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The aim of this article is to present the linguistic situation in Mozambique. In this African country, with population of about 20 millions, post-colonial Portuguese is the official language, even though it is spoken by only 25% of its inhabitants. The majority of people speak as their mother tongue one of 23 African languages belonging to the Bantu group. Other languages spoken in the country include English, which plays an increasingly important role in the society, as well as several languages of Asian origin spoken by some minority groups. In this article, we aim to demonstrate that the linguistic diversity of Mozambique is a consequence of variety of languages spoken in Mozambique and of different historical as well as social, ethnic and regional factors. We also show that the coexistence of Portuguese with the autochthon languages is possible when it refers to different spheres of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]