Mozambique

**Mozambique**, officially de **Republic of Mozambique**, be a country wey dey locate insyd southeast Africa border by de Indian Ocean to de east, Tanzania to de north, Malawi den Zambia to de northwest, Zimbabwe to de west, den Eswatini den South Africa to de south den southwest. Dem separate de sovereign state from de Comoros, Mayotte den Madagascar by de Mozambique Channel to de east. De capital den largest city be Maputo.

De country ein population of around 34,777,605, as of 2024 estimates, wich be a 2.96% population increase from 2023, be composed of overwhelmingly Bantu peoples. However, de official language insyd Mozambique be Portuguese per, wich dem dey speak insyd urban areas as a first anaa second language by most, den generally as a lingua franca between younger Mozambicans plus access to formal education. De most important local languages dey include Tsonga, Makhuwa, Sena, Chichewa, den Swahili. Glottolog dey list 46 languages dem dey speak insyd de country, of wich one be a signed language (Mozambican Sign Language/*Língua de sinais de Moçambique*). De largest religion insyd Mozambique be Christianity, plus significant minorities dey follow Islam den African traditional religions. Mozambique be a member of de United Nations, de African Union, de Commonwealth of Nations (a rare example of a Commonwealth country wey no be a former British colony), de Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, de Community of Portuguese Language Countries, de Non-Aligned Movement, de Southern African Development Community, wey ebe an observer at La Francophonie.

## Etymology
Na dem name de country Moçambique by de Portuguese after de Island of Mozambique, dem derive from either Mussa Bin Bique, *Musa Al Big,* *Mossa Al Bique*, *Mussa Ben Mbiki* anaa *Mussa Ibn Malik*, an Arab trader wey first visit de island wey he later live der wey na he still dey alive wen Vasco da Gama call at de island insyd 1498. Na de island-town be de capital of de Portuguese colony til 1898, wen na dem move am south to Lourenço Marques (now Maputo).

## Government den politics

### Administrative divisions
Dem divide Mozambique into ten provinces (*provincias*) den one capital city (*cidade capital*) plus provincial status. Dem subdivide de provinces into 129 districts (*distritos*). Dem further divide de districts into 405 "*postos administrativos*" (administrative posts, *secretários* dey head dem) wey then into *localidades* (localities), de lowest geographical level of de central state administration. Der be 53 "*municípios*" (municipalities).

## Demographics
De north-central provinces of Zambezia den Nampula be de most populous, plus about 45% of de population. De estimated four million Makua be de dominant group insyd de northern part of de country; de Sena den Shona (mostly Ndau den Manyika) be prominent insyd de Zambezi valley, den de Tsonga den Shangaan people dey dominate southern Mozambique. Oda groups dey include Makonde, Yao, Swahili, Tonga, Chopi, den Nguni (wey dey include Zulu). Bantu people dey comprise 97.8% of de population, plus de rest make up of Portuguese ancestry, Euro-Africans (*mestiço* people of mixed Bantu den Portuguese ancestry), den Indians. Roughly 45,000 people of Indian descent dey reside insyd Mozambique.

### Largest cities

### Languages

Portuguese be de official den most widely spoken language of de nation, 50.3% of de population dey speak am. Additionally, around 50% of Maputo dey speak Portuguese as a native language.
## Culture
### Arts
### Music
### Media

### Cuisine
### National holidays

## References


## Read further

* Abrahamsson, Hans, *Mozambique: The Troubled Transition, from Socialist Construction to Free Market Capitalism* London: Zed Books, 1995
* Bowen, Merle L., "The State against the Peasantry: Rural struggles in colonial and postcolonial Mozambique", Charlottesville & London, University Press of Virginia, 2000
* Cahen, Michel, *Les bandits: un historien au Mozambique*, Paris: Gulbenkian, 1994
* Fialho Feliciano, José, "Antropologia económca dos Thonga do sul de Moçambique", Maputo, Arquivo Histórico de Moçamique, 1998
* Gengenbach, Heidi, "Binding Memories: Women as Makers and Tellers of History in Magude, Mozambique". Columbia University Press, 2004. Entire Text Online Archived 26 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
* Mwakikagile, Godfrey, *Africa and America in The Sixties: A Decade That Changed The Nation and The Destiny of A Continent*, First Edition, New Africa Press, 2006, 
* Mwakikagile, Godfrey, *Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era*, Third Edition, New Africa Press, 2006, "Chapter Seven: "The Struggle for Mozambique: The Founding of FRELIMO in Tanzania," pp.&nbsp;206–225, 
* Morier-Genoud, Eric, Cahen, Michel and do Rosário, Domingos M. (eds), *The War Within New Perspectives on the Civil War in Mozambique, 1976–1992* (Oxford: James Currey, 2018)
* Morier-Genoud, Eric, "Mozambique since 1989: Shaping democracy after Socialism" in A.R.Mustapha & L.Whitfield (eds), *Turning Points in African Democracy*, Oxford: James Currey, 2008, pp.&nbsp;153–166.
* Newitt, Malyn, *A History of Mozambique* Indiana University Press. 
* Pitcher, Anne, *Transforming Mozambique: The politics of privatisation, 1975–2000* Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002
* Varia, "Religion in Mozambique", *LFM: Social sciences & Missions* No. 17, December 2005
## External links

**Government:**
* Republic of Mozambique Official Government Portal

**General information:**
* Social Atlas from World Bank
* Country Profile from BBC News
* Mozambique. *The World Factbook*. Central Intelligence Agency.
* Mozambique from UCB Libraries GovPubs
* 
* Key Development Forecasts for Mozambique from International Futures
* Mozambique Population Worldometer

**Tourism:**
* Niassa Reserve—Niassa National Reserve official website

**Health:**
* The State of the World's Midwifery – Mozambique Country Profile