Mozambique 🇲🇿
Mozambique is a country in Africa with a population of 32,969,518. Its capital is Maputo. The official currency is MZN, and the main languages are Portuguese.
Quick facts
- Capital: Maputo
- Continent: Africa
- Population: 32,969,518
- Area: 801,590 km²
- Density: 41.1 people per km²
- Currency: MZN
- Languages: Portuguese
- ISO code: MZ
Where Mozambique sits
Mozambique 🇲🇿 is one of 54 countries in Africa, with its capital at Maputo. It covers 801,590 square kilometres — 35th in the world — and is home to about 32,969,518 people, 48th globally.
The countries it shares a continent with include Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.
How Mozambique compares
Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Mozambique sits closest to Ghana and Yemen. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Turkey and Namibia.
At 41.1 people per square kilometre it is about 1.4 times below the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by area than by population, so it is more spacious than its population alone suggests.
Portuguese is an official language in 9 countries here, among them Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde and Equatorial Guinea, and 4 others. The MZN is used by Mozambique and no one else.
To see Mozambique next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.
How to remember Mozambique
Maputo is near the southern end of the country, within 120 km of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. Until 1976 it was called Lourenço Marques. Think 'Maputo at the bottom of the map'.
The flag of Mozambique: green, black, yellow, white and red
🇲🇿 The flag is three horizontal stripes of green, black and yellow, with the black stripe edged in white, and a red triangle on the left holding a yellow star with a rifle and a hoe crossed over an open book. Green stands for the riches of the land, white for peace, black for the African continent, yellow for the country's minerals and red for the fight for independence. The hoe stands for farming, the open book for education and the rifle for defence.
Region and neighbours
Mozambique is a long country in southeast Africa, with a coast on the Indian Ocean that faces Madagascar across the Mozambique Channel. It shares land borders with 6 countries: Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Eswatini.
- Tanzania 🇹🇿 — capital Dodoma
- Malawi 🇲🇼 — capital Lilongwe
- Zambia 🇿🇲 — capital Lusaka
- Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 — capital Harare
- South Africa 🇿🇦 — capital Pretoria
- Eswatini 🇸🇿 — capital Mbabane
Three facts about Mozambique
- The country is named after the Island of Mozambique, a small island off the northeast coast that is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Mozambique won its independence from Portugal on 25 June 1975.
- Portuguese is the country's only official language, even though Mozambique is home to many different peoples and languages.
Sources: Wikipedia: Mozambique, Wikipedia: Flag of Mozambique, Wikipedia: Maputo, Wikipedia: Island of Mozambique, CIA World Factbook.
Quiz yourself on Mozambique
- African capitals quiz — match Mozambique to Maputo
- African flags quiz — spot the Mozambique flag among its neighbours
Quizzes that include Mozambique
Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Mozambique those are:
- Africa map quiz — place it on a blank map
- Africa flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
- Africa capitals quiz — match it to Maputo
- Mozambique capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Mozambique
- Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day
Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.
Read more about Mozambique
- Capital of Mozambique: Maputo — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
- All 54 countries of Africa
Nearby countries
- Algeria 🇩🇿 — capital Algiers
- Angola 🇦🇴 — capital Luanda
- Benin 🇧🇯 — capital Porto-Novo
- Botswana 🇧🇼 — capital Gaborone
- Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 — capital Ouagadougou
- Burundi 🇧🇮 — capital Gitega
- Cabo Verde 🇨🇻 — capital Praia
- Cameroon 🇨🇲 — capital Yaoundé
- Central African Republic 🇨🇫 — capital Bangui
- Chad 🇹🇩 — capital N'Djamena
- Comoros 🇰🇲 — capital Moroni
- Congo 🇨🇬 — capital Brazzaville
Frequently asked questions
What are the colours of the Mozambique flag?
The flag of Mozambique is three horizontal stripes of green, black and yellow, with the black stripe edged in white, and a red triangle on the left holding a yellow star with a rifle and a hoe crossed over an open book. Green stands for the riches of the land, white for peace, black for the African continent, yellow for the country's minerals and red for the fight for independence. The hoe stands for farming, the open book for education and the rifle for defence.
Which countries border Mozambique?
Mozambique shares land borders with Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Eswatini.
How can I remember the capital of Mozambique?
Maputo is near the southern end of the country, within 120 km of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. Until 1976 it was called Lourenço Marques. Think 'Maputo at the bottom of the map'.