38 Fun Facts About Mozambique

What is the capital and largest city of Mozambique?

Maputo took its present name after independence, replacing the colonial name the city had carried since Portuguese rule.

Mozambique's coastline lies on which ocean?

The Indian Ocean coast drew Arab merchants, who ran trading posts here for centuries before European ships arrived.

Which European power colonised Mozambique for over four centuries?

Portugal even handed large parts of the colony to private chartered companies to run in the late 19th century.

Whose 1498 voyage marked the arrival of Europeans in Mozambique?

Vasco da Gama landed at an island harbour long used by Arab traders, and within a decade a fortress had been built there.

The Mozambique Channel separates Mozambique from which island country?

Madagascar: coelacanths, fish thought extinct until one was caught in 1938, live in nearby waters off the Comoros.

The colonial capital moved from the Island of Mozambique south to which city?

Lourenço Marques took over as capital after the opening of the Suez Canal sapped the island's trade.

In which neighbouring country was Mozambique's liberation movement founded in 1962?

Tanzania: the movement formed there two years after troops at Mueda shot protesters demanding independence, a massacre that fuelled the cause.

Sena, Lomwe and Tsonga, spoken across Mozambique, belong to which language family?

Bantu: Bantu-speaking farmers reached the region about 2,000 years ago, bringing the skills of smelting and forging iron.

Which 1974 agreement set the terms for Mozambique's handover to independence?

Lusaka Accord: signed in Zambia in September 1974, it set up a transitional government that ran the country until independence the next June.

Which liberation movement began a guerrilla war against colonial rule in 1964 and has governed since independence?

FRELIMO was founded in exile in 1962, set up a one-party state at independence, and has held power ever since.

Which event in Lisbon in April 1974 hastened Mozambique's independence?

The Carnation Revolution, a 1974 military coup, brought in a government that ended the colonial war and opened independence talks.

Who was Mozambique's first president?

Samora Machel had led the guerrilla army before taking power, and his government built a one-party socialist state.

How did Mozambique's first president die in October 1986?

A plane crash: many Mozambicans became convinced that it was sabotage rather than an accident.

The widow of Mozambique's first president later married which world leader?

Nelson Mandela married her on his 80th birthday in July 1998, making her first lady of a second country.

Which rebel movement fought the government in the civil war of 1977 to 1992?

RENAMO fought on until the 1992 peace deal, then turned itself into a political party whose leader ran for president.

Which animals, trained by the Belgian charity APOPO, helped clear Mozambique's minefields?

Rats: APOPO's giant pouched rats are too light to set off the mines, and Mozambique was declared free of known landmines in 2015.

The civil war ended in October 1992 with peace accords signed in which city?

Rome: the October 1992 accords ended 16 years of war and led to the country's first multiparty elections in 1994.

Which president led Mozambique away from Marxism to a market economy and peace?

Joaquim Chissano ended the civil war in 1992 and then won the country's first two multiparty elections, in 1994 and 1999.

When Mozambique joined the Commonwealth in 1995, what made it unusual?

It was the first such member; Rwanda later followed.

Which weapon appears on Mozambique's flag?

An AK-47 crosses a hoe over a book, standing for defence, production and study, and since 1990 some have called for the rifle's removal.

From independence until 1990, Mozambique's official name began with which words?

People's Republic of: the 1990 constitution dropped the name as the country moved to multiparty politics and a market economy.

Which river divides Mozambique into its two topographical regions?

It is the largest and most important of the country's five main rivers.

The Cahora Bassa Dam was built mainly to supply hydroelectric power to which country?

South Africa: a high-voltage line was built to carry the dam's power to the South African border, and Mozambique took majority control only in 2007.

Which great lake, shared with Malawi, forms part of Mozambique's northwestern border?

Niassa: in 2011 Mozambique declared its part of the lake a reserve and a protected Ramsar wetland.

Which neighbouring regime backed Mozambique's anti-communist rebel movement from its founding?

Rhodesia: its security services set up the rebels to strike at guerrillas who fought white-minority rule from bases in Mozambique.

What is the currency of Mozambique?

Metical: the currency takes its name from the mithqal, an old Arabic unit of weight.

Which two cyclones struck Mozambique about six weeks apart in 2019?

Idai and Kenneth: Idai's floods around Beira were followed by a cholera outbreak there.

Huge offshore reserves of which resource were discovered in the Rovuma Basin in 2010-11?

Natural gas: the fields lie off the far north, where a jihadist insurgency has delayed their development.

In 2017, an Islamist insurgency broke out in which northern province of Mozambique?

Cabo Delgado: the insurgency began with a pre-dawn raid on three police stations in the town of Mocímboa da Praia in October 2017.

Which ethnic group is the largest in northern Mozambique?

The Tsonga dominate the south and the Sena and Shona the central river valley.

Which religion is the most popular in Mozambique?

Christianity: yet after independence the Marxist government turned on religion, rounding up Jehovah's Witnesses and deporting them.

Which Swahili port towns south of Kilwa were regional powers by the 15th century?

Sofala, Angoche and Mozambique Island traded gold and ivory from inland kingdoms such as Mutapa up the coast to Kilwa and Mombasa.

Which Mozambican national park lost up to 95% of its large mammals during the civil war?

Gorongosa: aerial counts show its herds collapsed in the war and have recovered unevenly since, some species far faster than others.

Which Mozambique-born striker, 'the Black Panther', was top scorer at the 1966 World Cup?

Eusébio scored nine goals, and his side came back from 3–0 down against North Korea to win 5–3.

Mozambican novelist Mia Couto won which literary award in 2014?

Neustadt Prize: Couto was welcomed into the independence movement as a young poet, and he went on to work as a journalist.

Besides writing, Mia Couto works professionally as what?

A biologist: Couto quit journalism to study biology, and he still works in the field alongside his writing.

Who was sworn in as Mozambique's fifth president in January 2025?

Daniel Chapo is the first president born after independence, and his disputed 2024 election win set off deadly protests.

In 1951 the Estado Novo regime rebranded its African colonies, including Mozambique, as what?

Overseas Provinces: the new label let the regime claim the territories were part of the mother country itself.