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Mozambique

OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Mozambique

DATE OF FORMATION: 1975

POPULATION: 19.2 million

DENSITY: 63 people per square mile

LANGUAGES: Makua, Xitsonga, Sena, Lomwe, Portuguese

RELIGIONS: Traditional beliefs 56%, Christian 30%, Muslim 14%

ETHNIC MIX: Makua Lomwe 47%, Tsonga 23%, Malawi 12%, Shona 11%, Yao 4%, Other 3%

GOVERNMENT: Multiparty elections

CURRENCY: Metical

 

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Situated on the southeast African coast, Mozambique is bisected by the Zambezi River. South of the Zambezi lies a semiarid savanna lowland. The more fertile north-central delta provinces around Tete are home to most of Mozambique's ethnically diverse population. Following independence from Portugal in 1975, Mozambique was torn apart by civil war between the (then Marxist) Frelimo government and the South African-backed Mozambique National Resistance (Renamo). The conflict finally ended in 1992 after UN arbitration. Multiparty elections in 1994 returned Frelimo to power. Hit by devastating floods in 2000 and 2001, Mozambique is now one of Africa's top attractors of foreign investment.

 

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