MOZAMBIQUE [Sao Sebastiao de Mocambique]  , a town of Portuguese East Africa, seat of a Roman Catholic bishopric in the province of Goa, in 15° 4' S., 400 44' E . The town occupies the whole of a small coral island at the mouth of Mossoril Bay . The name Mozambique, used first to designate the island, was also given to the town and extended to the whole of the Portuguese possessions on the east coast of Africa . There are three forts, of which the principal, St Sebastian, at the northern extremity of the island was built in 1510 entirely of stone brought from Portugal . It is quadrangular, and has bastioned walls nearly 70 ft. high . In it are mounted some modern guns . The harbour is small, but deep enough to admit vessels drawing 25 feet . The inhabitants, who number about 7000, consist chiefly of Mahommedan negroes of mixed descent speaking a dialect of the Makwa language . There are Parsee, Banyan, Goanese and Arab traders, and about 300 Europeans, besides half-caste Portuguese . The annual average value of the imports for the three years 19o4–1906 was £97,035, of the exports £71,636 . The import trade is chiefly with Great Britain and India, the articles in chief demand being cotton, coloured shawls and hardware . The exports are chiefly groundnuts, rubber of inferior quality, sesamum and other oil seeds, tortoise-shell and ebony .

Germany has a large share of the exports . Mozambique was discovered by Vasco da Gama in 1498 . There was then a flourishing Arab town on the island, of which no trace exists . The history of the Portuguese town is closely identified with that of the province, for which see PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA . The commercial and political importance of Mozambique has been eclipsed by Lourenco Marques .