Portuguese Mozambique or Portuguese East Africa were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese colony. Portuguese Mozambique originally constituted a string of Portuguese possessions along the south-east African coast, and later became a unified colony, which now forms the Republic of Mozambique.
The Island of Mozambique was first occupied by Portuguese explorers in the late 15th century. They quickly established a fort there, and with time a community sprang up and achieved importance as port of call, missionary base and a trading centre. The island is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Painting by Johannes Vingboons of Sofala, c. 1665
View of Lourenço Marques, ca. 1905
Ponta Vermelha Palace, former residence of the Portuguese governor and current presidential palace of Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Africa to the southwest. The sovereign state is separated from the Comoros, Mayotte and Madagascar by the Mozambique Channel to the east. The capital and largest city is Maputo.
Mozambican dhow
Arab-Swahili slave traders and their captives on the Ruvuma River
Detail of the Island of Mozambique, former capital in Northern Mozambique and prominent in the country's history
Chapel of Nossa Senhora de Baluarte
