% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 1,180 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: severe droughts and floods occur in central and
southern provinces; devastating cyclones

Environment--current issues: a long civil war and recurrent
drought in the hinterlands have resulted in increased migration of
the population to urban and coastal areas with adverse environmental
consequences; desertification; pollution of surface and coastal
waters

Environment--international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

People

Population: 19,124,335 (July 1999 est.)
note: the 1997 Mozambican census reported a population of
16,542,800; other estimates range as low as 16.9 million

Age structure:
0-14 years: 45% (male 4,236,545; female 4,325,586)
15-64 years: 53% (male 4,941,048; female 5,181,282)
65 years and over: 2% (male 182,857; female 257,017) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.54% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 42.75 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 17.31 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 117.56 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 45.89 years
male: 44.73 years
female: 47.09 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.88 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Mozambican(s)
adjective: Mozambican

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

Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Mozambique
conventional short form: Mozambique
local long form: Republica de Mocambique
local short form: Mocambique

Data code: MZ

Government type: republic

Capit