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Arab traders who made their way down the East African coast mingled with African peoples, creating a hybrid culture and language called Swahili. This culture still predominates in several East African countries and exerts a strong influence in northern Mozambique. The name "Mozambique" is thought to come from the Swahili Musa al Big, the name of an ancient Arab sheikh, ("chief") who lived on the northern Ilha de Moçambique.

The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach current-day Mozambique. When he arrived in 1498, the Maravi kingdom of the Mwene Matapa was in control of the central Zambezi Basin. Da Gama first landed in the Muslim island town of Moçambique, and by 1510 the Portuguese controlled trading from Sofala in present-day Mozambique north to Mogadishu in what is now Somalia. In 1515, they began to expand their explorations into the interior with the intention of further controlling trade and taking control of gold mines. They subdued the inhabitants and over the next century claimed rights to vast areas of land and to the people who lived there, whom they forced to work on their farms and in their gold mines. The Mwene Matapa recognized Portuguese rule in 1629. The Portuguese called the area Terra da Boa Gente ("Country of the Good People").The official language is Portuguese, a legacy of the country's colonizers.

When Mozambique gained independence in 1975, Frelimo wanted to evict the colonial language but was not successful in finding a replacement. No other language is spoken by a majority. In the north, the Bantu languages of Yao and Makua predominate; in the Zambezi Valley, it is Nyanja is the dominant languages; and in the south, Tsonga is spoken. Along the northern coast, many people speak Swahili. Portuguese is the language of education and government but is rarely spoken outside the cities. Because six of the neighboring countries are former British colonies, English is used occasionally, particularly in Maputo, in dealings with businesspeople and tourists from South Africa.Many of the cultural traditions of the Mozambican people survived centuries of colonialism. The Makonde in the north are renowned for their ebony sculptures and masks.

The Chopi of the south central coast are famous for their complex musical arrangements and dance.Mozambique’s

tradition of visual art has produced several modern artists who have achieved international renown. One of the most

famous Mozambican artists is Malangatana, whose paintings portray the sufferings of the colonial period and the civil

war.Mozambique enjoys a great range of cultural and linguistic diversity. Islamic culture, Swahili language, and matrilineal

Bantu-speaking groups coexist in northern and central regions, reflecting prevailing patterns in neighbouring Tanzania and

Malawi. The great variety of people of the Zambezi valley overlap culturally and linguistically with neighboring Malawi, Zambia

and Zimbabwe, and patrilineal, cattle-keeping people who share a heritage with neighboring Nguni-speaking groups in South

Africa and Zimbabwe are common in the south. Amid the variety of languages, social relationships, artistic traditions, clothing,

and ornamentation patterns is a common theme of dynamic and creative cultural expression in song, oral poetry, dance, and

Performance.

Mozambique Food

Some of the earliest inhabitants of present-day Mozambique were small groups of hunter-gatherers, often called Bushmen. These nomadic groups traveled from one place to the next in search of seasonal fruits, vegetables, roots, and seeds. To supplement their primitive diet, the groups would also follow herds of wild animals such as impala (an African antelope) and buck, killing them with poisonous bows and arrows. Permanent settlements were never established because agriculture (cultivating land to produce crops) was not practiced. Around A.D. 300, Bantu-speaking Africans from the north introduced the practice of agriculture to Mozambique. The Bantu, who were primarily farmers and ironworkers, migrated to present-day Mozambique in search of farmable land.

Over the next several hundred years, agricultural systems were established to collectively grow maize (similar to corn) and other grains.Arab merchants, who arrived in sailing ships called dhows , set up some of the first trading posts in the 700s. They brought with them various items, including sal (salt), essential in preserving foods such as meat. In 1498, a Portuguese explorer named Vasco da Gama landed at Mozambique on his voyage to India, quickly establishing Portuguese ports and introducing foodstuffs and customs to the Mozambican culture.

Ruling for nearly 500 years, the Portuguese greatly impacted the cuisine of Mozambique. Crops such as cassava (a starchy root) and cashew nuts (Mozambique was once the largest producer of these nuts), and pãozinho (pronounced pow-zing-yo; Portuguese-style bread rolls) were brought in by the Portuguese. The use of seasonings such as onions, bay leaves, garlic, fresh coriander, paprika, chili peppers, red sweet peppers, and wine were introduced by the Portuguese, as was sugarcane, maize, millet, rice, sorghum (a type of grass), and potatoes. Prego (steak roll), rissois (battered shrimp), espetada (kebab), pudim (pudding), and the popular inteiro com piripiri (whole chicken in piri-piri sauce) are all Portuguese dishes commonly eaten in present-day Mozambique.

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