Maputo - City of Mozambique

Maputo, formerly Lourenço Marques, is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. A port on the Indian Ocean, its economy is centered around the harbour. Coal, cotton, sugar, chromite, sisal, copra, and hardwood are the chief exports. The city manufactures cement, pottery, furniture, shoes, and rubber. There is also a large aluminium smelting plant, Mozal. The city is surrounded by Maputo Province, but is administered as its own province.

On the northern bank of Espírito Santo Estuary of Delagoa Bay, an inlet of the Indian Ocean, Lourenço Marques was named after the Portuguese navigator, who with a companion was sent in 1544 by the governor of Mozambique on a voyage of exploration. They explored the lower courses of the rivers emptying their waters into Delagoa Bay, notably the Espírito Santo. The various forts and trading stations which the Portuguese established, abandoned and reoccupied on the north bank of the river were all called Lourenço Marques.

In the early 1900s, with a well equipped seaport, with piers, quays, landing sheds and electric cranes, enabling large vessels to discharge cargoes direct into the railway trucks, Lourenço Marques developed under Portuguese rule and achieved great importance as a lively cosmopolitan city. It was served by British, Portuguese and German liners, and the majority of its imported goods were shipped at Southampton, Lisbon and Hamburg.

In the early 1900s, with a well equipped seaport, with piers, quays, landing sheds and electric cranes, enabling large vessels to discharge cargoes direct into the railway trucks, Lourenço Marques developed under Portuguese rule and achieved great importance as a lively cosmopolitan city. It was served by British, Portuguese and German liners, and the majority of its imported goods were shipped at Southampton, Lisbon and Hamburg.

Growth and stability returned in the 1990s, but the city, although being the largest and most developed in Mozambique, is still well under its full potential. Overpopulation, unemployment, poverty and crime are major problems.

Maputo is a melting pot of several cultures, with a strong South African influence. The Bantu and Portuguese cultures dominate, but the influence of Arab, Indian, and Chinese cultures is also felt. The cuisine is diverse, owing especially to the Portuguese and Muslim heritage, and seafood is also quite abundant.