95-484: Gorongosa National Park is at the southern end of the Great African Rift Valley in the heart of central Mozambique , Southeast Africa . The more than 4,000 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi) park comprises the valley floor and parts of surrounding plateaus . Rivers originating on nearby Mount Gorongosa (1,863 m (6,112 ft)) water the plain. Seasonal flooding and waterlogging of
190-427: A one-party system and later as the democratically elected government in a multi-party system . FRELIMO fought a protracted civil war from 1976 to 1992 against the anti-communist Mozambican National Resistance or RENAMO. RENAMO received support from the then white minority governments of Rhodesia and South Africa . FRELIMO approved a new national constitution in 1990, which ended one-party rule and established
285-534: A 10-million-year-old ape called Chororapithecus abyssinicus , found in the Afar rift in eastern Ethiopia, and Nakalipithecus nakayamai , which is also 10 million years old. 3°00′S 35°30′E / 3.0°S 35.5°E / -3.0; 35.5 Mozambique Liberation Front FRELIMO ( Portuguese pronunciation: [fɾɛˈlimu] ; from Portuguese : Frente de Libertação de Moçambique , transl. Mozambique Liberation Front )
380-623: A day, a post office, a petrol station, a first-aid clinic, and a shop selling local handicrafts. The late 1960s also saw the first comprehensive scientific studies of the park, led by Armando Rosinha, Director of Gorongosa, and Kenneth Tinley , an Australian ecologist . In the first-ever aerial survey, Tinley and his team counted about 200 lions , 2,200 elephants , 14,000 African buffalo , 5,500 wildebeest , 3,000 zebras , 3,500 waterbuck , 2,000 impala , 3,500 hippos , and herds of eland , sable antelope and hartebeest numbering more than 500. Tinley also discovered that many people and most of
475-562: A kind of closed-canopy savanna , widespread in southern Africa, called " miombo ", after the Swahili word for the dominant tree, a member of the genus Brachystegia . About 20 percent of the valley's grasslands are flooded much of the year. In July 2010 the government of Mozambique and the Gorongosa Restoration Project (headed by the U.S.–based Carr Foundation) announced that Gorongosa Mountain would be added to
570-685: A multi-party system. FRELIMO has since become the dominant party in Mozambique and has won a majority of the seats in the Assembly of the Republic in every election since the country's first multi-party election in 1994 . After World War II, while many European nations were granting independence to their colonies, Portugal, under the Estado Novo regime, maintained that Mozambique and other Portuguese possessions were overseas territories of
665-649: A number of active and dormant volcanoes, among them: Mount Kilimanjaro , Mount Kenya , Mount Longonot , Menengai Crater, Mount Karisimbi , Mount Nyiragongo , Mount Meru and Mount Elgon , as well as the Crater Highlands in Tanzania. Although most of these mountains lie outside of the rift valley, the EAR created them. Notable active examples of EAR volcanism include Erta Ale , Dalaffilla (also called Gabuli, Alu-Dalafilla), and Ol Doinyo Lengai . Erta Ale
760-559: A reduction in production. At the 4th Party Congress in 1984 FRELIMO acknowledged its mistakes in the economic field and adopted a new set of directives and plans, reversing their previous positions and promoting more peasant and communal based farming projects over the larger state farms, many of which were either dismantled or shrunk. As the war with RENAMO intensified much of the improvements made to healthcare, education and basic infrastructure by FRELIMO were wiped out. Agriculture fell into disarray as farms were burnt and farmers fled into
855-715: A transitional government until official independence from Portugal in June 1975. FRELIMO established a one-party state based on socialist principles, with Samora Machel re-elected as President of FRELIMO and subsequently the First President of the People's Republic of Mozambique . The new government first received diplomatic recognition, economic and military support from Cuba and the Socialist Bloc countries. Marcelino dos Santos became vice-president of FRELIMO and
950-591: A triumvirate, with Machel and Marcelino dos Santos supplementing Simango. After several months, in November 1969, Machel and dos Santos ousted Simango from FRELIMO. Simango left FRELIMO and joined the small Revolutionary Committee of Mozambique (COREMO) liberation movement. FRELIMO established some "liberated" zones (countryside zones with native rural populations controlled by FRELIMO guerrillas) in Northern Mozambique. The movement grew in strength during
1045-684: Is woodlands — several kinds of forest and thickets. The rest is grasslands subjected to harsh seasonal conditions that prevent trees from growing. All three types are found throughout the system, with many different sub-types and varieties. Tree cover increased throughout the park in the decades following the Mozambican Civil War , likely due to the dramatic declines of large herbivores such as elephants during that period. Mount Gorongosa has rainforests , montane grasslands, riverine forests along its rivers, and forests and savanna woodlands at lower elevations. Both plateaus are covered with
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#17327729336161140-611: Is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique . It has governed the country since its independence from Portugal in 1975. Founded in 1962, FRELIMO began as a nationalist movement fighting for the self-determination and independence of Mozambique from Portuguese colonial rule . During its anti-colonial struggle, FRELIMO managed to maintain friendly relations with both the Soviet Union and China , and received military and economic assistance from both. Independence
1235-795: Is a basaltic shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia, active continuously since at least 1967, with a summit lava lake documented since at least 1906. The 2008 eruption of Dalafilla, its only documented activity since the start of the Holocene , is the largest recorded eruption in Ethiopian history. Ol Doinyo Lengai is currently the only active natrocarbonatite volcano on Earth. Its magma contains almost no silica; typical lava flows have viscosities of less than 100 Pa⋅s, comparable to olive oil at 26 °C (79 °F). EAR-related volcanic structures with dated activity since
1330-586: Is an active continental rift zone in East Africa . The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene , 22–25 million years ago. It was formerly considered to be part of a larger Great Rift Valley that extended north to Asia Minor . A narrow zone, the rift is a developing divergent tectonic plate boundary where the African plate is in the process of splitting into two tectonic plates, called
1425-484: Is constructive to test hypotheses on computer based geodynamical models. A 3D numerical geodynamic model of the plume-crust coupling was capable of reproducing the lateral asymmetry of the EAR around the Tanzania craton . Numerical modeling of plume-induced continental break-up shows two distinct stages, crustal rifting followed by lithospheric breakup, and the upwelling between stages of an upper mantle plume. Prior to
1520-562: Is in a 4,000-square-km section of the Great African Rift Valley system. The Rift extends from Ethiopia to central Mozambique. Massive tectonic shifts began forming the Rift about 30 million years ago. Other warpings, uplifts, and sinkings of the Earth's crust over millennia shaped the plateaus on both sides and the mountain to the west. Mozambique's tropical savanna climate, with an annual cycle of wet and dry seasons, has added another factor to
1615-555: The Carnation Revolution in Lisbon overthrew the Estado Novo regime. When the new Portuguese authorities decided to abdicate power in their overseas territories, Mozambique became an independent republic. In 1976, a year after Mozambique won its independence from Portugal, aerial surveys of the park and adjacent Zambezi River delta counted thousands of elephants in the region and a healthy population of lions, numbering in
1710-558: The Ethiopian Highlands and the Kenya Highlands are hotspots of higher rainfall amid the semi-arid to arid lowlands of East Africa. Lakes which form within the rift, including Lake Victoria , have a large effect on regional climate. They are a source of water vapour, and also lead to the formation of lake breeze systems , which affect weather across large areas of East Africa. The east to west river valleys within
1805-679: The European Union and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Fifty new staff were hired, most of them former soldiers. In 2004 the Government of Mozambique and the US-based Carr Foundation agreed to work together to rebuild the park's infrastructure, restore its wildlife populations and spur local economic development—opening an important new chapter in the park's history. Since
1900-603: The Main Ethiopian Rift , runs southward from the Afar triple junction, and continues south as the Kenyan Rift Valley, then transects Congo DR , Uganda , Rwanda , Burundi , Zambia , Tanzania , Malawi and Mozambique . The Western Rift Valley includes the Albertine Rift , and farther south, the valley of Lake Malawi . The rift also continues offshore from the coast of Mozambique along
1995-641: The Oligocene , with the majority of the volcanism coinciding with the opening of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden approximately 30 Ma. The composition of the volcanics are a continuum of ultra-alkaline to tholeiitic and felsic rocks. It has been suggested that the diversity of the compositions could be partially explained by different mantle source regions. The EAR also cuts through old sedimentary rocks deposited in ancient basins. The East African Rift Zone includes
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#17327729336162090-696: The Somali plate and the Nubian plate , at a rate of 6–7 mm (0.24–0.28 in) per year. The rift system consists of three microplates, the Victoria microplate to the north, and the Rovuma and Lwandle microplates to the south. The Victoria microplate is rotating anti-clockwise with respect to the African plate. Its rotation is caused by the configuration of mechanically weaker and stronger lithospheric regions in
2185-666: The Urema River to greatly expand in the rainy season. Water that makes its way past this alluvial fan flows down the Urema River to the Pungue and into the Indian Ocean . In the flooded rainy season, water backs up into the valley and out onto the plains, covering as much as 200 square km in many years. During some dry seasons, the lake's waters shrink to as little as 10 square km. This constant expansion and retraction of
2280-399: The lithosphere in saturated areas, making the thinning lithosphere behave like a mid-ocean ridge . According to marine geologist Kathleen Crane , the rift could eventually cause eastern Africa to separate from the mainland, although this potential event could take tens of millions of years. Studies that contribute to the broader understanding on the evolution of rifts can be grouped into
2375-444: The metropole (mother country). Emigration to the colonies soared. Calls for Mozambican independence developed rapidly, and in 1962 several anti-colonial political groups formed FRELIMO. In September 1964, it initiated an armed campaign against Portuguese colonial rule. Portugal had ruled Mozambique for more than four hundred years; not all Mozambicans desired independence, and fewer still sought change through armed revolution. FRELIMO
2470-429: The 2004 presidential election, although the constitution permitted him to do so. In 2002, during its 8th Congress, the party selected Armando Guebuza as its candidate for the presidential election held on 1–2 December 2004. As expected given FRELIMO's majority status, he won, gaining about 60% of the vote. At the legislative elections of the same date, the party won 62.0% of the popular vote and 160 of 250 seats in
2565-503: The Dragons and other political entities that conspired or aligned against FRELIMO. These included prominent dissidents such as Uria Simango , his wife Celina, Paulo Gumane , Lazaro Nkavandame and Adelino Gwambe . Mozambique's national anthem from 1975 to 1992 was " Viva, Viva a FRELIMO " (English: "Long Live FRELIMO" ). Immediately after independence, Mozambique and FRELIMO faced extraordinarily tough circumstances. The country
2660-404: The EAR. The results corroborate the coexistence of a superplume "common to the entire rift" with another mantle material source being either of subcontinental type or of mid-ocean ridge type. The geophysical method of seismic tomography is a suitable tool to investigate Earth's subsurface structures deeper than the crust. It is an inverse problem technique that models which are the velocities of
2755-945: The EARS. Many of the African Great Lakes lie within the Rift Valley. A series of distinct rift basins, the East African Rift System extends over thousands of kilometers. North of the Afar triple junction, the rift follows two paths: west to the Red Sea Rift and east to the Aden Ridge in the Gulf of Aden . Southward from the Afar triple junction , the EAR consists of two main branches. The Eastern Rift Valley (also known as Gregory Rift ) includes
2850-602: The Kerimba and Lacerda grabens , which are joined by the Davie Ridge, a 2,200 km-long (1,400 mi) relic fracture zone that cuts across the West Somali basin, straddling the boundary between Tanzania and Mozambique. The Davie Ridge ranges between 30–120 km (19–75 mi) wide, with a west-facing scarp (east-plunging arch) along the southern half of its length that rises to 2,300 m (7,500 ft) above
2945-678: The Mozambican nationalist groups. Convinced by recent events, such as the Mueda massacre , that peaceful agitation would not bring about independence, FRELIMO contemplated the possibility of armed struggle from the outset. It launched its first offensive in September 1964. During the ensuing war of independence, FRELIMO received support from the Soviet Union , China , the Scandinavian countries, and some non-governmental organisations in
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3040-614: The Somali Jet) in the western Indian Ocean . The Somali Jet supplies water vapour for the high rainfall during the Indian Monsoon and is responsible for roughly half the global cross-equatorial atmospheric mass flux in the lower-branch of Hadley Circulation . The Rift Valley in East Africa has been a rich source of hominid fossils that allow the study of human evolution. The rapidly eroding highlands quickly filled
3135-734: The Vunduzi. Several smaller rivers pour down off the Cheringoma Plateau . Together they comprise the Urema Catchment , an area of about 7,850 square km. Lake Urema is located in the middle of the valley, about three-quarters of the way down from the Park's northern boundary. The Muaredzi River , flowing from the Cheringoma Plateau, deposits sediments near the outlet of the lake slowing its drainage. This "plug" causes
3230-476: The West. The mobilization of all, regardless of gender, motivated the initial inclusion of women into the war. Initially women were used to carry goods from Tanzania, but over time they were tasked with "making the first contacts with the population in a new area." Women were expected to engage with the locals and politicize them. This discourse helped legitimize female cadres as real revolutionaries. Frelimo founded
3325-647: The Women's Detachment, a part of the Department of Defense, as a way to encourage the mobilization of women and enlarge Frelimo's support. Women cadres brought "a new and decisive force to the revolutionary struggle." Frelimo's initial military operations were in the North of the country; by the late 1960s it had established "liberated zones" in Northern Mozambique in which it, rather than the Portuguese, constituted
3420-418: The adoption of The World Bank and IMF's "Economic Rehabilitation Program" (ERP) in September 1987. By 1988 Chissano had relented on his hardliner position and begun seeking third party negotiations with RENAMO to end the conflict. In 1989 at the 5th Party Congress, FRELIMO officially dropped all references to Marxism–Leninism and class struggle from its party directives and documents, and democratic socialism
3515-399: The beginning of the project, aerial surveys of wildlife have shown sharp increases in the number of large animals. In the aftermath of the 2019 Cyclone Idai , park rangers conducted rescue missions using their helicopter, boat, and tractor. According to Gorongosa Project president Gregory Carr , the park was "right in the middle of the impacted area". Roughly half the park was flooded due to
3610-568: The bride price system, child marriage and polygamy.” These traditional practices “were all viewed as incompatible with the tenets of revolutionary society.” Over time, traditional power structures were delegitimized by their association with Portuguese colonization and their inability to accommodate key components of revolutionary ideology. Frelimo encouraged the creation of collectives and greatly increased peasant access to education and healthcare. Often FRELIMO soldiers were assigned to medical assistance projects. Its members' practical experiences in
3705-520: The candidates running for the National Assembly under Frelimo’s leadership must be women. There is “equal distribution of women’s names (every third name is a woman’s) through the candidate lists.” Equal distribution on lists are called “zebra lists” and this type of list has proven to be important to the success of quota systems. The adoption of the quota system has resulted in steady growth since its implementation. In 1994 women made up 26% of
3800-623: The central committee was expanded. At the same time FRELIMO had to deal with various small political parties that sprung up and were now contesting for control of Mozambique with FRELIMO along with the reaction of white settlers. Prominent groups included FICO ("I stay" in Portuguese) and the "Dragons of Death" which directly clashed with FRELIMO. Government forces moved in and quickly smashed these movements and arrested various FRELIMO dissidents and Portuguese collaborators who were involved in FICO,
3895-399: The cities for safety, industrial production slowed as many workers were conscripted into battle against RENAMO and frequent raids against key roads and railways caused economic chaos across the country. FRELIMO's focus rapidly shifted from socialist construction to maintaining a basic level of infrastructure and protecting the towns and cities as best they could. Despite small scale reforms in
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3990-456: The civil authority. In administering these zones, FRELIMO worked to improve the lot of the peasantry in order to receive their support. As liberated areas grew, colonial governmental structures were replaced, as Frelimo activists and local chiefs assumed roles of authority. Traditional leaders were accustomed to controlling “the productive and reproductive capacity of women.” They “rejected women’s rights to participate in armed struggle and defended
4085-496: The complex equation: constant change in soil moisture that varies with elevation. The valley is located 21 km west of Mount Gorongosa at 14 m above sea level. Gorongosa National Park protects a vast ecosystem defined and shaped by the rivers that flow into Lake Urema . The Nhandungue crosses the Barue Plateau on its way down to the valley. The Nhandue and Mucombeze come from the north. Mount Gorongosa contributes
4180-546: The constitution and resulted in the People's Republic of Mozambique being renamed to the Republic of Mozambique . The civil war conflict continued under a lessened pace until 1992 when the Rome General Peace Accords was signed. United Nations' peacekeeping operation started in 1992 and ended in 1994, helping to end the civil war. With the end of the civil war elections were scheduled for 1994 under
4275-656: The cyclone, but impacts to wildlife were expected to be minimal as the animals would be able to migrate to higher ground. The protection of this area was cited as a reason that the impacts of the flood on the human population were less severe, as the protected wilderness area can moderate the flow of water. In March 2018, a leopard was captured on a park camera after 14 years, and additional leopards were reintroduced starting in 2020. In July 2018 and November 2019, two packs of African wild dogs from South Africa were reintroduced. Spotted hyena reintroductions began in July 2022. The park
4370-490: The deadly Mozambican Civil War which did not end until 1992. Large steps had already been taken towards the construction of a Mozambican socialist society by time of the 3rd Party Congress in February 1977, including the nationalisation of the land, many agricultural, industrial and commercial enterprises, rented housing, the banks, health and education. FRELIMO transformed itself into a Marxist-Leninist vanguard party of
4465-472: The densest wildlife populations in all of Africa, including charismatic carnivores , herbivores , and over 500 bird species. But large mammal numbers were reduced by as much as 95% and ecosystems were stressed during the Mozambican Civil War (1977-1992). The Carr Foundation/Gorongosa Restoration Project, a U.S. non-profit organization, has teamed with the Government of Mozambique to protect and restore
4560-614: The development of deep asymmetric basins. The second stage of rifting was characterized by the deactivation of large boundary faults, the development of internal fault segments, and the concentration of magmatic activity towards the rifts. Today, the narrow rift segments of the East African Rift system form zones of localized strain. These rifts are the result of the actions of numerous normal faults which are typical of all tectonic rift zones. As aforementioned, voluminous magmatism and continental flood basalts characterize some of
4655-596: The duties of President of FRELIMO and President of Mozambique until a successor could be elected. Joaquim Alberto Chissano was elected as the President of FRELIMO and was inaugurated as the Second President of the People's Republic of Mozambique on 6 November 1986. Despite being considered a "Moderate Marxist" Chissano initially maintained Machel's hardline stance against RENAMO but begun economic reforms with
4750-629: The ecosystem of Gorongosa National Park and to develop an ecotourism industry to benefit local communities. The first official act to protect the Gorongosa region, Portuguese Mozambique , came in 1920 when the Mozambique Company ordered 1,000 square km set aside as a hunting reserve for company administrators and their guests. Chartered by the government of Portugal , the Mozambique Company controlled all of central Mozambique between 1891 and 1940. In 1935, Mr. Jose Henriques Coimbra
4845-563: The effects of deep-rooted mantle plumes are an important hypothesis, their location and dynamics are poorly understood, and a matter of active research. The question is still debated. The most recent and accepted view is the theory put forth in 2009: that magmatism and plate tectonics have a feedback with one another, controlled by oblique rifting conditions. According to this theory, lithospheric thinning generates volcanic activity, further increasing magmatic processes such as intrusions and numerous small plumes. These processes further thin
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#17327729336164940-521: The electoral authorities that benefited FRELIMO. However, the EU observers concluded that the elections shortcomings probably did not affect the presidential election's final result. FRELIMO has received support from the governments of Tanzania , South Africa , Algeria , Ghana , Zambia , Libya , Sweden , Norway , Denmark , the Netherlands , Bulgaria , Czechoslovakia , Poland , Cuba , China ,
5035-484: The ensuing decade. As FRELIMO's political campaign gained coherence, its forces advanced militarily, controlling one-third of the area of Mozambique by 1969, mostly in the northern and central provinces. It was not able to gain control of the cities located inside the "liberated" zones but established itself firmly in the rural regions. In 1970 the guerrilla movement suffered heavy losses as Portugal launched its ambitious Gordian Knot Operation ( Operação Nó Górdio ), which
5130-431: The first time. Despite the difficult situation and economic chaos the Mozambican economy grew appreciably from the period of 1977–1983. However, some serious setbacks occurred, with particular force in the years 1982–1984. Neighbouring states, firstly Rhodesia and then South Africa, made direct armed incursions and promoted the growing RENAMO insurgency which continued to carry out economic sabotage and terrorism against
5225-452: The floodplains, amidst a patchwork of savanna , woodland , and thickets, creates a complex mosaic of smaller ecosystems that support a greater abundance and diversity of wildlife than anywhere else in the park. Scientists have identified three main vegetation types supporting the Gorongosa ecosystem's wealth of wildlife. Seventy-six percent is savanna — combinations of grasses and woody species that favor well-drained soils. Fourteen percent
5320-482: The formal economy would result in an economically stronger Mozambique. The population was encouraged to view women’s emancipation as vital to the amelioration of Mozambique’s society. The early years of the party, during which its Marxist direction evolved, were times of internal turmoil. Mondlane, along with Marcelino dos Santos , Samora Machel , Joaquim Chissano and a majority of the Party's Central Committee promoted
5415-899: The government begun a mass program of immunisations which was praised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of the most successful ever initiated in Africa. The scheme reached over 90% of the Mozambican Population in the first five years and led to a 20% drop in infant mortality rates. Illiteracy rates dropped from 95% in 1975 to 73% in 1978. Those who were previously denied access to education because of class, gender, or race were exposed to education. Frelimo’s dedication to accessible education had long-lasting consequences as previously marginalized groups, such as women, were able to engage intellectually and be involved in formal political and economic structures for
5510-512: The government received further support and aid from countries such as the United Kingdom and United States . Mozambique became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , despite not being a former British colony, for its role in ensuring the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980. In the 1999 general election , Chissano was re-elected as President of Mozambique with 52.3% of the vote, while FRELIMO secured 133 of 250 parliamentary seats. In early 2001 Chissano announced his intention to not stand for
5605-478: The government reduced the park's area to 3,770 square kilometers. Meanwhile, Mozambique was in the midst of a war for independence launched in 1964 by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo). Fortunately, the war had little impact on Gorongosa National Park until 1972, when a Portuguese company and members of the Provincial Volunteer Organization were stationed there to protect it. Even then, not much damage occurred, although some soldiers hunted illegally. In 1974,
5700-552: The hundreds. It was the largest lion population recorded in the greater Gorongosa region to date. In 1977, the People's Republic of Mozambique , under the leadership of Samora Machel declared itself a Marxist-Leninist state . A rebel army known as RENAMO sprung up to oppose the new government. Feeling threatened by FRELIMO 's new one-party government in Mozambique, neighbouring Rhodesia and South Africa began arming and supplying RENAMO. Once Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980, direct support for RENAMO came from South Africa with
5795-405: The inner Earth that reproduce the seismographic data recorded all around the world. Recent improvements of tomographic Earth models of P wave and S wave velocities suggest that a superplume upwelling from the lower mantle at the northeastern EAR feeds plumes of smaller scale into the upper mantle . Parallel to geological and geophysical measures (e.g. isotope ratios and seismic velocities) it
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#17327729336165890-452: The intention of destabilizing Machel's government. Initially dismissed by Machel as a group of "armed bandits", RENAMO's war developed into a full-scale national threat by 1981. In December 1981 the Mozambican National Resistance (MNR, or RENAMO) fighters attacked the Chitengo campsite and kidnapped several staff members, including two foreign scientists. The Mozambican Civil War lasted from 1977 to 1992. The violence increased in and around
5985-503: The largest mammals , each plays an important role in the Gorongosa ecosystem. The park includes termite mounds used as shade by bushbuck and kudu . Many of the park's large herbivore populations were greatly reduced by years of war and poaching. However, almost all naturally occurring species—including more than 400 kinds of birds and a wide variety of reptiles —have survived. Great African Rift Valley The East African Rift ( EAR ) or East African Rift System ( EARS )
6080-420: The liberated zones resulted in the FRELIMO leadership increasingly moving towards a Marxist policy. FRELIMO came to regard economic exploitation by Western capital as the principal enemy of the common Mozambican people, not the Portuguese as such, and not Europeans in general. Although it was an African nationalist party, it adopted a non-racial stance. Numerous white people were members. The war of liberation
6175-437: The national assembly. RENAMO and some other opposition parties made claims of election fraud and denounced the result. International observers (among others, members of the European Union Election Observation Mission to Mozambique and the Carter Center) supported these claims, criticizing the National Electoral Commission (CNE) for failing to conduct fair and transparent elections. They listed numerous cases of improper conduct by
6270-421: The national parliament, in 1999 they made up 30%, and in 2004, women won 35%, in 2015 women won 40% of the parliamentary seats. Mozambique is ranked twelfth in the world and fourth in Africa for women’s involvement in its national parliament. Throughout the mid to late 1990s, FRELIMO moved towards democratic socialist views (officially adopting it at the 10th Party Congress ), as further liberalisation continued
6365-570: The new pluralistic system. FRELIMO and RENAMO campaigned heavily for the elections. FRELIMO ultimately won the elections with 53.3% of the vote with an 88% voter turnout. RENAMO contested the election results and threatened to return to violence, however, under both internal and external pressure RENAMO eventually accepted the results. In 1992 Frelimo implemented a voluntary quota system like many other "post-conflict countries that had left-leaning parties in power with longstanding commitments to gender equality." Frelimo’s quota system requires that 30% of
6460-404: The newly formed organization, FRELIMO settled its headquarters in 1963 in Dar es Salaam. Uria Simango was its first vice-president. The movement could not then be based in Mozambique as the Portuguese opposed nationalist movements and the colony was controlled by the police. (The three founding groups had also operated as exiles.) Tanzania and its president, Julius Nyerere , were sympathetic to
6555-442: The onset of the Holocene include approximately 50 in Ethiopia, 17 in Kenya , and 9 in Tanzania . The EAR is the largest seismically active rift system on Earth today. The majority of earthquakes occur near the Afar Depression, with the largest typically occurring along or near major border faults. Seismic events in the past century are estimated to have reached a maximum moment magnitude of 7.0. The seismicity trends parallel to
6650-581: The park after that. In 1983 the park was shut down and abandoned. For the next nine years Gorongosa was the scene of frequent battles between opposing forces. Fierce hand-to-hand fighting and aerial bombing destroyed buildings and roads. The park's large mammals suffered huge losses. Both sides in the conflict slaughtered hundreds of elephants for their ivory, selling it to buy arms and supplies. Half of Gorongosa's elephants evolved to be tuskless. Hungry soldiers shot many more thousands of zebras , wildebeest , African buffalo , and other ungulates . Lions survived
6745-418: The park bringing its total size to 4067 km. This designation has contributed to an ongoing conflict between long-term residents of the mountain and representatives of the park. Gorongosa is home to a large diversity of animals and plants—some of which are found nowhere else in the world. This rich biodiversity creates a complex world where animals, plants and people interact. From the smallest insects to
6840-484: The park counted just 5 elephants, 6 waterbuck, 3 zebra, 12 reedbuck, and 1 oribi; buffalo and sable were not detected in aerial surveys until 2001, wildebeest until 2007, and eland until 2010. A preliminary effort to rebuild Gorongosa National Park's infrastructure and restore its wildlife began in 1994 when the African Development Bank (ADB) started work on a rehabilitation plan with assistance from
6935-598: The party and state and the growing war Machel continued to maintain a hardline Marxist–Leninist stance and refused to negotiate with RENAMO. In 1986 while returning from a meeting with Zaire and Malawi, President Samora Machel died in a suspicious airplane crash many blamed on the apartheid regime in Pretoria. In the immediate aftermath the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of FRELIMO assumed
7030-486: The population. Natural disasters compounded the already devastating situation, with large scale floods in some regions from Tropical Storm Domoina in 1984, followed by extensive droughts. Some of FRELIMO's more ambitious policies also caused further stress to the economy. Particularly FRELIMO's agricultural policy from 1977–1983 which placed heavy emphasis on state farms and neglected smaller peasant and community farms caused discontent among many peasant farmers and led to
7125-426: The rainy season. Lions then occupied the abandoned building and it became a popular tourist attraction for many years, known as Casa dos Leões (Lion House). Many improvements to the new park's trails, roads, and buildings ensued. Between 1963 and 1965 Chitengo camp was expanded to accommodate 100 overnight guests. By the late 1960s, it had two swimming pools, a bar and banquet hall, a restaurant serving 300-400 meals
7220-567: The removal of hardline Marxists such as Sergio Viera , Jorge Rebelo and Marcelino dos Santos from positions of power and influence within the party. Additionally FRELIMO began to revise the history of the Mozambican War of Independence to distort it to suit FRELIMO's new, contradictory pro-capitalist beliefs. In 1990 a revised constitution was adopted which introduced a multi-party system to Mozambique and ended one-party rule. The revisions also removed all references to socialism from
7315-729: The rift segments, while other segments, such as the Western branch, have only very small volumes of volcanic rock. The African continental crust is generally cool and strong. Many cratons are found throughout the EAR, such as the Tanzania and Kaapvaal cratons . The cratons are thick, and have survived for billions of years with little tectonic activity. They are characterized by greenstone belts , tonalites , and other high-grade metamorphic lithologies. The cratons are of significant importance in terms of mineral resources , with major deposits of gold, antimony, iron, chromium and nickel. A large volume of continental flood basalts erupted during
7410-691: The rift system, including the Turkana Channel in northern Kenya and the Zambezi river valley, concentrate low-level easterly winds and accelerate them towards Central Africa . This leaves East Africa drier than it otherwise would be, and also supports the high rainfall in the Congo Basin rainforest . The formation of the east–west valleys could in turn be important for the aridification of East Africa over millions of years. The barrier presented by EARS concentrates monsoonal winds (known as
7505-451: The rift system, with a shallow focal depth of 12–15 km (7.5–9.3 mi) beneath the rift axis. Further away from the rift axis, focal depths can be below 30 km (19 mi). Focal mechanism solutions strike NE and frequently demonstrate normal dip-slip faulting, although left-lateral motion is also observed. The East African Rift system affects regional, continental and even global climate. Regions of higher elevation, including
7600-520: The rift's formation, enormous continental flood basalts erupted, uplifting the Ethiopian , Somali, and East African plateaus. The first stage of rifting of the EAR was characterized by rift localization and magmatism along the entire rift zone. Periods of extension alternated with relative inactivity. There was also the reactivation of a pre-Cambrian weakness in the crust, a suture zone of multiple cratons , displacement along large boundary faults, and
7695-432: The sea floor. Its movement is concurrent with the EAR. Over time, many theories have tried to clarify the evolution of the East African Rift. In 1972 it was proposed that the EAR was not caused by tectonic activity, but rather by differences in crustal density. Since the 1990s, evidence has been found in favor of mantle plumes beneath the EAR. Others proposed an African superplume causing mantle deformation. Although
7790-399: The struggle not just for independence but to create a socialist society. The 2nd Party Congress, held in July 1968, approved the socialist goals. Mondlane was reelected party President and Uria Simango was re-elected vice-president. After Mondlane's assassination in February 1969, Uria Simango took over the leadership, but his presidency was disputed. In April 1969, leadership was assumed by
7885-410: The techniques of isotope geochemistry, seismic tomography and geodynamical modeling. The varying geochemical signatures of a suite of Ethiopian lavas suggest multiple plume sources: at least one of deep mantle origin, and one from within the subcontinental lithosphere. In accordance, a 2014 study compares the geochemical signature of rare earth isotopes from xenoliths and lava samples collected in
7980-455: The valley with sediments, creating a favorable environment for the preservation of remains. The bones of several hominid ancestors of modern humans have been found here, including those of " Lucy ", a partial australopithecine skeleton discovered by anthropologist Donald Johanson dating back over 3 million years. Richard and Mary Leakey have also done significant work in this region. In 2008, two other hominid ancestors were discovered here:
8075-441: The valley, which is composed of a mosaic of soil types, creates a variety of distinct ecosystems. Grasslands are dotted with patches of acacia trees , savannah , dry forest on sands and seasonally rain-filled pans, and termite hill thickets. The plateaus contain miombo and montane forests and a spectacular rain forest at the base of a series of limestone gorges. This combination of unique features at one time supported some of
8170-444: The war, but several species of top carnivore— leopard , African wild dog , and spotted hyena —were driven locally extinct. A cease-fire agreement ended the civil war in 1992 but widespread hunting in the park continued for at least two more years. By that time many large mammal populations—including elephants, hippos , buffalo, zebras, and lions had been reduced by more than 95 percent. An aerial survey conducted in 1994 over 68 km of
8265-463: The wildlife living in and around the park depended on one river, the Vundudzi , which originated on the slopes of the nearby Mount Gorongosa . Because the mountain was outside the park's boundaries, Tinley proposed expanding them to include it as a key element in a "Greater Gorongosa Ecosystem" of about 8,200 square kilometers. He and other scientists and conservationists were disappointed in 1966 when
8360-603: The worker-peasant alliance at the congress. The congress laid down firmly that the political and economic guidelines for the development of the economy and the society would be for the benefit of all Mozambicans. FRELIMO was also restructured extensively, the central committee expanding to over 200 members and the transformation of FRELIMO from a front into a formal political party, adopting the name "Partido FRELIMO" (FRELIMO Party). FRELIMO began extensive programs for economic development, healthcare and education. Healthcare and Education became free and universal to all Mozambicans and
8455-401: Was achieved in June 1975 after the Carnation Revolution in Lisbon the previous year. FRELIMO formally became a political party during its 3rd Party Congress in February 1977, and adopted Marxism–Leninism as its official ideology and FRELIMO Party ( Partido FRELIMO ) as its official name. FRELIMO has been the ruling party of Mozambique since then, initially as the sole legal party in
8550-466: Was adopted as the official ideology of FRELIMO while talks continued with RENAMO to broker a ceasefire. With the removal of the final vestiges of Marxism from FRELIMO at the 5th Party Congress, greater economic reform programs commenced with the help of the World Bank, IMF and various international donors. FRELIMO also believed it needed to reduce all traces of socialist influence, this resulted in
8645-490: Was bankrupt with almost all of its skilled workforce fleeing or already fled, a 95% illiteracy rate and a brewing counter-revolutionary movement known as the "Mozambique National Resistance" (RENAMO) was beginning its first strikes against key government infrastructure with the assistance of Ian Smith 's Rhodesia . As the RENAMO movement grew in strength, FRELIMO and RENAMO began clashing directly in what would quickly turn into
8740-616: Was founded in Dar es Salaam , Tanganyika , on 25 June 1962, when three regionally based nationalist organizations: the Mozambican African National Union (MANU), National Democratic Union of Mozambique (UDENAMO), and the National African Union of Independent Mozambique (UNAMI) merged into one broad-based guerrilla movement. Under the leadership of Eduardo Mondlane , who was elected president of
8835-680: Was masterminded by General Kaúlza de Arriaga of the Portuguese Army. By the early 1970s, FRELIMO's 7,000-strong guerrilla force had opened new fronts in central and northern Mozambique. The April 1974 " Carnation Revolution " in Portugal overthrew the Portuguese Estado Novo regime, and the country turned against supporting the long and draining colonial war in Mozambique, Angola and Guinea-Bissau. Portugal and FRELIMO negotiated Mozambique's independence, which resulted in
8930-588: Was named warden and Jose Ferreira became the reserve's first guide. That same year the Mozambique Company enlarged the reserve to 3,200 square km to protect habitat for nyala and black rhino , both highly prized hunting trophies. By 1940 the reserve had become so popular that a new headquarters and tourist camp was built on the floodplain near the Mussicadzi River . Unfortunately, it had to be abandoned two years later due to heavy flooding in
9025-486: Was viewed as a rejection of “obstructionist, traditional-feudal and capitalist practices.” The transformation of “social and economic relations” had significant implications for women. Women’s liberation was “not an act of charity,” but rather “a fundamental necessity for the revolution, the guarantee of its continuity and the precondition to its victory.” This perspective recognizes the immense labor force that women constitute. Frelimo acknowledged that women’s involvement in
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