Introduction
Mozambique stretches for 1,535 mi (2,470 km) along Africa's southeast coast. It is nearly twice the size of California. Tanzania is to the north; Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to the west; and South Africa and Swaziland to the south. The country is generally a low-lying plateau broken up by 25 sizable rivers that flow into the Indian Ocean. The largest is the Zambezi, which provides access to central Africa.
Republic of Mozambique
National name: República de Moçambique
President: Joaquim Chissanó (1986)
Prime Minister: Luisa Diogo (2004)
Area: 309,494 sq mi (801,590 sq km)
Population (2004 est.): 18,811,731 (growth rate: 1.2%); birth rate: 36.1/1000; infant mortality rate: 137.1/1000; life expectancy: 37.1; density per sq mi: 61
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Maputo, 1,691,000 (metro. area), 1,114,000 (city proper)
Monetary unit: Metical
Languages: Portuguese (official), Bantu languages
Ethnicity/race: indigenous tribal groups 99.66% (Shangaan, Chokwe, Manyika, Sena, Makua, and others), Europeans 0.06%, Euro-Africans 0.2%, Indians 0.08%
Religions: indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 30%, Islam 20%
Literacy rate: 48% (2003 est.)
Economy
GDP/PPP (2003 est.): $21.23 billion; per capita $1,200. Real growth rate: 7%. Inflation: 15.2% (2002 est.). Unemployment: 21% (1997 est.). Arable land: 4%. Agriculture: cotton, cashew nuts, sugarcane, tea, cassava (tapioca), corn, coconuts, sisal, citrus and tropical fruits, potatoes, sunflowers; beef, poultry. Labor force: 9.2 million (2000 est.); agriculture 81%, industry 6%, services 13% (1997 est.). Industries: food, beverages, chemicals (fertilizer, soap, paints), aluminum, petroleum products, textiles, cement, glass, asbestos, tobacco. Natural resources: coal, titanium, natural gas, hydropower, tantalum, graphite. Exports: $795 million (f.o.b., 2003 est.): aluminum, prawns, cashews, cotton, sugar, citrus, timber; bulk electricity. Imports: $1.142 billion (f.o.b., 2003 est.): machinery and equipment, vehicles, fuel, chemicals, metal products, foodstuffs, textiles. Major trading partners: Belgium, South Africa, Germany, France, U.S., Australia, Japan, Malaysia.
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 90,000 (Dec. 2001); mobile cellular: 287,000 (2002). Radio broadcast stations: AM 13, FM 17, shortwave 11 (2001). Radios: 730,000 (1997). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2001). Televisions: 67,600 (2000). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 11 (2002). Internet users: 22,500 (2000).
Transportation: Railways: total: 3,123 km (2002). Highways: total: 30,400 km; paved: 5,685 km; unpaved: 24,715 km (1999 est.). Waterways: about 3,750 km of navigable routes. Ports and harbors: Beira, Inhambane, Maputo, Nacala, Pemba, Quelimane. Airports: 165 (2002).
History
Bantu-speakers migrated to Mozambique in the first millennium, and Arab and Swahili traders settled the region thereafter. It was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498, and first colonized by Portugal in 1505. By 1510, the Portuguese had control of all the former Arab sultanates on the east African coast. Portuguese colonial rule was repressive.
Guerrilla activity began in 1963 and became so effective by 1973 that Portugal was forced to dispatch 40,000 troops to fight the rebels. A cease-fire was signed in Sept. 1974, and after having been under Portuguese colonial rule for 470 years, Mozambique became independent on June 25, 1975. The first president, Samora Moises Machel, had been the head of the National Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) in its ten-year guerrilla war for independence. He died in a plane crash in 1986 and was succeeded by his foreign minister, Joaquim Chissanó.
On Jan. 25, 1985, after a decade of independence, the government was locked in a paralyzing war with antigovernment guerrillas, the Mozambique National Resistance (MNR or Renamo), who were backed by the white minority government in South Africa. The guerrilla movement weakened President Chissanó's attempts to institute socialism, which he then decided to abandon in 1989. A new constitution was drafted calling for three branches of government and granting civil liberties. A cease-fire agreement was signed in Oct. 1992 between the government and the MNR, ending 16 years of civil war.
In multiparty elections in 1994 President Chissanó won. In Nov. 1995 the country was the first non-former British colony to become a member of the British Commonwealth. The president's disciplined economic plan was highly successful, winning the country foreign confidence and aid. While Mozambique posted some of the world's largest economic growth rates in the late 1990s, it has suffered enormous setbacks because of natural disaster—the enormous damage caused by severe flooding in the winters of 2000 and 2001. Hundreds have died and thousands were displaced.
In 2002 Chissanó announced he would not seek a third term in the 2004 presidential election. FRELIMO selected independence hero Armando Guebuza as their new candidate.
Postal History
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Companhia de Moçambique
As per a Government decree dated 8 th August 1892, the Mozambique Company was authorized to print its own stamps with the legend “Companhia de Moçambique”. This concession ended as per another decree dated July 1941 and their territories returned once again under the administration of the Government of Moçambique. It then started back stamps of this Province.
Inhambane
Inhambane province is characterised by its extensive coconut palms and cashew trees. This province has one of the most famous tourist destinations of the country; the Bazaruto archipelago.
Area: 68,615 sq.km
Boundaries: Sofala and Manica to the north, Gaza to the west and the Indian Ocean to the south and east
Main products: cashew, coconut and tangerines
Population density: 19 inhabitants/sq.km
Most represented ethnic groups: Tsua (Tsonga) and Chope
The Portuguese established a permanent settlement and trading post at Inhambane in 1534, making it one of the oldest settlements in Southern Africa.
The easiest way to reach Inhambane is by a good road from Maputo (469 km on EN 1) or it is possible to drive from Beira or Zimbabwe on the EN 6 and EN 1 after Inchope. LAM does not fly to Inhambane, but charter flights can be arranged.
Lourenço Marques
The district of Lourenço Marques used stamps of Moçambique till it was allowed to use its own stamps, as per decree dated 2 nd June 1892. After 1920 it started using Moçambique stamps once again.
Companhia do Niassa
As per decree dated 22dn November 1894, this company was authorized to make their own postage stamps with the label “Companhia do Nyassa”. On the 27 th October 1929, after having stopped operating as an autonomous company, as their territories returned back under Moçambique administration, it ceased to emit its own stamps and re-started using back the stamps of this Province.
Quelimane
This town, pronounced ‘keli-mane’, is the administrative capital of the fertile Zambezi district with nearly one million inhabitants. It is famous for its coconut trees which number about 12 million! The port, which is about 19 kilometres from the sea, is on the 1.5 kilometre wide Rios dos Boas Sinais, or ‘River of Good Signs’, named by Vasco da Gama when he sailed here in the late 1400s. Like the rest of Northern Mozambique the city is largely Islamic and the sounds of muezzins come from dozens of mosques throughout the city. The main landmarks here are the District Governor’s residence which dates from 1895 and the Cathedral of Nossa Senhora do Vibramento built in 1785 - four years before the French Revolution.
The town was journey’s end for David Livingstone on his trans-Africa trek from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean in 1856. Six years later he was appointed as its British Consul. Interestingly General Lettow-Vorbecht’s troops reached the outskirts of the town in their East African Campaign during World War I, marking the southern limit of their thrust. There are several hotels, including Hotel Chuabo on the river front, as well as surprisingly fashionable street side cafes and restaurants. The river reaches the sea at Zalala Beach which has holiday-homes and restaurants. It is an interesting place to visit with dugout canoes braving the surf, but the sea water is muddied by the estuary.
Quionga
On May 6 th, 1919, The Allied Supreme Council assigned the Kionga Triangle as a mandate to Portugal. The Kionga region had been part of German East Africa before World War I. Whilst under Portuguese occupation during 1914-1918, it used Lourenço Marques stamps with “Kionga” overprints.
Tete
The Tete province with its capital of the same name, is rich in minerlas and famous for the Cabora Bassa Dam.
Tete city has some interesting attractions like the Baroma Church, from the XIX century, and the suspended bridge over the Zambeze river. This province has three important borders with: Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Till 1893, Tete used stamps from Moçambique. It then merged with Quelimane and formed a new Province called Zambezia that used their own stamps. After 1920, Tete started using Moçambique stamps once again.
Zambezia
This territory split in 1920 into Tete and Quelimane and used Moçambique stamps ever since.
