Geography

Area
783,030 square kilometers
The country stretches for 2000 km in length with a long coastline on the Indian Ocean, paralleling the island of Madagascar. It has three main ports
Nacala, Beira and Maputo which also serve neighboring landlocked countries.

General Information

Status
Republic

Government
Constitutional multiparty state; including a president, prime minister and assembly

Important date
June 25, 1975 - independence

Capital
Maputo

Currency
Metical

Languages spoken
Portuguese, dialects

Principal industries
mining (undeveloped); agri-food represents 51% of industry

Agriculture
the country's largest industry with cassava, corn, sorghum and peanut crops

Niassa Province

Lake Niassa
A visit to the lake is obligatory if you want to have a "real Africa" experience. The journey down to the edge of the lake has to be in a 4x4 vehicle due to the quality of the road, thus the lake is inaccessible to many tourists and still unspoilt. The road to the lake passes through much unique and picturesque scenery. There are three small fishing villages, Meponda (42 km from Lichinga), Metangula (138 km) and Cóbuè (190 km), where you can buy delicious fresh fish and drink refreshing coconut milk.

Tete Province

Cabora Bassa Dam
This is the second largest dam in Africa and the fifth largest in the world. The enormous reservoir behind the dam has a surface area of more than 2,000 sq. km. You must obtain a written permission to visit the dam from the "Hidroeléctrica de Cabora Bassa" (HCB) office in Tete before travelling to Songo (150km from Tete), where guided tours to the power station and dam are available.

The "Embondeiro" or baobab tree
is widely spread throughout this province. This ancient and legendary tree is intimately linked to the lives of the people in Tete, Cabo Delgado and Inhambane provinces. Innumerable stories about the baobab tree have been passed down through the generations. The baobab is a mighty tree, its trunk can have a diameter of up to 8 meters and the tree can grow up to 15 metres high. The trunk is crowned with very thick branches.

Nampula Province

Mozambique Island
The fortified city of Mozambique is located on this island (about two third of its total area), which was a former Portuguese trading post on the route to India. Declared a "World Heritage Site" by UNESCO in 1992, its astonishing architectural unity is due to the consistent use, since the 16th century, of the same building techniques, the same building materials (stone or macuti) and decorative principles. Places of interest include: St. Paul’s Palace, The Museum of Sacred Art and The Fortress of St Sebastian.