FACTS

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

Area (only Total) total: 801,590 sq km

Climate: tropical to subtropical

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

Population: 21,284,701
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected; the 1997 Mozambican census reported a population of 16,099,246 (July 2008 est.)

Main Language (only first): Emakhuwa

Government type: republic

Capital (Name): Maputo

Capital (Time Difference): UTC+2

Independence: 25 June 1975 (from Portugal)

National holiday: Independence Day, 25 June (1975)