MOZAMBIQUE CULTURE

THEIR FIRST INHABITANTS WERE HUNTERS AND GATHERERS KNOWN AS BUSHMEN.  THEY WERE NOMADIC AND INTERBANTOS.  ARAB TRADERS BUILT TRADING POSTS ALONG THE ALONG THE COASTS.  THE FIRST PORTUGUESE EXPLORER 1498 AND THEY CONTROLLED A TRADING POSTSTHERE.  THEY FORCED AFRICANS TO WORK ON FARMS AND AS GOLD MINERS.  THEY CLAIMED RIGHTS TO MUCH OF THE LAND!

MOZAMBIQUE IS IN A LARGE PART DERIVED FROM ITS HISTORY OF BANTU. SWAHILL AND PORTUGUESE RULE.  THEY GAINED THEY GAINED INDEPENDENCE FROM SINCE 1975.  THEIR LANGUAGE IS PORTUGUESE AND THEY PRACTICE CATHOLICISM AND 40% ARE CHRISTIANS.  THEY ARE CHRISTIANS

THEY HAVE A RICH HISTORY AND MANY ETHNIC GROUPS ARE ABOUT 20% ARE 20% MUSLIMS.  THEIR MEDIAN LIFESPAN IS ONLY 42!  THEY ALSO SPEAQK BANTU.  THEY HAVE 45,000 EUROPEANS AND 15,000 SOUTH ASIANS.  MANY MOZAMBIQUE PRACTICE NATIVE BELIEFS.  ONLY 1/3 OF THE CHILDREN OVER AGE 15 CAN READ OR WRITE.  FEW ATTEND SECONDARY SCHOOL. 

THEIR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS ARE HANDMADE  THE MARIMBA IS POPULAR WITH THE CHOPI IN THE SOUTH. THEIR MUSIC IS LIKE REGGAE.

ONE TRIBE MAKES MASKS USED IN RITUAL DANCES.  ONE TRIBE MAKES MASKS USED IN RITUAL DANCES.  THE UJAMA CARVE TOTEMS LIKE CARVINGS THAT  LOOK LIKE PEOPLE'S FACES.  THEY ARE CALLED FAMILY TREES.

THEY GAINED FREEDOM  IN 1975  AND THEIR ART  REFLECTED OPPRESSION  BY THE COLONIAL POWER.  AFTER INDEPENDENCE ART DURING THE 1980'S AND 1990'S DEPICTS STRUGGLE, CIVIL WAR, SUFFERING AND STARVATION.  THE MOZAMBIQUE DANCES ARE RITUALISTIC IN NATURE.  THEY WEAR COLORFUL MASKS AND OUTFITS.

THEIR FOOD IS RICH AND VARIED.  THEY EAT SPICY STEWS ESPECIALLY WITH RICE OR STEAMED CORNMEAL DOUGH.  LIKE MOST OF COASTAL AFRICA. FISH IS PART OF A NATIONAL DIET AND INCORPORATED INTO A NUMBER OF DISHES.  THEY HAVE MANY FRUITS AND CITRUS SUCH AS ORANGES AND GRAPEFRUITS, BANANAS, MANGOES, COCONUTS.\\THEY WERE RULED BY PORTUGAL AND THE MOZAMBIQUE CULTURE INFLUENCED THEM AS WELL.  THEY BECAME ROMAN CATHOLICS.

THEIR TERRAIN RANGES FROM RAIN FORESTS TO SWAMPS TO MOUNTAINS AND SAND DUNES.  THE ZAMBEZI RIVER IS IS A GREAT RIVER POWER SOURCE SUPPLYING HYDROELECTRIC POWER  THEY HAVE A WET SEASON AND A DRY SEASON APRIL THROUGH OCTOBER.  DROUGHT IS COMMON AND THEY HAVE DEVASTATING FLOODS (IN 1999).  THEY HAVE WILDLIFE PRESERVES FOR LARGE GAME. ANIMALS - ZEBRAS, WATER BUFFALO, ELEPHANTS, GIRRAFFES, AND LIONS.

IN 2000 THEIR POPULATION WAS 18 MILLION AND SEVERAL MILLION MOVED TO OTHER COUNTRIES.  THEY HAVE 9 MAJOR ETHNIC GROUPS.  ONLY IN THE 1960'S MOZAMBIQUE WAS SWEPT INTO INDEPENDENCE.  AGRICULTURE IS THEIR LARGEST INDUSTRY.

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