim Chissano (53.3%), leader of that party. On the other hand, RENAMO, through the voice of its leader Afonso Dhlakama (who obtained, respectively, 33.7% and 37.7% of the votes), recognized and accepted the victory of FRELIMO, while ensuring the commitment to demobilize its military forces, a commitment also assumed by the government.
This political and social stability came to encourage foreign investment in the territory, with emphasis on England for the measures taken regarding not only the drastic reduction of the enormous debt that Mozambique owed to that country, but also the enormous capital donation made by that country. parents. These initiatives were able to strengthen the ties between the two countries, even leading to the fact that, in 1995, Mozambique joined the Commonwealth, although without alteration, for example, in the official language, which remains Portuguese.
In 1999 Joaquim Chissano was re-elected president, confirming the majority of votes for FRELIMO.
Between February and March 2000, Mozambique suffered major floods caused by torrential rains that increased the flow of rivers, mainly Limpopo and Zambezi. It was the biggest flood in the history of Mozambique, causing a high number of victims, serious economic problems for a developing country (such as ruining crops and storing essential goods to the country’s economy), as well as serious problems of resettlement and food affected populations. Mozambique received international aid in an attempt to mitigate the effects of the natural disaster.
Countryaah.com: Offers a full list of airports in the country of Mozambique, sorted by city location and acronyms.
Abbreviationfinder.org: Provides most commonly used abbreviations and initials containing the country name of Mozambique. Listed by popularity.
1UpTravel.com – Maps of Mozambique
Check out the shaded relief and political maps of Mozambique. Includes regional maps of Southern Mozambique – northern and southern section.
