Prior to independence in 1975, almost one-third of the population was nominally Christian, and a small number were Muslim. Christian missionaries were active throughout the country during the colonial era, and after 1926 the Roman Catholic Church was given government subsidies and a privileged position with respect to its educational and evangelical activities among the African population. Although the Portuguese were generally suspicious of Protestants, Protestant missionaries—Presbyterian, Free Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal, Anglican, and Congregationalist—remained active, particularly in the northern interior and in the hinterlands of Inhambane and Maputo, providing Africans with alternative medical facilities and boarding schools. A variety of African Independent Churches developed, but, because of official disdain for their activities, they were unlikely to register publicly.

After independence the government, led by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique; Frelimo), presented conflicting messages regarding religion. Although it confirmed a policy of open and free religious affiliation, Frelimo actively persecuted the country’s more than 20,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses, and its overall political and ideological emphasis discouraged religious expression and organization. By the end of the 1980s, however, Frelimo had changed its approach, and religious organizations began to reemerge as an important popular force.

About one-half of the population now adheres to some form of Christianity, and fewer than one-fifth are Muslims. Although Islamic communities are found in most of Mozambique’s cities, Muslims constitute the majority in only the northern coastal region between the Lúrio and Rovuma rivers. Almost one-fifth of the population claims no religious affiliation.

Settlement patterns

Mozambique is an overwhelmingly agricultural country, with more than four-fifths of the labor force engaged in farming, and settlement patterns reflect the agrarian focus: only about one-third of the population is settled in urban areas.

The most densely populated rural areas are those with the best soils and climate, including the Lúrio and Ligonha river valleys in the northeast, the coastal plain between them, and the lower reaches of the Limpopo valley. In most rural areas settlements reflect family residence patterns and are dispersed. In drier areas settlement patterns are shaped by efforts to combine agriculture with pastoralism. Settlements are separated by expanses of grazing area. People in small settlements typically plant several crops in diverse and specific environments to minimize the danger of famine in case of flood, drought, pests, or other natural stressors.

The Portuguese colonial state developed rural settlement schemes during the late colonial era, and shortly after independence the national government strongly promoted communal village and state farm projects, all of which fostered denser rural settlement, particularly in the south. In most cases, however, such schemes proved largely unsatisfactory, and more-dispersed settlement patterns tended to reemerge when government policy and military security permitted. Although dispersed settlement makes it more difficult for the state to provide security and community services, it is preferred by farmers.

After independence a great number of people, including many without job skills, moved to the urban areas. In 1983 the government implemented Operation Production in order to reduce the urban population by 100,000. At first it sought volunteers, but by September an estimated 50,000 people had been forcibly removed to rural areas, largely without support or jobs. The program—generally a failure, as many people simply moved back to the urban areas from which they were removed—was discontinued.

Maputo is the country’s principal urban settlement, followed by Matola, Beira, Nampula, Quelimane, Nacala, Tete, and Chimoio. Most of these are port, transportation, and communications centers, which grew in order to service the needs of Mozambique’s western neighbors. The development of Nampula, Nacala, and Chimoio, however, dates from the Portuguese colonial state’s efforts to decentralize economic and administrative infrastructure as part of a counterinsurgency strategy in the late 1960s and ’70s. Prior to that period, investment in Mozambique focused largely on Maputo. Only Maputo and Beira have substantial foreign communities.

Demographic trends

Mozambique’s rate of population growth, though high by world standards, is lower than that of most other African countries. The country’s infant mortality rate is among the highest in the world. Moreover, average life expectancy is among the lowest in the world, but comparable to that of other southern African countries. As in most African countries, Mozambique’s population is young—more than two-fifths of Mozambicans are under age 15 and almost three-fourths under 30.

Population movement across Mozambique’s borders has been facilitated in many instances by shared language and culture. During the colonial era Mozambicans worked in neighboring countries as contract laborers and independent migrant workers, particularly in the mining areas of South Africa and in the farms and cities of southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). After the coup in Portugal in 1974 that signaled the end of Portuguese colonial rule in Africa, the Portuguese population in Mozambique plummeted from a high of about 250,000 to fewer than 10,000. Between 1977 and 1992 the antigovernment forces of the Mozambique National Resistance (Resistência Nacional Moçambicana; Renamo) caused great social and economic upheaval, dislocating large rural populations and disrupting rural production and distribution. The situation was aggravated by natural disasters and the government’s counterproductive agricultural and commercial policies, which ultimately fueled a general economic collapse. By the end of the 1980s, almost one-third of the country’s population had left their fields and herds to flee to refugee settlements in the major cities and in neighboring countries. Following the peace accord of 1992, nearly all of these people returned to agricultural labor in the rural areas, often to their previous homes; however, land disputes then arose between returning farmers and new settlers.