- Maputo; 1,221,000 - 799,380 square kilometers (308,642 square
miles) - Portuguese, indigenous dialects - Indigenous beliefs,
Christian, Muslim - Life Expectancy: - GDP per Capita: - U.S.
$1,100 - Literacy Percent: Mozambique Facts Flag Mozambique, on
the east coast of southern Africa, is mainly a savanna plateau
drained by the mighty Limpopo and Zambezi Rivers, with highlands
to the north. It has a tropical climate that can produce heavy
flooding along the rivers. In 2001 flooding along the Zambezi
River valley forced 70,000 people to flee their homes, and the
World Bank estimated that a total of 491,000 were displaced by
floods throughout the country. Most people live along the coasts
or in the river valleys. Infusions of aid are essential to a
country devastated by decades of war, drought, and floods. After
nearly five centuries of Portuguese presence, Mozambique won
independence in 1975. An exodus of skilled Portuguese workers
followed, and the country became a one-party state allied to the
Soviet bloc.