Allele frequencies, together with some parameters of forensic interest, for 17 STRs included in the AmpF/STR Identifiler (CSF1PO, D2S1338, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D19S433, D21S11, FGA, TH01, TPO and VWA) and Powerplex 16 System (CSF1PO, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D21S11, FGA, Penta D, Penta E, TH01, TPO and VWA) were estimated from a sample of 135-144 unrelated individuals from Mozambique. No deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed with the exception of the FGA locus (using the Bonferroni correction for the number of loci analysed, the departure observed at this locus was not significant). Comparative analyses between our population data and other African databases, namely Promega's African-Americans, AB Applied Biosystems African-Americans and two other population samples from Mozambique and Guiné Bissau, are presented and discussed. Genotype inconsistencies between both commercial kits (for D16S539 and D8S1179) and other genotypic variations (three-banded allele patterns for TPO) are also reported. © 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.