Demographics of Mozambique

Makua children in Mozambique

The demographics of Mozambique describes the condition and overview of Mozambique's peoples. Demographic topics include basic education, health, and population statistics as well as identified racial and religious affiliations.

[edit] Ethnic groups

Mozambique's major ethnic groups encompass numerous subgroups with diverse languages, dialects, cultures, and histories. Many are linked to similar ethnic groups living in inland countries. The estimated 4 million Makua are the dominant group in the northern part of the country - the Sena and Shona (mostly Ndau) are prominent in the Zambezi valley, and the Shangaan (Tsonga) dominate in southern Mozambique. Other groups include Makonde, Yao, Swahili, Tonga, Chopi, and Nguni (including Zulu). The country has also a small number of European descent residents of Portuguese ancestry. During Portuguese colonial rule, a large minority of Portuguese settlers lived permanently in almost all areas of Mozambique, and Mozambicans with Portuguese blood at the time of independence was about 260,000. Most of these left the region after its freedom in 1975, returning to Portugal where they were called retornados. There is also a small mestiço minority of Mozambicans with mixed Bantu and Portuguese heritage. The remaining Caucasians in Mozambique claim heritage from India, Pakistan, Portuguese India and Arab countries. There are also some 7,000 Chinese, including Macanese people of mixed Portuguese and Chinese blood from Macau.

[edit] Education and health

Under Portugal, educational opportunities for poor Mozambicans were limited; 93% of the Bantu population was illiterate, and many could not speak Portuguese. In fact, most of today's political leaders were educated in missionary schools. After independence, the government placed a high priority on expanding education, which reduced the illiteracy rate to about two-thirds as primary school enrollment increased. Unfortunately, in recent years school construction and teacher training enrollments have not kept up with population increases. With post-war enrollments reaching all-time highs, the quality of education has suffered. As a member of Commonwealth of Nations, most urban Mozambicans are required to learn English starting high-school.

[edit] Religion

Main article: Religion in Mozambique

During the colonial era, Christian missionaries were active in Mozambique, and many foreign clergy remain in the country. According to the census 1997, about 40,6% of the population are Christians including 23.8% Catholics, 17.8% are Muslim, 17.8% adheres to traditional beliefs and 23.1% do not associate with a specific religion.

[edit] Languages

Main article: Languages of Mozambique

Portuguese is the official and most widely spoken language of the nation, but only 40% of Mozambique's population speak Portuguese as either their first or second language, and only 6.5% speak Portuguese as their first language. Arabs, Chinese, and Indians speak their own languages (Indians from Portuguese India speak any of the Portuguese Creoles of their origin) aside from Portuguese as their second language. Most educated Mozambicans speak English, which is used in schools and business as second or third language.

[edit] Culture

Despite the influence of Islamic coastal traders and European colonizers, the people of Mozambique have largely retained an indigenous culture based on smallscale agriculture. Mozambique's most highly developed art forms have been wood sculpture, for which the Makonde in northern Mozambique are particularly renowned, and dance. The middle and upper classes continue to be heavily influenced by the Portuguese colonial and linguistic heritage.

[edit] Demographic Breakdown

Demographics of Mozambique, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

Population: 17,479,266 (July, 2003 est.), 20,905,585 (July, 2007 est.)
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected; the 1997 Mozambican census reported a population of 16,099,246. The north-central provinces of Zambezia and Nampula are the most populous, with about 45% of the population.

Age structure:
0-14 years: 44.7% (male 4,692,126; female 4,647,960) (2007 est.), 43% (male 4,079,240; female 4,122,578) (2000 est.)
15-64 years: 52.5% (male 5,345,618; female 5,633,511) (2007 est.), 54% (male 5,123,178; female 5,262,618) (2000 est.)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male 244,886; female 341,484) (2007 est.), 3% (male 215,412; female 301,670) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.803% (2007 est.), 0.82% (2003 est.), 1.47% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 38.54 births/1,000 population (2007 est.), 38.2 births/1,000 population (2003 est.), 37.99 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 20.51 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.),30.04 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.), 23.29 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000, 2003 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female (2003 est.), 1.02 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
under 15 years: 0.98 male(s)/female (2003 est.), 1.01 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female (2003 est.), 0.949 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female (2003 est.), 0.717 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2003 est.), 0.968 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 109.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
female: 106.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
male: 112.81 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: total population: 40.9 years (2007 est.), 31.3 years (2003 est.), 37.52 years (2000 est.)
male: male: 41.4 years (2007 est.), 30.98 (2003 est.), 38.34 years (2000 est.)
female: female: 40.4 years (2007 est.), 31.63 (2003 est.), 36.68 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.29 children born/woman (2007 est.), 4.87 children born/woman (2003 est.), 4.93 children born/woman (2000 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.3 million (2003 est.), 1.1 million (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: 110,000 (2003 est.), 60,000 (2001 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Mozambican(s)
adjective: Mozambican

Ethnic groups: indigenous tribal groups 99.66% (Shangana, Chokwe, Manyika, Sena, Makua, Ndau, and others), Euro-Africans 0.2%, Indians 0.08%, Arabs 0.02%, Chinese 0.02%, Europeans 0.06%

Religions: Catholic 23.8%, Muslim 17.8%, Zionist Christian 17.5%, other 17.8%, none 23.1% (1997 census)

Languages: Portuguese language (official)
Emakhuwa 26.1%, Xichangana 11.3%, Portuguese 8.8% (official; spoken by 27% of population as a second language), Elomwe 7.6%, Cisena 6.8%, Echuwabo 5.8%, other Mozambican languages 32%, other foreign languages 0.3%, unspecified 1.3% (1997 census)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 47.8% (2003 est.), 40.1% (1995 est.)
male: 63.5% (2003 est.), 57.7% (1995 est.)
female: 32.7% (2003 est.), 23.3% (1995 est.)

[edit] References

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People of Mozambique

This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2007 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.