Culture of Mozambique
Encyclopedia
People
Ethnic Groups: Makhuwa, Tsonga, Makonde, Shangaan, Shona, Sena, Ndau, and other indigenous groups, and approximately 10,000 Europeans, 35,000 Euro-Africans, and 15,000 South Asians.Religions: Christian 40%, Muslim 20%, indigenous African and other beliefs 40%
Health: Infant mortality rate: 115/1,000. Life expectancy: 42.07 years.
Workforce: Agriculture--81%; industry--6%; services--13%
Languages
The official language is PortuguesePortuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, but English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
is widely spoken in major cities such as Maputo
Maputo
Maputo, also known as Lourenço Marques, is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. It is known as the City of Acacias in reference to acacia trees commonly found along its avenues and the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It was famous for the inscription "This is Portugal" on the walkway of its...
and Beira
Beira, Mozambique
Beira is the second largest city in Mozambique. It lies in the central region of the country in Sofala Province, where the Pungue River meets the Indian Ocean. Beira had a population of 412,588 in 1997, which grew to an estimated 546,000 in 2006...
. Many Mozambicans speak a Bantu language such as Chopi or Tsonga.
Religion
Most of the people in Mozambique practice native beliefs and are Christians, mostly Roman Catholics and some Protestants. ChristianityChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
is a Portuguese influence. A few Muslims (mostly Arabs and Blacks
Blacks
Blacks may refer to:* All Blacks, New Zealand rugby union team* Black people* Blacks Leisure Group, owner of Blacks and Millets in the United Kingdom* The Blacks , a play by Jean Genet* Zamora, California, formerly called Blacks...
in northern part of the country), Buddhists (mostly Mahayana
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
and Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
), and Hindus (virtually Indian
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Pakistani
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
) are also important.
Only 1/3 of Mozambicans over the age of 15 are able to read and write. Primary education
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
in Mozambique is free. However, secondary education
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
is not free. At the end of 1995, about 60% of primary school aged children attended Primary School. A very small percentage of these students, about 7%, move on to secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
.
At the end of the 1995 calendar year there were approximately seven thousand students that attended one of the three higher level institutions.
Arts
The music of MozambiqueMusic of Mozambique
The native folk music of Mozambique has been highly influenced by Portuguese forms. The most popular style of modern dance music is marrabenta. Mozambican music also influenced another Lusophone music in Brazil, like maxixe , and Cuban music like Mozambique.Culture was an integral part of the...
can serve many purposes, ranging from religious expression to traditional ceremonies. Musical instruments are usually handmade. Some of the instruments used in Mozambican musical expression include drums made of wood and animal skin; the lupembe, a woodwind instrument made from animal horns or wood; and the marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
, which is a kind of xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
native to Mozambique. The marimba is a popular instrument with the Chopi
Chopi
The Chopi are an ethnic group of Mozambique. They have traditionally lived primarily in the Zavala region of southern Mozambique, in the Inhambane Province. They traditionally lived a life of subsistence agriculture, traditionally living a rural existence, although many were displaced or killed in...
of the south central coast who are famous for their musical skill and dance. Some would say that Mozambique's music is similar to reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
and West Indian calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
. Other music types are popular in Mozambique like marrabenta
Marrabenta
Marrabenta is a form of Mozambican dance music. It was developed in Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique, formerly Lourenço Marques. The name was derived from the Portuguese rebentar , meaning to break. Marrabenta is influenced by Mozambican and Portuguese folk music and the Western popular music...
, and other Lusophone music
Lusophone music
Music from Portugal and Portuguese speaking countries is music that comes from Lusitanic countries or that is performed in Portuguese or Portuguese-based creole languages.Generally this term is not used outside of the blogosphere....
forms like fado
Fado
Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...
, samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
, bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
, maxixe
Maxixe
Maxixe can refer to:* Maxixe , a Brazilian dance* Maxixe, Mozambique, a city in Mozambique* Maxixe , a deep-blue variety of beryl* Cucumis anguria, a vegetable...
(with origins from Maxixe
Maxixe, Mozambique
Maxixe is the largest city and economic capital of the province of Inhambane, Mozambique. It is situated on the Indian Ocean at 23°52′S 35°23′E just south of the Tropic of Capricorn, in a bay opposite historic Inhambane City which can be reached by local ferries...
, and kizomba
Kizomba
Kizomba is one of the most popular genres of dance and music created in Angola. Derived directly from Zouk, sung generally in Portuguese, it is a genre of music with a romantic flow mixed with African rhythm. The kizomba dancing style is also known to be very sensual.- Origin :Kizomba was developed...
).
The Makonde are renowned for their wood carving and elaborate masks that are commonly used in ritual dances. There are two different kinds of wood carvings. Shetani
Shetani
Shetani are spirits of East African mythology and popular belief. Mostly malevolent, and found in many different forms and different types with different powers, shetani are a popular subject of carved artwork, especially by the Makonde people of Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique...
, (evil spirits), which are mostly carved in heavy ebony
Ebony
Ebony is a dense black wood, most commonly yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but ebony may also refer to other heavy, black woods from unrelated species. Ebony is dense enough to sink in water. Its fine texture, and very smooth finish when polished, make it valuable as an...
, tall, and elegantly curved with symbols and nonrepresentational faces. The Ujamaa
Ujamaa
Ujamaa was the concept that formed the basis of Julius Nyerere's social and economic development policies in Tanzania just after it gained independence from Britain in 1961...
are totem-type carvings which illustrate life-like faces of people and various figures. Theses sculptures are usually referred to as “family trees” because they tell stories of many generations.
Dances are usually intricate, highly developed traditions throughout Mozambique. There are many different kinds of dances from tribe to tribe which are usually ritualistic in nature. The Chopi, for instance, act out battles dressed in animal skins. The men of Makua
Makua
The Makua are the largest ethnic group in northern Mozambique, and also have a large population across the border in the Masasi District of Mtwara Region in southern Tanzania. They live in the region to the north of the Zambezi River...
dress in colourful outfits and masks while dancing on stilts around the village for hours. Groups of women in the northern part of the country perform a traditional dance called tufo
Tufo (dance)
Tufo is a traditional dance in Northern Mozambique. The dance is performed by groups of women and is found in Maputo, the provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula and the Island of Mozambique. Of Arab origin, the dance is performed to celebrate Islamic festivals and holidays...
, to celebrate Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic holidays.
Cuisine
Present 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 were brought in by the Portuguese. The use of spiceSpice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
s and seasoning
Seasoning
Seasoning is the process of imparting flavor to, or improving the flavor of, food.- General meaning :Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings"...
s 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
Sorghum
Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...
(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.
Entertainment
Football is the most popular sport in Mozambique. The T.V.Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
stations watched by Mozambicans are Televisão Moçambique, YTV and RTP África
RTP África
RTP África is a terrestrial television channel for the Portuguese-speaking African countries owned by RTP with programming from Portuguese public and private television channels and African public networks, RTP África also airs its own news, food and music TV shows...
; Portuguese T.V. stations RTP Internacional
RTP Internacional
RTP Internacional is the international television service of Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, the Portuguese public broadcaster...
, SIC Internacional
SIC Internacional
SIC Internacional is the international channel of SIC, the popular private network in Portugal It officially launched in September 1997 in France and has since expanded throughout the world. SIC Internacional is aimed at Portuguese viewers who live abroad and features the best programming from SIC...
, SIC Notícias
SIC Notícias
SIC Notícias is the cable news channel of the Portuguese television network SIC and the second thematic channel of the station. It replaced CNL , a Lisbon region independent cable news channel owned by TV Cabo, on January 8, 2001...
, MTV Portugal
MTV Portugal
MTV Portugal is a 24-hour general entertainment channel serving Portugal.The channel was launched on July 1, 2003 replacing MTV Europe within the territory. In its initial stages MTV Portugal shared similar content to MTV Spain and MTV Italy, while also airing programming from MTV US and MTV Europe...
, Disney Channel Portugal
Disney Channel Portugal
Disney Channel Portugal is Portuguese simulcast of Disney Channel. Broadcasts Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior originals and non-originals...
, SuperSport 7, TSN and Euronews
EuroNews
Euronews is an international multilingual news television channel.It covers world news from what it claims to be a 'European' perspective.Criticisms are that the perspective is in fact that of the European Commission - a major and growing funder of Euronews....
; and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian T.V. stations TV Globo International and TV Record are also watched on T.V. throughout Mozambique.
Holidays
- Independence DayIndependence DayAn Independence Day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's assumption of independent statehood, usually after ceasing to be a colony or part of another nation or state, and more rarely after the end of a military occupation...
, celebrated on June 25th - New Years Day, celebrated on January 1
- Family DayFamily DayFamily Day is the name of a public holiday in South Africa, in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Prince Edward Island, in the American states of Arizona and Nevada, in Vanuatu, in Vietnam and in the Australian Capital Territory.- Australian Capital Territory...
, in Mozambique, is celebrated on April 26 - Day Of Mozambican Women, April 7th
- Heroes Day, February 3rd
- RamadanRamadanRamadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
, celebrated from August 1 to August 30 (celebrated among Mozambican Muslims) - ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, celebrated on December 25 (celebrated among Mozambican Christians)
Cultural Identity
Mozambique was ruled by Portugal and they share in common: main language and second main religion (Roman Catholicism). But since most of the people are Bantus, most of the culture is native and for Bantus living in urban areas with some Portuguese influence. Mozambican culture influences the Portuguese cultureCulture of Portugal
The culture of Portugal is the result of a complex flow of different civilizations during the past Millennia. From prehistoric cultures, to its Pre-Roman civilizations , passing through its contacts with the Phoenician-Carthaginian world, the Roman period , the...
. Mozambican Music
Music of Mozambique
The native folk music of Mozambique has been highly influenced by Portuguese forms. The most popular style of modern dance music is marrabenta. Mozambican music also influenced another Lusophone music in Brazil, like maxixe , and Cuban music like Mozambique.Culture was an integral part of the...
, Movies (by RTP África
RTP África
RTP África is a terrestrial television channel for the Portuguese-speaking African countries owned by RTP with programming from Portuguese public and private television channels and African public networks, RTP África also airs its own news, food and music TV shows...
), Food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
, and Traditions are now part of everyday lifestyles of Portugal.