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This text is based on the article Mozambique Location and Description and is available under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported License. A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.

Along the 2800 km coastline there is a wide coastal lowland. It covers most of the south, but narrows from the mouth of the Zambezi River northward. Behind the coast, the land rises in steps to the approximately 1000 m high tableland of the high field. The highest mountain is Monte Binga in the province of Manica (on the border with Zimbabwe) at 2436 meters.

With a land area of 801,590 km², Mozambique ranks 34th in the world. 18% of the country’s area is forest and bush land, 4% arable land, 55% meadows and pastures.

The extension of the country in the north-south direction is 2000 km, in the west-east direction 50 to 600 km. The coast on the Indian Ocean is 2800 km long.

Mozambique has 4571 km of national borders, of which with Tanzania 756 km, with Malawi 1569 km, with Zambia 419 km, with Zimbabwe 1231 km, with South Africa 491 km and with Eswatini 105 km.

Climate

Savannah climate with a wet and a dry season prevails. During the rainy season, which lasts from November to April, about 80% of the annual precipitation falls. Depending on the region, this varies between 700 and 1500 mm per year. While the temperatures during the rainy season are hot and humid (tropical), the dry season is characterized by much cooler nights. Throughout the year, daytime temperatures are between 25 and 30 °C, inland even up to 35 °C. The nights are sometimes very humid at around 15 to 25 °C, especially on the coast.

In some years, such as 2007/2008, there was unusually high rainfall, which claimed lives and threatened harvests. Overall, the country experiences high climate variability and frequent extreme weather events (especially droughts, floods, tropical cyclones). Droughts are the most common disasters, occurring about every three to four years and massively hampering the country’s development. In terms of the consequences of global warming, it is believed that cyclones may become less frequent, but their intensity, and therefore rainfall, is likely to increase. In 2019, for example, Cyclones Idai and Kenneth

were unusually intense and caused severe damage. These weather events may also lead to increased erosion in coastal areas. Because much of the population, and especially many poor people in rural areas, depend on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods, they are particularly vulnerable to changes in rainfall patterns.

Water bodies

The country’s numerous rivers flow eastward from the highlands into the Strait of Mozambique. The largest river is the Zambezi (2,574 km), which is dammed in western Mozambique by the Cahora Bassa Dam. Other major rivers include the Rovuma, the border river with Tanzania, and Save and Limpopo. Lake Malawi forms part of the border with Malawi; its outlet is the Shire, which flows into the Zambezi. Together with the Lurio, the catchment areas of these rivers account for over half of the country. However, due to its geography, Mozambique has only a comparatively small share of the International Rivers‘ catchment areas. See also: List of rivers in Mozambique

Flora

The predominant vegetation is dry savanna with dry grasslands and some dry forests. Some of the trees in the savanna shed their foliage during the dry season and turn green during the rainy season. Typical trees of the dry savanna are umbrella acacias and baobabs. The grass is brown and withered in the dry season, but grows up to 2 meters tall during the rainy season.

Population

Demography

Mozambique population pyramid (2016).

Population development in millions of inhabitants

The average life expectancy at birth in 2019 was 60.9 years. 44.4% of the population was under 15 years of age in 2019 and just under 3% was over 65. The total fertility rate was 4.8 children per woman. The rate was still around 6.5 children per woman around 1970 and has been steadily declining since then. This is partly due to the fact that modern contraceptive methods are available to more and more married women. From 2008 to 2019, the rate increased from 12% to 50%. The country has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world (12.3%), which is slowing population growth. This was 2.9% in 2019.

According to the UN’s median population projection, the population is expected to exceed 65 million by 2050.