Mozambique: Mozambique People Profile

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country in Southeast Africa bordered by Zimbabwe, Swaziland, South Africa, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and the Indian Ocean. It is as well separated from the island of Madagascar by the Mozambique Channel. In 2014, Mozambique has an estimated people of 26 million, which ranks 50th in the world.

Mozambique People

Mozambique has an estimated 2014 people of 26 million, which is significantly higher than the 2007 census figure of 21,397,000. Mozambique remains fairly sparsely populated with 29 people per square kilometer, which is 178th in the world. The north-central provinces of Nampula and Zambezia are the majority populous regions of Mozambique and account for 45% of the total people.

The major city and capital is Maputo (before Lourenco Marques) with a people of 1.2 million in 2007. The next-major city is Matola, with a people of 671,000 in 2007.

Mozambique Demographics

Other groups living in Mozambique include: Makonde, Swahili, Tonga, Yao, Nguni, and Chopi. The Bantu account for 97.8% of the people, with the rest inclunding White Africans (mostly of Portuguese descent), Euro-Africans (of mixed Bantu and Portuguese heritage) and Indians. There are about 45,000 people of Indian descent in the country.

The Macua live in the northern region of the country, the Sena and Shona live in the Zambezi valley, and the Shangaan (or Tsonga) are dominant in the southern region of the country.

Mozambique Future

Mozambique remains very poor and donors account for half of its budgetary expenditures. Health care is an issue, and police in Maputo are paid just $120 each month, which has led to a lot of shakedowns by police. Mozambique\'s people is as well growing fairly quickly with an annual people increase rate of 2.5% per year.

The only official language of Mozambique is Portuguese, which is spoken mostly as a second language by about half of the people. Common native languages include Swahili, Makhuwa, and Sena. The country's people of around 24 million is composed overwhelmingly of Bantu people. The major religion in Mozambique is Christianity, with significant minorities following Islam and African traditional religions. Mozambique is a member of the African Union, Commonwealth of Nations, the Community of Portuguese Language Nations, the Latin Union, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Southern African Development Community and La Francophonie.