The country was named Mocambique by the Portuguese after the Island of Mozambique, derived from Mussa Bin Bique or Musa Al Big or Mossa Al Bique or Mussa Ben Mbiki or Mussa Ibn Malik, an Arab trader who first visited the island and later lived there. The island-town was the capital of the Portuguese colony until 1898, when it was moved south to Lourenco Marques which known as Maputo now.

The present capital is Maputo. Until independence it was known as Lourenco Marques. The city boasts fine colonial-era architecture and an attractive natural setting alongside the deepwater harbour of Maputo Bay.

Mozambique is divided in 10 provinces. They are: Cabo Delgado, Gaza, Inhambane, Manica, Maputo, Nampula, Niassa, Sofala, Tete, Zambezia.

Maputo is the commercial and cultural centre of the country, and its roadside cafes, bars, and discotheques offer some of the liveliest nightlife in southern Africa. Other major cities and towns, most of which lie on or near the Indian Ocean coast, include Beira, Quelimane, Chimoio, Tete, Nampula, and Nacala.

The official language of Mozambique is Portuguese. However, 46 language is spoken in the country. Swahili is the most prominent regional language in Mozambique. English is also spoken in the country specially at business centre, hotels and resorts.

The population of population of Mozambique is 33 million. The majority of Mozambique population is Christian. They form overwhelmingly 55% of population. Following by traditional faith with 24% of population. Muslims are the third largest religious group. They form 20% of population. And other groups are 1% of population.

Bantu-speaking peoples migrated into Mozambique as early as the 4th century BC. Some sources claim, between 1st and 5th centuries AD, waves of migration from the west and north went through the Zambezi River valley and then gradually into the plateau and coastal areas of Southern Africa. They established agricultural communities or societies based on herding cattle.

Arabs people especially the Yemenis conducted business in Eastern coast of Africa from pre-Islamic era. Mozambique is technically in the southern part of Africa.

Therefore, when Arabian Peninsula came under Islam, the eastern coast of Africa is also introduced with Islam. As Mozambique is pretty far from Arabian peninsula, Islam was introduced in Mozambique after a century or so.

The Portuguese arrived in East Africa in 1498, where they found several independent towns on the coast, with Muslim Arabic-speaking elites. While the Portuguese travellers describe them as black, they made a clear distinction between the Muslim and non-Muslim populations.

Their relations with these leaders were mostly hostile, but during the sixteenth century, they firmly established their power and ruled with the aid of tributary sultans.

The Portuguese presence was relatively limited, leaving administration in the hands of preexisting local leaders and power structures. This system lasted until 1631, when the Sultan of Mombasa expelled the Portuguese inhabitants.

In 19th Century, Lisbon hands over some territories in Mozambique to be ruled by chartered companies like the Mozambique Company.

During 1880 to 1918, Portugal increases efforts to occupy the interior of the area in the late 19th Century during the so-called Scramble for Africa, securing control over most of the territory, despite resistance.

Mueda massacre happened in 1960. Large number of nationalist demonstrators demanded independence in Mueda are shot dead by troops. This fuels support for those calling for independence. In 1962, Mozambique Liberation Front, or Frelimo is formed in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Mozambican war of independence was fought from 1964 to 1974. Armed fighting breaks out as a result of of frustration among many Mozambicans who see foreign rule as exploitative.

UN pressured Portugal to decolonise. Portugal threatens to withdraw from Nato, halting pressure from within Nato to quit its African colonies. Nationalist groups in Mozambique turn to the Soviet bloc for aid.

In 1974, following the Carnation Revolution in Lisbon, the new Portuguese government calls for a ceasefire and talks culminating in the Lusaka Accord, handing over power to Frelimo.

After fighting for than 10 years, in 1975, Mozambique gained independence. Frelimo sets up single-party system, leading to civil war.

Very soon after independence, civil war commenced in Mozambique. From 1977 to 1992, Mozambican civil war between Frelimo government, with support from Cuba and USSR, and anti-communist Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) rebels, combined with sabotage from the neighbouring states of Rhodesia and South Africa. Over a million people die in the fighting and subsequent famines. Around 2 million became homeless. Many people were forced to flee the country.

In 1990, Constitution was amended to allow multi-party system. After 15 years of bloody civil war, in 1992, UN-brokered peace deal ends fighting between Frelimo and the Renamo rebels. Two years later in 1994, first multi-party elections was held.

Mozambique’s natural resources remained largely underdeveloped. Mozambique has commercially important deposits of coal, graphite, iron ore, titanium, apatite, marble, bentonite, bauxite, kaolin, copper, gold, rubies, and tantalum.

Mozambique’s mineral potential is largely untapped. Gold deposits in Niassa, Tete, and Manica Provinces have attracted domestic and international investor interest in recent years. Gold mining has been slow to develop as most of its activities are done by informal artisanal miners.  However, increasing regulation of gold mining may lead to larger scale production, as the Government begins to require miners to formalize their legal status.

Despite having one of the fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa from 2000-2015, job-creation, poverty reduction, and human capital accumulation are still limited, with most of the substantial wealth generated benefiting limited sections of the economy. With a human capital index of 0.36, extremely low levels of human capital are a structural constraint to rapid, inclusive, and sustainable growth in Mozambique. Basic services in education and health are unevenly delivered across the country, driving spatial inequalities, with limited mechanisms to protect the most vulnerable from the impacts of shocks, thus driving fragility, instability, and violence.

Mozambique’s official currency is the metical (1US dollar is roughly equivalent to 64 meticals). The U.S. dollar, South African Rand, and the Euro are widely accepted and used in business transactions. The minimum legal salary is around US$60 per month.

The Constitution of Mozambique stipulates that the President of the Republic functions as the head of state, head of government, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and as a symbol of national unity. He is directly elected for a five-year term via run-off voting. If no candidate receives more than half of the votes cast in the first round of voting, a second round of voting will be held in which only the two candidates who received the highest number of votes in the first round will participate, and whichever of the candidates obtains a majority of votes in the second round will thus be elected president.

The prime minister is appointed by the president. His functions include convening and chairing the council of ministers, advising the president, assisting the president in governing the country, and coordinating the functions of the other ministers.

The Assembly of the Republic has 250 members, elected for a five-year term by proportional representation. The judiciary comprises a Supreme Court and provincial, district, and municipal courts.

Mozambique belongs to the African Union and the Southern African Development Community. In 1994, the government became a full member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, in part to broaden its base of international support but also to please the country’s sizeable Muslim population.

Similarly, in 1995, Mozambique joined its Anglophone neighbours in the Commonwealth of Nations. At the time it was the only nation to have joined the Commonwealth that was never part of the British Empire. In the same year, Mozambique became a founding member and the first President of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and maintains close ties with other Portuguese-speaking countries.