Editing Mozambique (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Mozambique}}
[[File:Mozambique (3912235854).jpg|thumb|Mozambican [[dhow]]]]

===Bantu migrations===
{{Further|Bantu expansion}}

[[Bantu languages|Bantu]]-speaking peoples migrated into Mozambique as early as the 4th century BC.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The archaeological evidence for the appearance of pastoralism and farming in southern Africa|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=13|issue=6|pages=e0198941|language=en|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0198941|year=2018|last1=Lander|first1=Faye|last2=Russell|first2=Thembi|pmid=29902271|pmc=6002040|bibcode=2018PLoSO..1398941L|doi-access=free}}</ref> It is believed between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, waves of migration from the west and north went through the [[Zambezi]] River valley and then gradually into the plateau and coastal areas of Southern Africa.<ref name="BilateralRelationsFactSheet">{{citation-attribution|1={{Cite web|title=Mozambique (07/02)|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/mozambique/26477.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702011103/https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/mozambique/26477.htm|archive-date=2 July 2018|access-date=1 July 2018|work=U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets/Background Notes|publisher=U.S. Department of State}} }}</ref> They established agricultural communities or societies based on herding cattle. They brought with them the technology for smelting<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lyaya|first1=Edwinus Chrisantus|title=Metallurgy in Tanzania|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304036090|website=ResearchGate|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> and smithing iron.

===Swahili Coast===
[[File:Slaves ruvuma.jpg|thumb|Arab-Swahili slave traders and their captives on the [[Ruvuma River]]]]
From the late first millennium AD, vast [[Indian Ocean trade]] networks extended as far south into Mozambique as evidenced by the ancient port town of [[Chibuene]].<ref name="Sinclair2">{{cite journal|last1=Sinclair|first1=Paul|last2=Ekblom|first2=Anneli|last3=Wood|first3=Marilee|title=Trade and Society on the Southeast African Coast in the Later First Millennium AD: the Case of Chibuene|journal=Antiquity|year=2012|volume=86|issue=333|pages=723–737|doi=10.1017/S0003598X00047876|s2cid=160887653}}</ref> Beginning in the 9th century, a growing involvement in Indian Ocean trade led to the development of numerous port towns along the entire East African coast, including modern day Mozambique. Largely autonomous, these towns broadly participated in the incipient [[Swahili culture]]. Islam was often adopted by urban elites, facilitating trade. In Mozambique, [[Sofala]], [[Angoche]], and Mozambique Island were regional powers by the 15th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rathee|first=D.|date=2021|title=Hunt for Oil in Offshore Angoche, Mozambique|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3997/2214-4609.2021605026|journal=Fifth EAGE Eastern Africa Petroleum Geoscience Forum|pages=1–5|publisher=European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers|doi=10.3997/2214-4609.2021605026|s2cid=236669258}}</ref>

The towns traded with merchants from both the African interior and the broader Indian Ocean world. Particularly important were the gold and ivory caravan routes. Inland states like the [[Kingdom of Zimbabwe]] and [[Kingdom of Mutapa]] provided the coveted gold and ivory, which were then exchanged up the coast to larger port cities like [[Kilwa Kisiwani|Kilwa]] and [[Mombasa]].<ref>Newitt, Malyn. "Mozambique Island: The Rise and Decline of an East African Coastal City" 2004.</ref>

=== Portuguese Mozambique (1498–1975) ===

{{Further|Portuguese Mozambique}}

[[File:Mozambique n2.jpg|thumb|left|Detail of the [[Island of Mozambique]], former capital in Northern Mozambique and prominent in the country's history]]
[[File:Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte.jpg|thumb|left|[[Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte]]]]
[[File:Fortaleza de São Sebastião-01.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Fort São Sebastião (Mozambique)|Fort São Sebastião]]]]
The [[Island of Mozambique]] after which the country is named, is a small coral island at the mouth of Mossuril Bay on the [[Nacala]] coast of northern Mozambique, first explored by Europeans in the late 15th century.

When Portuguese explorers reached Mozambique in 1498, Arab-trading settlements had existed along the coast and outlying islands for several centuries.<ref name="gupta">{{cite book|last1=Gupta|first1=Pamila|title=Portuguese decolonization in the Indian Ocean world: History and ethnography|date=2019|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|location=London|isbn=9781350043657}}{{rp|page=27}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite book|last1=Isaacman|first1=Allen|last2=Peterson|first2=Derek|chapter=Making the Chikunda: Military Slavery and Ethnicity in Southern Africa, 1750–1900|editor1-last=Brown|editor1-first=Christopher Leslie|editor2-last=Morgan|editor2-first=Philip D.|title=Arming Slaves: From Classical Times to the Modern Age|date=2006|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-13485-8|pages=95–119|doi=10.12987/yale/9780300109009.003.0005}}</ref> From about 1500, Portuguese trading posts and forts displaced the Arabic commercial and military hegemony, becoming regular ports of call on the new European sea route to the east,<ref name=BilateralRelationsFactSheet/><ref name="EBmoz"/> the first steps in what was to become a process of colonisation.<ref name="EBmoz">{{cite book|last1=Sheldon|first1=Kathleen Eddy|last2=Penvenne|first2=Jeanne Marie|title=Encyclopædia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Mozambique|access-date=7 June 2021|language=en|chapter=Mozambique: Arrival of the Portuguese|archive-date=5 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205083321/https://www.britannica.com/place/Mozambique|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Newitt">{{cite journal|last1=Newitt|first1=Malyn|title=Mozambique Island: The Rise and Decline of an East African Coastal City, 1500–1700|journal=Portuguese Studies|date=2004|volume=20|pages=21–37|doi=10.1353/port.2004.0001|jstor=41105216|s2cid=245842110|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/41105216|access-date=7 June 2021|issn=0267-5315|archive-date=3 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703090005/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41105216|url-status=live}}</ref>

The voyage of [[Vasco da Gama]] around the [[Cape of Good Hope]] in 1498 marked the Portuguese entry into trade, politics, and society of the region. The Portuguese gained control of the Island of Mozambique and the port city of Sofala in the early 16th century, and by the 1530s, small groups of Portuguese traders and prospectors seeking gold penetrated the interior regions. Here they set up garrisons and trading posts at [[Sena, Mozambique|Sena]] and [[Tete, Mozambique|Tete]] on the Zambezi and tried to gain exclusive control over the gold trade.<ref name="auto"/>

In the central part of the Mozambique territory, the Portuguese attempted to legitimise and consolidate their trade and settlement positions through the creation of ''[[prazo]]s''.<ref name="auto" /> These land grants tied emigrants to their settlements, and inland Mozambique was largely left to be administered by ''prazeiros'', the grant holders, while central authorities in Portugal concentrated their direct exercise of power on, in their view, the more important Portuguese possessions in Asia and the Americas.<ref name="auto" /><ref name="Isaac2000">{{cite journal|last1=Isaacman|first1=Allen|title=Chikunda transfrontiersmen and transnational migrations in pre-colonial South Central Africa, c. 1850–1900|journal=Zambezia|date=2000|volume=27|issue=2|pages=109|hdl=10520/AJA03790622_4|url=https://hdl.handle.net/10520/AJA03790622_4|access-date=7 June 2021|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518175519/https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/AJA03790622_4|url-status=live}}</ref> Slavery in Mozambique pre-dated European-contact. African rulers and chiefs dealt in enslaved people, first with Arab Muslim traders, who sent the enslaved to Middle East Asia cities and plantations, and later with Portuguese and other European traders. In a continuation of the trade, slaves were supplied by warring local African rulers, who raided enemy tribes and sold their captives to the ''prazeiros''. The authority of the ''prazeiros'' was exercised and upheld amongst the local population by armies of these enslaved men, whose members became known as ''[[Chikunda]]''.<ref name="auto"/> Continuing emigration from Portugal occurred at comparatively low levels until late in the nineteenth century, promoting "Africanisation".<ref name="auto" /> While ''prazos'' were originally intended to be held solely by Portuguese colonists, through intermarriage and the relative isolation of ''prazeiros'' from ongoing Portuguese influences, the ''prazos'' became African-Portuguese or African-Indian.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="EBmoz"/>

[[File:Lourenco-Marques-pc-c1905.jpg|thumb|View of the Central Avenue in Lourenço Marques, now Maputo, ca. 1905]]

Although Portuguese influence gradually expanded, its power was limited and exercised through individual settlers and officials who were granted extensive autonomy. The Portuguese were able to wrest much of the coastal trade from Arab Muslims between 1500 and 1700, but, with the Arab Muslim seizure of Portugal's key foothold at [[Fort Jesus]] on [[Mombasa Island]] (now in Kenya) in 1698, the pendulum began to swing in the other direction. As a result, investment lagged while [[Lisbon]] devoted itself to the more lucrative trade with India and the Far East and to the colonisation of Brazil.<ref name=BilateralRelationsFactSheet/>

The [[Mazrui]] and [[History of Oman|Omani Arabs]] reclaimed much of the Indian Ocean trade, forcing the Portuguese to retreat south. Many ''prazos'' had declined by the mid-19th century, but several of them survived. During the 19th century other European powers, particularly the British ([[British South Africa Company]]) and the French (Madagascar), became increasingly involved in the trade and politics of the region around the Portuguese East African territories.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Austin|first=Gareth|date=1 March 2010|title=African Economic Development and Colonial Legacies|url=http://journals.openedition.org/poldev/78|journal=International Development Policy {{!}} Revue internationale de politique de développement|language=en|issue=1|pages=11–32|doi=10.4000/poldev.78|issn=1663-9375|doi-access=free|access-date=28 January 2021|archive-date=21 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121082142/https://journals.openedition.org/poldev/78|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:TT CMZ-AF-GT E 2-1 10 81 - Oficina de Tipografia da Escola de Artes e Ofícios.jpg|thumb|left|Portuguese language printing and typesetting class, 1930]]

By the early 20th century the Portuguese had shifted the administration of much of Mozambique to large private companies, like the [[Mozambique Company]], the [[Zambezia Province|Zambezia Company]] and the [[Niassa Company]], controlled and financed mostly by British financiers such as [[Solomon Joel]], which established railroad lines to their neighbouring colonies (South Africa and [[Rhodesia]]). Although slavery had been legally abolished in Mozambique, at the end of the 19th century the chartered companies enacted a forced labour policy and supplied cheap—often forced—African labour to the mines and [[plantation]]s of the nearby British colonies and South Africa.<ref name=BilateralRelationsFactSheet/> The Zambezia Company, the most profitable chartered company, took over several smaller ''prazeiro'' holdings and established military outposts to protect its property. The chartered companies built roads and ports to bring their goods to market including a railroad linking present-day Zimbabwe with the Mozambican port of [[Beira, Mozambique|Beira]].<ref name="The Cambridge history of Africa">[https://books.google.com/books?id=zywkdNMeltkC&pg=PA495&dq=chartered+companies+mozambique#PPA496,M1 The Cambridge history of Africa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214003714/https://books.google.com/books?id=zywkdNMeltkC&pg=PA495&dq=chartered+companies+mozambique#PPA496,M1 |date=14 December 2019 }}, The Cambridge history of Africa, John Donnelly Fage, A. D. Roberts, Roland Anthony Oliver, Edition: Cambridge University Press, 1986, {{ISBN|0-521-22505-1}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-22505-2}}</ref><ref name="The Third Portuguese Empire, 1825-1975">[https://books.google.com/books?id=LA28AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA100&dq=chartered+companies+mozambique The Third Portuguese Empire, 1825–1975] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191123044105/https://books.google.com/books?id=LA28AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA100&dq=chartered+companies+mozambique |date=23 November 2019 }}, The Third Portuguese Empire, 1825–1975: A Study in Economic Imperialism, W. G. Clarence-Smith, Edition: Manchester University Press ND, 1985, {{ISBN|0-7190-1719-X}}, 9780719017193</ref>

Due to their unsatisfactory performance and the shift, under the [[corporatist]] [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Estado Novo]] regime of [[Oliveira Salazar]], toward a stronger Portuguese control of [[Portuguese Empire]]'s economy, the companies' concessions were not renewed when they ran out. This was what happened in 1942 with the Mozambique Company, which, however, continued to operate in the agricultural and commercial sectors as a corporation, and had already happened in 1929 with the termination of the Niassa Company's concession. In 1951, the Portuguese overseas colonies in Africa were rebranded as Overseas Provinces of Portugal.<ref name="The Cambridge history of Africa"/><ref name="The Third Portuguese Empire, 1825-1975"/><ref>[http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090928143505/http%3A//digitarq%2Edgarq%2Egov%2Ept/default%2Easpx?page%3DregShow%26ID%3D1117748%26searchMode%3Dlf Agência Geral do Ultramar]. dgarq.gov.pt</ref>

The [[Mueda massacre]] of 16 June 1960, resulted in the death of [[Makonde people|Makonde]] protestors, which provoked the struggle of independence from Portuguese rule of Mozambique.

===Mozambican War of Independence (1964–1975)===
{{Main|Mozambican War of Independence}}
[[File:Sempreatentos...aoperigo!.jpg|thumb|Portuguese troops during the [[Portuguese Colonial War]], some loading [[FN FAL]], [[AR-10]] and [[H&K G3]]<!-- Unclear whether this image was taken in Angola or Mozambique -->]]

As [[communism|communist]] and [[Decolonization|anti-colonial]] ideologies spread out across Africa, many clandestine political movements were established in support of Mozambican independence. These movements claimed that since policies and development plans were primarily designed by the ruling authorities for the benefit of Mozambique's Portuguese population, little attention was paid to Mozambique's tribal integration and the development of its native communities.<ref>Dinerman, Alice (26 September 2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20150424020524/http://www.ipri.pt/publicacoes/revista_ri/artigo_rri.php?ida=173 Independence redux in postsocialist Mozambique]. ipri.pt</ref> According to the official guerrilla statements, this affected a majority of the indigenous population who suffered both state-sponsored discrimination and enormous social pressure. As a response to the guerrilla movement, the Portuguese government from the 1960s and principally the early 1970s initiated gradual changes with new socioeconomic developments and egalitarian policies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=piri piri {{!}} BOOK OF DAYS TALES|url=https://www.bookofdaystales.com/tag/piri-piri/|access-date=28 January 2021|website=www.bookofdaystales.com|archive-date=1 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301040145/https://www.bookofdaystales.com/tag/piri-piri/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Front for the Liberation of Mozambique ([[FRELIMO]]) initiated a guerrilla campaign against Portuguese rule in September 1964. This conflict—along with the two others already initiated in the other Portuguese colonies of [[Portuguese Angola|Angola]] and [[Portuguese Guinea]]—became part of the so-called [[Portuguese Colonial War]] (1961–1974). From a military standpoint, the Portuguese regular army maintained control of the population centres while the guerrilla forces sought to undermine their influence in rural and tribal areas in the north and west. As part of their response to FRELIMO, the Portuguese government began to pay more attention to creating favourable conditions for social development and economic growth.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HegjL_5tD6o|title=CD do Diário de Notícias – Parte 08|date=8 July 2007|via=YouTube|access-date=2 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317125157/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HegjL_5tD6o|archive-date=17 March 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Independence (1975) ===
FRELIMO took control of the territory after ten years of sporadic warfare, as well as Portugal's own return to democracy after the fall of the authoritarian [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Estado Novo]] regime in the [[Carnation Revolution]] of April 1974 and the failed [[coup of 25 November 1975]]. Within a year, most of the 250,000 Portuguese in Mozambique had left—some expelled by the government of the nearly independent territory, some left the country to avoid possible reprisals from the unstable government—and Mozambique became independent from Portugal on 25 June 1975.<ref>Keesing's Contemporary Archives, page 27245.</ref> A law had been passed on the initiative of the relatively unknown [[Armando Guebuza]] of the FRELIMO party, ordering the Portuguese to leave the country in 24 hours with only {{convert|20|kg|lb|abbr=off}} of luggage. Unable to salvage any of their assets, most of them returned to Portugal penniless.<ref>Couto, Mia (April 2004). [http://mondediplo.com/2004/04/15mozambique Carnation revolution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502222825/https://mondediplo.com/2004/04/15mozambique |date=2 May 2019 }}. ''Le Monde diplomatique''</ref>

===Mozambican Civil War (1977–1992)===
{{Main|People's Republic of Mozambique|Mozambican Civil War}}
[[File:Land mine victim 2 (4364914733).jpg|thumb|left|A land mine victim in Mozambique]]
The [[People's Republic of Mozambique|new government]] under President [[Samora Machel]] established a [[one-party state]] based on [[Marxism|Marxist]] principles. It received diplomatic and some military support from [[Cuba]] and the [[Soviet Union]] and proceeded to crack down on opposition.<ref>''Mozambique: a tortuous road to democracy'' by J .Cabrita, Macmillan 2001 {{ISBN|978-0-333-92001-5}}</ref> Starting shortly after independence, the country was plagued from 1977 to 1992 by a long and violent civil war between the opposition forces of anti-communist Mozambican National Resistance ([[RENAMO]]) rebel militias and the FRELIMO regime. This conflict characterised the first decades of Mozambican independence, combined with sabotage from the neighbouring states of [[Rhodesia]] and South Africa, ineffective policies, failed central planning, and the resulting economic collapse. This period was also marked by the exodus of Portuguese nationals and Mozambicans of Portuguese heritage,<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913229-1,00.html Dismantling the Portuguese Empire] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723130930/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913229-1,00.html |date=23 July 2013 }}, ''Time'' (Monday, 7 July 1975).</ref> a collapsed infrastructure, lack of investment in productive assets, and government nationalisation of privately owned industries, as well as widespread famine.

During most of the civil war, the FRELIMO-formed central government was unable to exercise effective control outside urban areas, many of which were cut off from the capital.<ref name=BilateralRelationsFactSheet/> RENAMO-controlled areas included up to 50% of the rural areas in several provinces, and it is reported that health services of any kind were isolated from assistance for years in those areas. The problem worsened when the government cut back spending on health care.<ref name="Pfeiffer. J. 2003">{{cite journal|pmid=12560007|year=2003|last1=Pfeiffer|first1=J|title=International NGOs and primary health care in Mozambique: The need for a new model of collaboration|volume=56|issue=4|pages=725–38|journal=Social Science & Medicine|doi=10.1016/s0277-9536(02)00068-0}}</ref> The war was marked by mass human rights violations from both sides of the conflict, with both RENAMO and FRELIMO contributing to the chaos through the use of terror and indiscriminate targeting of civilians.<ref name="autogenerated1">[http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.TAB14.1C.GIF Table 14.1C Centi-Kilo Murdering States: Estimates, Sources and Calculations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011172148/http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.TAB14.1C.GIF |date=11 October 2017 }}. hawaii.edu</ref><ref>Gersony 1988, p.30f.</ref> The central government executed tens of thousands of people while trying to extend its control throughout the country and sent many people to "re-education camps" where thousands died.<ref name=autogenerated1/>

[[File:RhodesiaAllies1975-en.svg|thumb|The geopolitical situation in 1975; nations friendly to the FRELIMO are shown in orange.]]
During the war, RENAMO proposed a peace agreement based on the secession of RENAMO-controlled northern and western territories as the independent ''Republic of Rombesia'', but FRELIMO refused, insisting on the undivided sovereignty of the entire country. An estimated one million Mozambicans perished during the civil war, 1.7&nbsp;million took refuge in neighbouring states, and several million more were internally displaced.<ref>Perlez, Jane (13 October 1992). [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/13/world/a-mozambique-formally-at-peace-is-bled-by-hunger-and-brutality.html A Mozambique Formally at Peace Is Bled by Hunger and Brutality] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326092019/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/13/world/a-mozambique-formally-at-peace-is-bled-by-hunger-and-brutality.html |date=26 March 2019 }}, ''The New York Times''</ref> The FRELIMO regime also gave shelter and support to South African ([[African National Congress]]) and Zimbabwean ([[Zimbabwe African National Union]]) rebel movements, while the governments of Rhodesia and later Apartheid South Africa backed RENAMO in the civil war.<ref name=BilateralRelationsFactSheet/> Between 300,000 and 600,000 people died of famine during the war.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mozambique|url=https://communistcrimes.org/en/countries/mozambique|access-date=29 October 2020|website=Mozambique {{!}} Communist Crimes|language=en|archive-date=30 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030143855/https://communistcrimes.org/en/countries/mozambique|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 19 October 1986, Machel was on his way back from an international meeting in Zambia when his [[1986 Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 crash|plane crashed]] in the [[Lebombo Mountains]] near [[Mbuzini]] in South Africa. President Machel and thirty-three others died, including ministers and officials of the Mozambique government. The United Nations' Soviet delegation issued a minority report contending that their expertise and experience had been undermined by the South Africans. Representatives of the Soviet Union advanced the theory that the plane had been intentionally diverted by a false [[VHF omnidirectional range|navigational beacon]] signal, using a technology provided by military intelligence operatives of the South African government.<ref name="TRC">{{cite web|title=Special Investigation into the death of President Samora Machel|work=[[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] Report, vol.2, chapter 6a|url=http://www.news24.com/Content_Display/TRC_Report/2chap6a.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060413084020/http://www.news24.com/Content_Display/TRC_Report/2chap6a.htm|archive-date=13 April 2006|access-date=18 June 2006}}</ref>

Machel's successor [[Joaquim Chissano]] implemented sweeping changes in the country, starting reforms such as changing from Marxism to capitalism and began peace talks with RENAMO. The new constitution enacted in 1990 provided for a [[multi-party system|multi-party political system]], a [[market economy|market-based economy]], and free elections. That same year, Mozambique abolished the people's republic as the country's official name. The civil war ended in October 1992 with the [[Rome General Peace Accords]], first brokered by the Christian Council of Mozambique (Council of Protestant Churches) and then taken over by [[Community of Sant'Egidio]]. Peace returned to Mozambique, under the supervision of the [[United Nations Operation in Mozambique|peacekeeping force of the United Nations]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110516080313/http://popp.gmu.edu/resource-bk/mission/onumoz.html UNITED NATIONS OPERATION IN MOZAMBIQUE]. popp.gmu.edu</ref><ref name=BilateralRelationsFactSheet/>

===Democratic era (1993–present)===
[[File:Helicopter over flooded Central Mozambique.jpg|thumb|A [[Sikorsky MH-53|US helicopter]] flying over the flooded [[Limpopo River]] during the [[2000 Mozambique flood]]]]
Mozambique held elections in 1994, which were accepted by most political parties as free and fair although still contested by many nationals and observers alike. FRELIMO won, under Joaquim Chissano, while RENAMO, led by [[Afonso Dhlakama]], ran as the official opposition.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Keller|first=Bill|date=28 October 1994|title=Mozambican Elections Thrown in Doubt (Published 1994)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/28/world/mozambican-elections-thrown-in-doubt.html|access-date=12 November 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=17 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117133635/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/28/world/mozambican-elections-thrown-in-doubt.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Frelimo {{!}} History & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Frelimo|access-date=12 November 2020|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=18 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118144259/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Frelimo|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1995, Mozambique joined the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], becoming, at the time, the only member nation that had never been part of the [[British Empire]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Commonwealth {{!}} History, Members, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Commonwealth-association-of-states|access-date=12 November 2020|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-date=7 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107233935/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Commonwealth-association-of-states|url-status=live}}</ref>

By mid-1995, over 1.7&nbsp;million refugees who had sought asylum in neighbouring countries had returned to Mozambique, part of the largest repatriation witnessed in sub-Saharan Africa. An additional four million [[internally displaced person]]s had returned to their homes.<ref name="BilateralRelationsFactSheet" /> In December 1999, Mozambique held elections for a second time since the civil war, which were again won by FRELIMO. RENAMO accused FRELIMO of fraud and threatened to return to civil war but backed down after taking the matter to the Supreme Court and losing.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mozambique: 1999 Election review|url=https://www.eisa.org/wep/moz1999election2.htm|access-date=12 November 2020|website=www.eisa.org|archive-date=13 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113005644/https://www.eisa.org/wep/moz1999election2.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Frelimo's election win to be challenged|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/frelimo-s-election-win-to-be-challenged-1.263997|access-date=12 November 2020|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|archive-date=1 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301040144/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/frelimo-s-election-win-to-be-challenged-1.263997|url-status=live}}</ref>

In early 2000, a cyclone caused [[2000 Mozambique flood|widespread flooding]], killing hundreds and devastating the already precarious infrastructure.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Mozambique: How disaster unfolded|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/655227.stm|access-date=12 November 2020|work=BBC News|archive-date=21 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021231558/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/655227.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> There were widespread suspicions that foreign aid resources had been diverted by powerful leaders of FRELIMO. [[Carlos Cardoso (journalist)|Carlos Cardoso]], a journalist investigating these allegations, was murdered,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hanlon|first=Joseph|date=24 November 2000|title=Carlos Cardoso|url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/nov/24/guardianobituaries2|access-date=12 November 2020|website=the Guardian|language=en|archive-date=9 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509024930/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/nov/24/guardianobituaries2|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Mozambique News Agency – AIM Reports|url=http://www.poptel.org.uk/mozambique-news/newsletter/Cardoso11.html|access-date=12 November 2020|website=www.poptel.org.uk|archive-date=13 April 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070413042025/http://www.poptel.org.uk/mozambique-news/newsletter/Cardoso11.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and his death was never satisfactorily explained.<ref>{{Cite web|date=26 March 2002|title=Attacks on the Press 2001: Mozambique|url=https://cpj.org/2002/03/attacks-on-the-press-2001-mozambique/|access-date=12 November 2020|website=Committee to Protect Journalists|language=en-US|archive-date=1 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301040145/https://cpj.org/2002/03/attacks-on-the-press-2001-mozambique/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Indicating in 2001 that he would not run for a third term,<ref>{{Cite news|date=9 May 2001|title=No third term for Mozambique president|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1321597.stm|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=16 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116185753/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1321597.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Chissano criticised leaders who stayed on longer than he had, which was generally seen as a reference to Zambian President [[Frederick Chiluba]] and Zimbabwean President [[Robert Mugabe]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=afrol News: Mozambican President not going for third term|url=http://afrol.com/News2001/moz014_chissano_3term.htm|access-date=12 November 2020|website=afrol.com|archive-date=10 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810193955/http://www.afrol.com/News2001/moz014_chissano_3term.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Presidential and National Assembly elections took place on 1–2 December 2004. FRELIMO candidate [[Armando Guebuza]] won<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wines (NYT)|first=Michael|date=18 December 2004|title=World Briefing {{!}} Africa: Mozambique: Election Winner Declared (Published 2004)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/18/world/world-briefing-africa-mozambique-election-winner-declared.html|access-date=12 November 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112211715/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/18/world/world-briefing-africa-mozambique-election-winner-declared.html|url-status=live}}</ref> with 64% of the popular vote, and Dhlakama received 32% of the popular vote. FRELIMO won 160 seats in Parliament, with a coalition of RENAMO and several small parties winning the 90 remaining seats. Guebuza was inaugurated as the President of Mozambique on 2 February 2005<ref>{{Cite web|date=2005|title=New President Pledges Unrelenting Fight Against Poverty|url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2005/02/02/new-president-pledges-unrelenting-fight-against-poverty|access-date=22 December 2023|archive-date=22 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231222154347/https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2005/02/02/new-president-pledges-unrelenting-fight-against-poverty|url-status=live}}</ref> and served two five-year terms. His successor, [[Filipe Nyusi]], became the fourth President of Mozambique on 15 January 2015.<ref>{{Cite news|date=19 March 2019|title=Mozambique profile – Timeline|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13890720|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=8 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108114553/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13890720|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=15 January 2015|title=Mozambique swears in new president, opposition stays away|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/mozambique-president-idUSL6N0UU2EA20150115|access-date=12 November 2020|archive-date=13 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113071811/https://www.reuters.com/article/mozambique-president-idUSL6N0UU2EA20150115|url-status=live}}</ref>

From 2013 to 2019, a low-intensity [[RENAMO insurgency (2013–2021)|insurgency by RENAMO]] occurred, mainly in the country's central and northern regions. On 5 September 2014, Guebuza and Dhlakama signed the Accord on Cessation of Hostilities, which brought the military hostilities to a halt and allowed both parties to concentrate on the general elections to be held in October 2014. However, after the general elections, a new political crisis emerged. RENAMO did not recognise the validity of the election results and demanded the control of six provinces – Nampula, Niassa, Tete, Zambezia, Sofala, and Manica – where they claimed to have won a majority.<ref name=":02">{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/19787524|title=Provincial Autonomy: The Territorial Dimension of Peace in Mozambique|first=Natália|last=Bueno|journal=GIGA Focus|access-date=23 August 2016|archive-date=13 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813172002/https://www.academia.edu/19787524|url-status=live}}</ref> About 12,000 refugees fled to [[Malawi]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/07/mozambican-refugees-stuck-160713073920585.html|title=Mozambican refugees stuck between somewhere and nowhere|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=23 July 2016|date=22 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723161013/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/07/mozambican-refugees-stuck-160713073920585.html|archive-date=23 July 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|UNHCR]], [[Médecins Sans Frontières|Doctors Without Borders]], and [[Human Rights Watch]] reported that government forces had torched villages and carried out [[summary execution]]s and [[Wartime sexual violence|sexual abuses]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/06/mozambiques-invisible-civil-war-renamo-frelimo-dhlakama-nyusi/|title=Mozambique's Invisible Civil War|publisher=foreign policy|access-date=6 May 2016|date=22 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507095840/http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/06/mozambiques-invisible-civil-war-renamo-frelimo-dhlakama-nyusi/|archive-date=7 May 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 2019, President Filipe Nyusi was re-elected after a landslide victory in [[2019 Mozambican general election|general election]]. FRELIMO won 184 seats, RENAMO got 60 seats and the MDM party received the remaining 6 seats in the National Assembly. Opposition did not accept the results because of allegations of fraud and irregularities. FRELIMO secured two-thirds majority in parliament which allowed FRELIMO to re-adjust the constitution without needing the agreement of the opposition.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Mozambique: President Filipe Nyusi re-elected in landslide victory|date=27 October 2019|url=https://www.dw.com/en/mozambique-president-filipe-nyusi-re-elected-in-landslide-victory/a-51009484|access-date=2 June 2021|work=Deutsche Welle|language=en-GB|archive-date=14 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214125315/https://www.dw.com/en/mozambique-president-filipe-nyusi-re-elected-in-landslide-victory/a-51009484|url-status=live}}</ref>

Since 2017, the country has faced an [[Insurgency in Cabo Delgado|ongoing insurgency by Islamist groups]].<ref>{{cite web|title='Jihadists behead' Mozambique villagers|website=BBC News|date=29 May 2018|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44289512|access-date=11 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613065006/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44289512|archive-date=13 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Religious unrest in Mozambique – in pictures|website=the Guardian|date=30 August 2019|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2019/aug/30/religious-unrest-in-mozambique-in-pictures|access-date=11 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111170314/https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2019/aug/30/religious-unrest-in-mozambique-in-pictures|archive-date=11 November 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Mozambique country profile|website=BBC News|date=19 March 2019|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13890416|access-date=11 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110063053/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13890416|archive-date=10 November 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2020, [[Islamic State|ISIL]] insurgents captured and briefly occupied [[Vamizi Island]] in the Indian Ocean.<ref>{{cite news|title=ISIS take over luxury islands popular among A-list celebrities|url=https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/isis-take-over-luxury-islands-popular-among-alist-celebrities/news-story/27687dc58907ec892f4a29ae43d5d858|work=News.com.au|date=18 September 2020|access-date=19 September 2020|archive-date=20 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920054512/https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/isis-take-over-luxury-islands-popular-among-alist-celebrities/news-story/27687dc58907ec892f4a29ae43d5d858|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Hanlon|first=Joseph|date=29 September 2020|title=Mozambique: Police Claim Control Of Empty Mocimboa, From A Distance|url=https://allafrica.com/stories/202009290847.html|access-date=2 June 2021|website=allAfrica.com|language=en|archive-date=13 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613143637/https://allafrica.com/stories/202009290847.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In March 2021, dozens of civilians were killed and 35,000 others were displaced after [[Battle of Palma|Islamist rebels seized]] the city of [[Palma, Mozambique|Palma]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=29 March 2021|title=Rebels leave beheaded bodies in streets of Mozambique town|url=https://apnews.com/article/mozambique-palma-rebels-beheaded-bodies-e0b0a68eec8f322ebbcaf13384f890fd|access-date=30 March 2021|website=AP NEWS|archive-date=29 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329235057/https://apnews.com/article/mozambique-palma-rebels-beheaded-bodies-e0b0a68eec8f322ebbcaf13384f890fd|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=29 March 2021|title=Mozambique: Dozens dead after militant assault on Palma|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56557623|access-date=30 March 2021|archive-date=29 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329001614/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56557623|url-status=live}}</ref> In December 2021, nearly 4,000 Mozambicans fled their villages after an intensification of jihadist attacks in [[Niassa Province|Niassa]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Thousands flee Niassa as jihadist attacks spread to other parts of Mozambique|url=https://www.news24.com/news24/Africa/News/thousands-flee-niassa-as-jihadist-attacks-spread-to-other-parts-of-mozambique-20211231|access-date=31 December 2021|website=News24|language=en-US|archive-date=31 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231160241/https://www.news24.com/news24/Africa/News/thousands-flee-niassa-as-jihadist-attacks-spread-to-other-parts-of-mozambique-20211231|url-status=live}}</ref>