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MOCAMBIQUE FACT SHEET
Covering an area of approximately 800,000 sq km, including about 1, 300 sq km of inland lakes and rivers, Mozambique is home to about 18 million people. It is located on the East African coast, bordered by Tanzania to the north, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa province of the
Transvaal to the west, Swaziland and the South African province of KwaZulu Natal to the south, and by the Indian Ocean to the east.
Mozambique is made up mainly of coastal lowlands, rising toward the west to
a plateau ranging from 500 - 2,000 ft above sea level, and on the western border to a higher plateau with mountains in the north reaching a height of over 8,000 ft. Its 1500 miles of coastline is almost double that of South Africa's and much remains unexplored by tourists.
HISTORY
Mozambique's first inhabitants were Bushmanoid hunters and gatherers,
ancestors of the Khoisani peoples. Between the first and fourth centuries AD, waves of Bantu-speaking peoples migrated from the north through the Zambezi River Valley and then gradually into the plateau and coastal areas. Portuguese explorers reached
Mozambique in 1498, but Arab trading settlements had already existed along the coast for several centuries. From about 1500, Portuguese trading posts and forts became regular ports of call on the new route to the east.
Colonial development was slow as Lisbon devoted itself to the more lucrative trade with India and the Far East and to the colonization of Brazil.
In the early 20th Century, administration was shifted to large private companies, mostly British, which established railroad lines to neighboring countries and supplied cheap - often forced - African labor to the mines and
plantations of nearby British colonies. Little attention was paid to the development of Mozambique¹s economic infrastructure until the last days of colonial rule.
The drive for independence developed along with several other African countries and in 1962 several anti-Portuguese political groups formed a united front and engaged in an armed campaign against the Portuguese
colonial rule. Finally after 10 years of sporadic warfare and major political change in Portugal, Mozambique became independent in June, 1975.
Civil war followed during several changes in power for the next 17 years. Finally, UN Peace keeping forces successfully oversaw a cease fire in 1992 between warring factions and a two-year transition to multi-party elections.
By mid-1995, over 1.7 million refugees who had sought asylum in neighboring countries had returned to Mozambique as part of the largest repatriation witnessed in sub-Saharan Africa. Today Mozambique is peaceful and its economy is gradually recovering after 20 years of civil war and 400 years of slavery and colonialism.
ECONOMY
At independence, Mozambique's economy was largely based on services and the export of cheap agricultural products to Portugal. With the exodus of 200,000 Portuguese in 1975, most of the country's entrepreneurial and technical skills were lost and a disruptive series of nationalization measures sapped
the remaining vitality of the modern economy. By 1980, the government finally succeeded in arresting the steep economic decline by implementing policy changes designed to bring the government budget under control, reform the monetary system and actively seek foreign investment.
About 85% of Mozambique's population is engaged in agriculture, mostly in subsistence farming, and agricultural development is one of the government's top priorities. After severe decline in the 1980's due to drought, lack of foreign exchange and transport difficulties, production has gradually
increased. Cashews, tea, sugar and cotton are all important exports, along with fishing, specifically shrimp. Transport services are one of the country's largest foreign-exchange earners, and Mozambique has good ports at
Maputo, Beira and Nacala. Each is linked by rail with one or more of the states bordering Mozambique, and an oil pipeline connects Beira to Zimbabwe.
Thanks to its wealth of natural beauty, wide empty beaches and warm clear waters, Mozambique is becoming a very popular destination for holidaymakers. However, it is still recovering from the years of civil unrest and the tourist infrastructure is undergoing re-development. Hotels of international standards can now be found in the larger cities, such as Maputo and Beira and development is continuing throughout the country.
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