Mozambique
/ˌməʊzamˈbiːk
/
A country on the east coast of southern Africa; population 21,669,300 (est. 2009); languages, Portuguese (official), Bantu languages; capital, Maputo.
First visited by Vasco da Gama, Mozambique was colonized by the Portuguese in the early 16th century. It was a centre of the slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. Mozambique became an independent republic in 1975, after a ten-year armed struggle by the Frelimo liberation movement; civil war between the Frelimo government and the Renamo opposition followed until a peace agreement was signed in 1992. The country joined the Commonwealth in 1995.
