Since independence from Portugal in 1975, Mozambique has been battered by civil war, economic mismanagement and famine.
A peace deal in 1992 ended 16 years of civil war, and the country has made much progress in economic development and political stability.
Portugal began to colonise the area that became Mozambique in the early 16th century. An anti-authoritarian coup in 1974 in Portugal ended colonial rule and its ten-year war with the Frelimo independence movement.
Mozambican support for armed groups fighting the white-minority rule governments in Rhodesia and South Africa led to those two countries sponsoring the Renamo movement, which fought Frelimo in the 1977-1992 civil war.
This conflict, combined with Rhodesian and South African intervention and central economic planning by the Marxist leadership of Frelimo left the country in chaos. About a million people died in the civil war and millions more fled abroad or to other parts of the country.
An attempt to secure a ceasefire with South Africa in the Nkomati Accord of 1984 broke down, and the government and Renamo eventually began talks brokered first by Christian groups and then by the United Nations. Frelimo inaugurated a new constitution in 1990 that enshrined free elections, and both sides signed the resulting Rome Peace Accords of 1992.
Frelimo has won all subsequent elections, some of which have been disputed by Renamo and smaller opposition groups. Political life has nonetheless remained stable, with Renamo continuing to work within the constitutional system.
Foreign investors are showing interest in Mozambique's untapped oil and gas reserves, and titanium mining is a growing source of revenue. Most of the population works the land, however, and infrastructure nationwide still suffers from colonial neglect, war and under-investment.
The economy suffered serious setbacks when in 2000 and 2001 Mozambique was hit by floods which affected about a quarter of the population and destroyed much of its infrastructure.
Furthermore, in 2002 a severe drought hit many central and southern parts of the country, including previously flood-stricken areas. Poverty remains widespread, with more than 50% of Mozambicans living on less than $1 a day.
President: Armando Guebuza
Armando Guebuza, from the ruling Frelimo party, succeeded Mozambique's long-time leader Joaquim Chissano in February 2005.
He won another term in office in the October 2009 elections with a landslide majority.
Frelimo, in power since it led the country to independence from Portugal in 1975, won 191 parliamentary seats out of 250 - enough to change the constitution at will.
Mr Guebuza, seen as welcoming of greater foreign investment, beat his rivals, long-time leader of the opposition party Renamo, Afonso Dhlakama, and the head of a new party, Daviz Simango, capturing 75.46 % of the presidential vote.
Mr Guebuza, a millionaire businessman, is under pressure to provide poor Mozambicans with the benefits of tourism and untapped mineral and energy resources that have started to draw foreign investors, particularly from neighbouring South Africa.
And Guebuza, who made his fortune in the energy, transport and port industries, faces the new challenge of accommodating a new generation that was not born in the liberation struggle nor the 16-year civil war against Renamo.
He was a member of Frelimo's armed wing and played a leading role in Mozambique's struggle for independence. As a former interior minister in 1975 he ordered the expulsion of Portuguese citizens from the country.
His predecessor, Joaquim Chissano, became president in 1986 after the death of founding president, Samora Machel. Mr Chissano oversaw a move away from Marxism and the introduction of a multi-party constitution.
A chronology of key events:
3rd century - Iron Age Bantu-speaking tribes move into area from west-central Africa.
11th century - Shona empire develops between Limpopo and Zambezi rivers.
1498 - Portuguese expedition led by explorer Vasco da Gama drops anchor off Mozambican coast.
16-17th centuries - Portuguese venture into interior. Following military campaigns, colonists set up trading posts and mining enterprises and parcel-out land to European settlers.
18th-19th centuries - Mozambique becomes major slave-trading centre.
Slave trade banned
1842 - Portugal outlaws slave trade from Mozambique, but clandestine trade continues for decades.
1878 - Portugal leases large tracts of territory to trading companies, who use conscript African labour to further their interests and build infrastructure.
1891 - Portugal and Britain define Mozambique's western and southern borders.
1902 - Lourenco Marques becomes colonial capital.
1932 - Portugal breaks up trading companies and imposes direct rule over colony.
1950s-60s - Colonial economy thrives, attracting thousands of new Portuguese settlers to Mozambique.
1962 - exiled activists opposed to Portuguese colonial power meet in Tanzania to form Mozambique Liberation Front - Frelimo - headed by Eduardo Mondlane.
1964 - Frelimo forces begin war of independence. Guerrilla tactics frustrate Portuguese and Frelimo take control of much of north.
1974 - Military coup in Portugal. New government supports autonomy for colonies; start of departure of 250,000 Portuguese inhabitants.
1974 - Portugal and Frelimo sign Lusaka Accord; transitional government is established.
Independence
1975 - Mozambique becomes independent. Frelimo rules under single-party system with leader Samora Machel as president.
1976 - Lourenco Marques is renamed Maputo.
1976 - Renamo - an anti-Frelimo resistance group - is set up by white Rhodesian officers as clashes with Frelimo forces escalate and Mozambique imposes economic sanctions against Rhodesia.
1977 - Frelimo adopts Marxist-Leninist doctrine.
1980 - Renamo is supported by South Africa after collapse of Rhodesian regime.
1984 - Under Nkomati Accord, Mozambique drops support for African National Congress (ANC) in return for South African withdrawal of backing for Renamo. Short-lived ceasefire fails and Renamo continues its offensives.
1986 - President Machel is killed in air crash, Joaquim Chissano becomes president.
1989 - Frelimo renounces Marxist-Leninist doctrine.
Multi-party politics
1990 - Government amends the constitution to allow a multi-party political system. Initial talks take place between government and Renamo.
1992 - President Chissano and Renamo leader Afonso Dhaklama sign peace deal in Rome.
1994 - Chissano is reelected.
1995 - Mozambique becomes Commonwealth member.
1999 December - Chissano defeats Renamo's Dhlakama in presidential elections.
2000 February - Devastating floods sweep through south of country, forcing tens of thousands to flee and leaving trail of destruction.
2000 November - More then 40 people killed in rioting at Renamo protests against 1999 elections. Renamo claims poll was rigged; international observers say election was free and fair.
2000 November - 82 inmates die at prison in north, many of them Renamo supporters rounded up after election riots. Preliminary report suggests asphyxiation owing to overcrowding as cause.
2001 March - Flooding in Zambezi Valley displaces around 70,000 people. Two upstream dams forced to open flood gates, releasing huge volumes of water into river.
2002 June - Frelimo chooses independence struggle veteran Armando Guebuza as candidate for 2004 presidential elections; Chissano had declined to run for third term.
2002 November - Two defendants in murder trial allege that son of President Chissano is linked to 2000 killing of journalist Carlos Cardoso. Nymphine Chissano denies knowledge of murder.
2003 November - Brazil promises to build plant in Mozambique to produce anti-retroviral drugs for HIV-Aids sufferers.
Guebuza president
2005 February - Frelimo's Armando Guebuza inaugurated as president after defeating his main rival, Afonso Dhlakama of Renamo, in November's presidential poll.
2005 October - Work starts on a long-planned "Unity Bridge" over the Ruvuma river, intended to link Mozambique and neighbouring Tanzania.
2006 July - The World Bank cancels most of Mozambique's debt under a plan promoted by the G8 nations.
2007 February - Chinese President Hu Jintao visits, promises interest-free loans for agriculture, health and education.
2007 March - Three days of mourning are declared after nearly 100 people are killed in an explosion at an arms depot in the capital.
2008 January - More than 50,000 people displaced by flooding along the Zambezi valley.
2008 May - Government begins voluntary repatriation of citizens in the wake of xenophobic violence in South Africa targeting African migrants. Thousands of Mozambican legal workers in South Africa are said to have fled the country.
2009 January - UN says 350,000 people in Mozambique are in need of food aid as a result of poor harvests caused by poor rainfall.
2009 October - The government announces a $500m loan from the European Union and Danish and Dutch governments to build a railway line to link the coal-rich northern Moatize mines to the port of Nacala by 2015.
President Guebuza wins re-election with more than 75% of the vote. Main opposition Renamo party alleges widespread fraud, while monitors accuse election commission of lacking independence.
2010 February - Former minister Antonio Munguambe sentenced to 20 years in prison for embezzling $1.7m in state funds, in the highest-level corruption conviction since 1975.
2010 September - Food price protests. Several people killed when police open fire.
2010 October - Diplomatic row with Malawi over new waterway connecting land-locked Malawi with Mozambican coast. Mozambique impounds first barge to use new route.
2010 December - Mozambique has become a leading drug trafficking centre, with senior figures turning a blind eye, according to classified US documents released on WikiLeaks.
