Mozambique

Mozambique is a nation in southeastern Africa that is formally known as the Republic of Mozambique. Its borders are made up of the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Africa to the southwest. The Mozambique Channel is located to the east of the sovereign state and separates it from the islands of the Comoros, Mayotte, and Madagascar. Maputo is both the nation's capital and its biggest city.

Notably, Northern Mozambique is located within the domain of the monsoon trade winds that blow off the Indian Ocean, and as a result, it is often impacted by unsettling weather. The establishment of several Swahili port cities in that region between the 7th and 11th centuries helped to foster the development of culture and language that are uniquely Swahili. During the latter part of the Middle Ages, merchants traveling from Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, and India visited these cities often.

The coming of the Portuguese was signaled by Vasco da Gama's trip in 1498, and they started a slow process of colonization and settlement the next century in 1505. Mozambique achieved its independence from Portugal in 1975 and soon afterward became the People's Republic of Mozambique. The Portuguese had ruled the country for more than four centuries. The nation had been independent for barely two years before it plummeted into a bloody and long civil war that lasted from 1977 to 1992. Since then, the country has remained a relatively stable presidential republic, even though it is still dealing with a low-intensity insurgency, particularly in the regions that are the most remote from the southern capital and in which Islam is the predominant religion.

Even though the country's economy is based primarily on fishing (mostly mollusks, crustaceans, and echinoderms) and agriculture, with a growing industry of food and beverage production, chemical manufacturing, aluminum, and oil, Mozambique is endowed with abundant and extensive natural resources. Despite this, the country's economy is based primarily on fishing. The travel and tourism industry is growing. Mozambique's most important commercial partner is still South Africa, with which it maintains a tight link to Portugal and maintains a view on other European markets.

Mozambique's GDP has been growing at a healthy rate since 2001, yet the country is still one of the poorest and most undeveloped in the world. Mozambique ranks low in terms of GDP per capita, human development, indices of inequality, and average life expectancy.

Bantu peoples make up the vast majority of the country's population, which is expected to reach around 30 million by the year 2022. However, Portuguese, which was the colonial language of Mozambique, is the only language recognized as official in the country. Most people in urban areas speak Portuguese either as a first or second language, and it is commonly used as a lingua franca among younger Mozambicans who have access to formal education. Tsonga, Makhuwa, Sena, Chichewa, and Swahili are the native languages that are considered to be the most significant. According to Glottolog, 46 different languages are spoken in the nation, and one of those languages is a signed language called Mozambican Sign Language (Lingua de sinais de Mocambique).

Christianity is the dominant faith in Mozambique, although Islam and indigenous African faiths also have considerable followings among the country's population.

Mozambique is an observer at La Francophonie in addition to being a member of the United Nations, the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Southern African Development Community.