Angoche

Angoche is a city of Nampula Province in Mozambique. The city was named António Enes until 1976. In administrative terms, since 1998 the city is also a municipality.

Angoche is an old Muslim trading centre dating back to at least the 15th century. One of the earliest settlements in Mozambique and an important gold and ivory trading post, it was made a sultanate. By the late 16th century, it had been eclipsed by Quelimane as an entry port to the interior. However, Angoche continued to play a role in coastal trade and was an important economic and political centre in the region, with close ties to Ilha de Moçambique. In the 19th century, Angoche became the focus of the clandestine slave trade, which continued until the 1860s when the town was attacked by the Portuguese. While effective Portuguese administration was not established until several decades later, the attack marked the beginning of Angoche's downfall, and the town never regained its former status .

Today, Angoche is a quiet, somewhat dilapidated district capital with few reminders of its past. Several islands lie offshore from the town. The major language of Angoche and nearby Koti Island is Ekoti, a Makhuwa language borrowing from 15th century Swahili.

Demographics

References

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday June 18, 2008 at 10:18:06 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation