Location: Southern Africa, bordering the Mozambique Channel, between South Africa and Tanzania

Geographic coordinates:

Map references: Africa

Area:
total: 801,590 km²
land: 784,090 km²
water: 17,500 km²

Capital

• Maputo (Lourenço Marques)

Major Cities

• Angoche (António Enes)
• Beira
• Pemba (Pôrto Amelia)

Area - comparative:
Belarus: slightly less than four times the size of Belarus
Kyrgyzstan: slightly more than four times the size of Kyrgyzstan
Iran: slightly less than half the size of Iran
Pakistan: slightly less than the size of Pakistan
Paraguay: slightly less than twice the size of Paraguay
United States: slightly less than twice the size of California
Zimbabwe: slightly more than twice the size of Zimbabwe

Land boundaries:
total: 4,571 km
border countries: Malawi 1,569 km, South Africa 491 km, Swaziland 105 km, Tanzania 756 km, Zambia 419 km, Zimbabwe 1,231 km

Coastline: 2,470 km

Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles
territorial sea: 12 nautical miles

Climate: tropical to subtropical

Terrain: mostly coastal lowlands, uplands in center, high plateaus in northwest, mountains in west

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Monte Binga 2,436 m

Natural resources: coal, titanium, natural gas, hydropower, tantalum, graphite

Land use:
arable land: 3.98 (1998 est.), 4% (1993 est.)
permanent crops: 0.29% (1998 est.), 0% (1993 est.)
permanent pastures: 56% (1993 est.)
forests and woodland: 18% (1993 est.)
other: 95.73 (1998 est.), 22% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 1,180 km² (1993 est.)

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

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; elephant poaching for ivory is a problem

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

See also : Mozambique