The Republic of Mozambique is located on the southeastern most tip of Africa and covers an area of 801,590 km2. It is bounded by South Africa on the south and southwest, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi on the west, Tanzania on the north and the Indian Ocean on the east. The capital city is Maputo and physically the country consists of coastal low lands, uplands in the centre, high plateaus in the northwest and mountains in the west. Mozambique is divided into ten provinces and one capital city with provincial status. Mozambique gained independence from Portugal on 25 June 1975 and Portuguese is the official language of the country. The total population which was 26.5 million in 2013 was expected to reach 29.5 million in 2017.