Located on the southeastern coast of Africa, opposite the island of Madagascar, Mozambique (Moçambique), formerly known as Portuguese East Africa, has an area of 801,590 sq km (309,496 sq mi), of which land constitutes 784,090 sq km (302,738 sq mi) and inland water 17,500 sq km (6,757 sq mi). Comparatively, the area occupied by Mozambique is slightly less than twice the size of the state of California. The country extends 2,016 km (1,253 mi) NNE – SSW and 772 km (480 mi) ESE–WNW. It is bordered by Tanzania on the N , the Indian Ocean (Mozambique Channel) on the E , the Republic of South Africa on the S , Swaziland, South Africa, and Zimbabwe on the W , and Zambia and Malawi on the NW, with a total boundary length of 7,041 km (4,375 mi), of which 2,470 km (1,535 mi) is coastline.