Mozambique Country Overview
Where is Mozambique located? The state of Mozambique is located in Southeast Africa and gained independence in 1975. The time zone map places Mozambique in a world time zone called “Central Africa Time” (CAT). In this time zone there is a time difference of 2 hours to the coordinated universal time, which means that clocks in Mozambique are always 2 hours later than the world clock (UTC+2). As in most countries in Africa, there is no daylight saving time change in Mozambique.
Population Distribution
As of 2023, the latest population of Mozambique is 30,098,197, based on our calculation of the current data from UN (United Nations).
| Total population | 30,098,197 |
| Population growth rate | 2.62% |
| Birth rate | 38.10 births per 1,000 people |
| Life expectancy | |
| Overall | 52.29 years |
| Men | 51.54 years |
| Women | 53.06 years |
| Age structure | |
| 0-14 years | 44.52% |
| 15-64 years | 52.59% |
| 65 years and above | 2.88% |
| Median age | 17.00 years |
| Gender ratio (Male to Female) | 0.95 |
| Population density | 37.65 residents per km² |
| Urbanization | 35.60% |
| Ethnicities | |
| especially Bantu: 47% Makua, 23% Tsonga, 12% Malawi, 11% Schona, 4% Yao; 1.7% Chinese among others | |
| Religions | |
| Indigenous religions 50%, Christians 30%, Muslims 20% | |
| Human Development Index (HDI) | 0.446 |
| HDI ranking | 180th out of 194 |
People in Mozambique
47 out of 100 people who live in Mozambique belong to the Makua ethnic group. 23 out of 100 are Tsonga, twelve out of 100 are Malawi and eleven are Shona. 70 different ethnic groups live in Mozambique, whose ancestors mostly come from the Bantu people.
Very few Europeans still live in Mozambique. There was a revolution here in 1974 and most whites fled the civil war. To do this, Mozambique has to take in many refugees from neighboring countries.
Lots of babies, lots of sick people
Although many babies are born in Mozambique, the population is growing very little. This is due, for example, to the fact that many babies die at or shortly after their birth. But many people also get diseases that lead to death.
Twelve out of 100 people are infected with the HI virus. Diseases such as malaria, smallpox or hepatitis are also often fatal. The average life expectancy for a Mozambican is around 55 years. It’s not very high.
Languages in Mozambique
The country’s official language is Portuguese, with most Mozambican speaking in the Bantu language. Other languages are most likely to be heard in the country’s port cities.
Religions in Mozambique
50 out of 100 people in Mozambique still live their traditional beliefs and worship nature and its gods. 37 out of 100 belong to the Christian faith.
There is also a higher proportion of people of Muslim faith in Mozambique: 17 out of 100 are Muslims. They mostly live in the coastal regions of the north. Muslims settled there hundreds of years ago (see also Politics and History).