Mozambique(1) consists of just under 800 thousand square kilometers along the southeast African coast. The plain along the sea front is narrower in the north. The flatness of the wider south is interruped by hills at an intermediate distance inland. Further inland--at the border in the very south and quite close to shore in parts of the north--is plateau, ranging from a few hundred to--in spots--above or near 2,000 meters.
Just west and south of where Malwai cuts a deep slice into Mozambique's shape, the Zambezi(2) flows. By the western border it becomes the reservoir, Albufeira de Cahora Bassa. The only larger body of water in the nation is its share of Lake Nyasa(3) in the northwest. North of it, the bigger river systems are the Ruvuma, which forms most of the north boundary, and the Lurio(4). South of it are the Save(5), the Limpopo(6) and a fan of rivers that converge on Maputo Bay(7).
Just over 20 million people live here (2007), but there is no majority first language. Portuguese is the most common second language--though still learned by less than half(8). English is also learned by the elite. That said, nearly everyone speaks some Central Narrow Bantu language natively(9). Of these, the most important are Makhua, spoken by nearly three in ten(10); Tsonga-Ronga-Tswa(11) by more than three in 20; Shona by slightly less than that; Lomwe by nearly one in ten; and Sena by about one in 20.
The majority(12) follow traditional, local religions. Among these, one example is the offering of wine at old trees in the sacred forest of Chirindzene.(13) Christians are the next largest group--somewhere between 30 and 40 percent. Of these the majority are Protestant, so long as one counts Zionism as Protestant(14). The largest single denomination of Christians is Roman Catholic. Somewhere between 15 and 20 percent are Moslems(15), mostly Sunni.
Only one city tops one million: Maputo(16), the capital. Its metropolitan area approaches twice that, and the city proper has 1.2 million (2007). Its monuments are the Fort of Our Lady of Conception(17), and the Central Railway Station. It is located at the head of the bay with its name, on an inlet that serves as the mouth for several rivers.
Bantu language speakers arrived in the area sometime between the middle of the first millenium B.C.E. and the end of the first millenium C.E. Many Lomwe moved into Malawi (then Nyassaland) in the early 20th century, but movements of Lomwe and Nyanja speakers, batck and forth from the lake are thought to have been common before then, and migrant Lomwe laborors continue to work in Malawi. The Portuguese arrived in the 15th century, bringing Christianity, subsequently furthered by other missionaries, and by the spread of Zionism from South Africa. Islam is locally much older, arriving by sea trade some time in the first half of the last millenium.
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(1) Moçambique is the proper spelling.
(2) Locally the Zambeze River. It is Africa's fourth longest.
(3) Also called Lake Malawi; locally spelled Niassa. It is Africa's fourth largest. It is connected to the Zambezi by the Shire River.
(4) Or Lua.
(5) Sabi in Zimbabwe
(6) Africa's seventh longest
(7) Also called Bay de Laurenço Marques or Delagoa Bay.
(8) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique, accessed 7/23/2007.
(9) Ethnologue.com statistics. Others believe Portuguese is spoken by more than one in 20 as a first language.
(10) I am including Makhuwa-Marrevone, -Meeto, -Moniga, and -Saka, which some might consider separate languages.
(11) Some consider Tsonga (or Shangaan), Ronga and Tswa to be separate languages.
(12) The census limited this number to around one in four, source: same as footnote 8.
(13) Source: dlc.dlib.indiana.edu:8080/DLFImage/search.do with keywords "ritual and religion--Mozambique" (accessed 7/23/2007).
(14) Zionism is an offshoot of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church of Zion, Illinois. It is highly syncretic with the traditional African practices.
(15) Some local Moslem clerics claim, absurdly, that Moslems are a majority. Source: www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2001/5657, accessed 7/23/2007.
(16) Formerly Laurenço Marques.
(17) Nossa Senhora da Conçeiao in Portuguese.