(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/53640000/gif/_53640789_mozambique.gif)
Since independence from Portugal in 1975, Mozambique has been battered by civil war, economic mismanagement and famine.
• Full name: The Republic of Mozambique
• Population: 23.4 million (via UN, 2010)
• Capital: Maputo
• Area: 812,379 sq km (313,661 sq miles)
• Major languages: Portuguese (official), Makua-Lomwe, Swahili, other indigenous languages
• Major religions: Christianity, indigenous beliefs, Islam
• Life expectancy: 49 years (men), 49 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 metical (plural meticais) = 100 centavos
• Main exports: Seafood, cotton
• GNI per capita: US $440 (World Bank, 2009)
• Internet domain: .mz
• International dialling code: +258
A peace deal in 1992 ended 16 years of civil war, and the country has made much progress in economic development and political stability.
Portugal began to colonise the area that became Mozambique in the early 16th century. An anti-authoritarian coup in 1974 in Portugal ended colonial rule and its ten-year war with the Frelimo independence movement.
Mozambican support for armed groups fighting the white-minority rule governments in Rhodesia and South Africa led to those two countries sponsoring the Renamo movement, which fought Frelimo in the 1977-1992 civil war.
BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13890416)
Provides an overview of Mozambique, including key events and facts about this former Portuguese colony and its recovery from a long civil war in the 1980s.
Attribution: CNN, BBC and IOL Africa.