News


Mozambique's hydrocarbs company, Empresa Nacional de Hydrocarbonetes de Mocambique recently signed an agreement for $30 million dollars. The agreement was with PT Kalila Energi Ltd., an oil company stationed in Indonesia. Mozambique has given them permission to drill and look for oil and natrual gas in their land for the next eight years. 


I think it was a good idea for Mozambique to sign the agreement. It will help bring more money into their country. In 2007, their GDP was $17.64 billion, and this could help increase the GDP. It will also increase the number of natrual rescores that they have, and will make the prince for oil and natrual gas much less for citizens of the country. This will help the country in many ways. 

Culture


Music and dance is very important to their culture. Men will preform a dance with costumes and cultural masks called mapicos. Preforming arts are a big part of religious and social practices. Some common musical instruments are drums, string instruments, and saxophones. Lots of the music is influenced by Portuguese music. 


One of the most common meals ate in Mozambique is chicken and rice. Chicken is thought to be the most nutritious food. People all over the country eat it. Most people cook it over an open fire.  Some other good foods they eat are cashews and bananas, that grow locally. They also have many farms, so they drink lots of goats milk. Also, being by the coast, they enjoy a lot of seafood. 

Art is one of the main ways that they keep their history and culture alive. There are many forms, some of the most common being dance, music, sculpture, painting, architecture, and crafts. I think the coolest crafts are woodcarving and basket weaving. 

Flora and Fauna


Mozambique has great vegetaion across the country. They have many forest, with some of the most common plants being mahogany, ebony, and ironwood. Many different kinds of trees will grow in the varied climate.


Just like the flora, there is a wide range of animal life. They have many species of Elephants, water buffalo, giraffes, zebras, and lions. In the lakes, rivers, and swamps, crocodiles and hippoptami are very common. 

The climate of Mozambique is Tropical to Subtropical.  The dry season is during their winter, from April to September. During the dry season, the temperatures along the coast are, on average, 80º F. The rainy season, from October to March, has very high humidity. During the rainy season, the coastal temperature is about 88º. The temperature is a littler lower farther inland during both seasons. 


In the northern part of Mozambique, it is much more hot and humid than in the south.  The north gets almost twice as much rainfall as the south. The rainy season in the north also lasts about six weeks longer than the south. 

Geography


Mozambique is on the coast of South East Africa, just south of the Indian Ocean. About half the country is flat coastal plains.  The farther inland, the land rises. Montains run along the west and northern borders.

The country has about 784,090 sq km of land mass, and 17,500 sq km of water territory. The total amount of area that Mozambique has about 801,590 sq km or total area, which is a little less than twice the size of California. 


Mozambique borders many countries. Tanzania is to the north. Malawi and Zambia are to the north west. Zimbabwe is to the west, and South Africa and Swaziland are to the South West.  Across the Mozambique Channel, just to the east, lays Mozambique.

There are many rivers in Mozambique like Zambezi, Limpopo, Maputo and many more. Mozambique also has a few lakes like Malawi,  Shirwa, and Cahora Bassa. There is also 2,470 km of coastline. Even though there is lots of water, droughts are common in the southern part of the country.

In most parts of the highland, there is very fertile soil to grow crops. They can produce enough food for the country and have many exports. They grow corn, sugar cane, tobacco, rice, tea, and citruis fruit. Because of the coastline, they also export many prawns.

History

Mozambique is an old country with a unique history. It is a beautiful country that started with the San people.  Vasco De Gama, a Portugese explorer landed on the coast of Mozambique in 1498, and by 1505 Mozambique, and a few other south African countries, were Portugese colonies. They were a Portugese colony for 470 years until they recieved freedom. Their first president was Samora Moises Machel.

Just a few years after independence, a civil war broke out. The Mozambique Resistance Movement, Renamo, had opposed the government. They wanted to stop their goods from going to Zimbabwe. South Africa was supporting Renamo. Renamo's main target during the war were civilians, government installations, and the economic infastructure. The war finally ended in 1990 when the support had collapsed in South Africa. After it ended, they wrote a new consitution in November of 1990.

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