MZM

$NA

Currency (code):

metical (MZM)

Currency code:

Exchange rates:

meticais (MZM) per US dollar - 26.264 (2007), 25.4 (2006), 23,061 (2005), 22,581 (2004), 23,782 (2003) note: in 2006 Mozambique revalued its currency, with 1000 old meticais equal to 1 new meticais

Communications
Mozambique

Telephones - main lines in use:

67,000 (2006)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

3.3 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: fair system with an extremely low density of less than 1 fixed line per 100 persons domestic: the telecommunications sector is shackled with a heavy state presence, lack of competition, and high operating costs and charges; stagnation in the fixed-line network contrasts with rapid growth in the mobile-cellular network; mobile-cellular coverage now includes all the main cities and key roads, including those from Maputo to the South African and Swaziland borders, the national highway through Gaza and Inhambane provinces, the Beira corridor, and from Nampula to Nacala international: country code - 258; satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (2 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 13, FM 17, shortwave 11 (2001)

Radios:

730,000 (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

1 (2000)

Televisions:

67,600 (2000)

Internet country code:

.mz

Internet hosts:

22,532 (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

11 (2002)

Internet users:

200,000 (2007)

Transportation
Mozambique

Airports:

147 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 22 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 10 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 5 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 125 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 9 914 to 1,523 m: 36 under 914 m: 79 (2007)

Pipelines:

gas 964 km; refined products 278 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 3,123 km narrow gauge: 2,983 km 1.067-m gauge; 140 km 0.762-m gauge (2006)

Roadways:

total: 30,400 km paved: 5,685 km unpaved: 24,715 km (2000)

Waterways:

460 km (Zambezi River navigable to Tete and along Cahora Bassa Lake) (2007)

Merchant marine:

total: 2 by type: cargo 2 foreign-owned: 2 (Belgium 2) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Beira, Maputo, Nacala

Military
Mozambique

Military branches:

Mozambique Armed Defense Forces (FADM): Mozambique Army, Mozambique
Navy (Marinha Mocambique, MM), Mozambique Air Force (Forca Aerea de
Mocambique, FAM) (2006)

Military service age and obligation:

18-30 years of age for compulsory military service; 2-year service obligation (2006)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 4,545,975 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 2,287,526 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 257,261 female: 259,114 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

0.8% of GDP (2006)

Transnational Issues
Mozambique

Disputes - international:

none

Trafficking in persons:

current situation: Mozambique is a source and, to a much lesser extent, a destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation; the use of forced and bonded child laborers is a common practice in Mozambique's rural areas; women and girls are trafficked from rural to urban areas of Mozambique, as well as to South Africa, for domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation; young men and boys are trafficked to South Africa for farm work and mining tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - for the second consecutive year, Mozambique is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking in 2007; while the government conducted investigations into cases of human trafficking, there were no prosecutions or convictions of traffickers; government efforts to protect victims of trafficking continued to suffer from limited resources and a lack of political commitment (2008)

Illicit drugs:

southern African transit point for South Asian hashish and heroin, and South American cocaine probably destined for the European and South African markets; producer of cannabis (for local consumption) and methaqualone (for export to South Africa); corruption and poor regulatory capability makes the banking system vulnerable to money laundering, but the lack of a well-developed financial infrastructure limits the country's utility as a money-laundering center

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

@Namibia

Introduction
Namibia

Background:

South Africa occupied the German colony of South-West Africa during World War I and administered it as a mandate until after World War II, when it annexed the territory. In 1966 the Marxist South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) guerrilla group launched a war of independence for the area that was soon named Namibia, but it was not until 1988 that South Africa agreed to end its administration in accordance with a UN peace plan for the entire region. Namibia has been governed by SWAPO since the country won independence in 1990. Hifikepunye POHAMBA was elected president in November 2004 in a landslide victory replacing Sam NUJOMA who led the country during its first 14 years of self rule.

Geography
Namibia

Location:

Southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and South Africa

Geographic coordinates: