Official language: Portuguese (spoken by 27% of the population as their second language) (2008 estimate) Religion: Catholic 23.8%, Muslim 17.8%, Zionist Christian 17.5%, other 17.8%, none 23.1% (1997 census) Natural hazards: Severe droughts and devastating cyclones, earthquakes and floods in the central and southern provinces Independence: From Portugal in 25 June 1975 Constitution: 30 November 1990 Legal system: Based on the Portuguese civil law system and on customary law Executive arm: Head of State: President Armando Guebuza (since 2 February 2005) Head of Government: Prime Minister Luisa Diogo (since 17 February 2004) Elections: The President is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and is eligible for a second term. Elections were last held from 1–2 December 2004, with the next to be held on 28 October 2009. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President. Election results: Armando Guebuza elected as President (63.7% of the votes); Afonso Dhlakama (31.7%) Legislative: The General Assembly of the Republic or Assembleia da República has 250 seats. Members are directly elected by popular vote on a secret ballot based on proportional representation and they serve five-year terms. FRELIMO has 160 seats and RENAMO 90, whereas the other political parties have no seats in the Assembly. Number of registered political parties: 54 Judiciary: The Supreme Court is the court of final appeal. Some of its professional judges are appointed by the President and some are elected by the Assembly. Other courts include an Administrative Court, customs courts, maritime courts, a court marshal and labour courts. Although the Constitution provides for a separate Constitutional Court, one has never been established and the Supreme Court therefore reviews constitutional cases. Sources: Compiled from the Anuário Estatistico (Statistical Yearbook, Mozambique, 2007) and the CIA World Factbook. xiii