Country Profile

content from the HfH Mozambique handbook

Capital: Maputo
Government: The country has a President and a Prime Minister. The last election was in 2009 and the next is due 2014. The country is divided into 10 provinces and the capital city is treated as a province on its own.
Population: 23.4 million (UN 2010) 42% of the children are orphans
Urbanization: 30% live in cities
Life expectancy: 41.37 years
HIV prevalence rate: 13.22% on average
Number of AIDS orphans: 400,000
Population living below $2 per day: 90%

Although having developed at an astonishing pace, Mozambique remains one of the most aid dependant countries in the world. Mozambique's 23.4 million people are desperately poor: 40 percent live on less than US$1 a day. According to UNICEF, there are 1.6 million orphans, 380,000 who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. Devastated by almost three decades of civil war, the economy of Mozambique could only fully begin reconstruction in 1994. Reduced inflation, the introduction of VAT and a reform of the customs service have improved the government's revenue collection abilities as well as heavy investment in human capital to assist with poverty reduction. Subsistence agriculture continues to employ the vast majority of the country's workforce, with estimates of up to 80%. Tourism, after declining sharply during the war is now on the increase and this trend is set to continue with improved transport links and the Peace Park initiative which links several national parks.