Mozambique profile - Timeline Published 19 March 2019 Share close panel Share page Copy link About sharing A chronology of key events: 3rd century - Iron Age Bantu-speaking tribes move into area from west-central Africa. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Eduardo Mondlane led the Frelimo independence movement which eventually took over from the Portuguese colonists 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. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, The Portuguese military battled against a relatively small guerrilla force fighting for independence 1932 - Portugal breaks up trading companies and imposes direct rule over colony. 1950s-60s - Colonial economy thrives, attracting thousands of Portuguese settlers. 1962 - Exiled activists 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 agrees independence with Frelimo. More than 250,000 Portuguese inhabitants leave. Independence 1975 - Mozambique becomes independent under Frelimo one-party rule of President Samora Machel. 1976 - Renamo anti-Frelimo group aided by Rhodesia and later South Africa. 1977 - Frelimo adopts Marxist-Leninism. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Afonso Dhaklama led the rebel group Renamo whose campaign destabilised the country for decades 1986 - President Machel is killed in an air crash. Joaquim Chissano becomes president. 1989 - Frelimo renounces Marxist-Leninism as Soviet power collapses. Multi-party politics 1990 - Government amends the constitution to allow a multi-party political system. 1992 - President Chissano and Renamo leader Afonso Dhaklama sign peace deal in Rome. 1995 - Mozambique joins Commonwealth. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Joaquim Chissano served as president for two terms 2005 February - Frelimo's Armando Guebuza inaugurated as president after defeating Afonso Dhlakama in November presidential poll. 2006 July - The World Bank cancels most of Mozambique's debt under a plan promoted by the G8 nations. 2011 October - Italian energy company Eni says it's made a giant gas discovery off the coast of Cabo Delgado Province in the north. 2014 January - Hundreds flee renewed fighting between government forces and Renamo rebels in the south district of Homoine. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Mozambique has suffered flooding several times, including in 2000 2014 October - The ruling Frelimo party and its candidate Filipe Nyusi win presidential and legislative elections after Renamo signs truce. 2017 January-August - President Nyusi and Renamo leader Dhlakama finally end conflict. Northern insurgency 2017 November - Jihadist insurgency begins in Cabo Delgado Province in the north. 2019 March - Cyclone Idai causes extensive flooding and loss of life in Sofala Province. 2020 January - President Nyusi inaugurated after winning re-election for final five-year term.