Maputo, originally known as Lourenço Marques until 1976, is Mozambique’s capital and largest city.
It is located in the country’s southern part, approximately 70 miles from the borders of Eswatini and South Africa.
The city has a population of roughly 1,088,449 people (2017), and the Maputo metropolitan region includes Matola, increasing the total population to 2,717,437.
Maputo, as a port city, depends on business and has a vibrant cultural life, as well as distinct and diversified architecture.
Maputo is a significant natural harbor on the Indian Ocean, located near the confluence of the rivers Tembe, Mbuluzi, Matola, and Infulene.
The city is structured into seven administrative divisions, each of which is subdivided further into quarters.
Maputo is part of Maputo Province, but it has been administered as a separate and self-contained province since 1998.
Maputo City is the smallest province in Mozambique, although it is the most densely populated. The city has a multicultural atmosphere, with Bantu and Tsonga languages, as well as Portuguese and, to a lesser extent, Arabic, Indian, and Chinese languages and cultures, dominating.
The ancient Tsonga people first arrived in the area where Maputo now resides as a fishing community.
It was eventually renamed Lourenço Marques after the explorer who examined the region in 1544.
The contemporary city can be traced back to 1781, when a Portuguese fort was established. Following that, a village grew up around the fort, leading to its incorporation as a city in 1877.
The colonial administration of Portuguese Mozambique moved its capital to this city in 1898. As a booming port city in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Lourenço Marques saw population growth and economic development.
Following Mozambique’s independence in 1975, the city was renamed Maputo and became the country’s capital.
However, the city’s economy was severely damaged during the Mozambican Civil War. During the postwar period, the FRELIMO administration launched a drive to rebuild the city’s economy and improve its aesthetics by evicting criminals, squatters, and unauthorized people.
Independence Square, City Hall, Maputo Fortress, the central market, Tunduru Gardens, and Maputo Railway Station are among the city’s noteworthy landmarks.
Despite its disrepair, the city is known for its aesthetic charm. Its spacious avenues, lined with jacaranda and acacia trees, have earned it the nicknames “City of Acacias” and “Pearl of the Indian Ocean.”
Maputo’s architectural landscape is rich and eclectic, incorporating Portuguese colonial Neoclassical and Manueline styles, as well as modern art deco, tropical modernism, and Brutalist structures.
The city’s focal point is the ancient downtown district known as Baixa de Maputo. Maputo has a flourishing local film industry as well as a dynamic cultural scene with various restaurants, music and performance venues.
The economy of the city revolves around its port, which handles a large amount of Mozambique’s imports and exports.
Cotton, sugar, chromite, sisal, copra, and hardwood are among the most important exports. Maputo also has a thriving manufacturing and service industry.
Maputo is home to several prestigious educational institutions, including Pedagogical University, So Tomás University, the Catholic University of Mozambique, and Eduardo Mondlane University, the country’s oldest university.
Where It All Started From
Lourenço Marques, which is located on the northern shore of the Esprito Santo Estuary, is named after a Portuguese explorer who, along with António Caldeira, embarked on an expedition in 1544 to explore the lower courses of rivers flowing into Delagoa Bay, particularly the Esprito Santo.
On the river’s north bank, the Portuguese built, abandoned, and eventually recaptured forts and trading posts that bore the name “Lourenço Marques.”
The current town dates from around 1850, after the prior village was completely destroyed by indigenous people. The village grew up around a Portuguese stronghold built in 1787.
Lourenço Marques was promoted to village status on December 9, 1876, and city status on November 10, 1887.
On July 24, 1875, French President Patrice de MacMahon ruled in favor of Portugal in the Luso-British war over the control of Lourenço Marques.
The settlement was characterized in 1871 as having narrow alleys, modest flat-roofed dwellings, thatched cottages, deteriorating forts, and an antique cannon.
It was surrounded by a 1.8-meter-high wall with bastions at regular intervals. However, as the Transvaal region’s importance grew, Portugal regained interest in establishing a port.
The Portuguese government sent a commission in 1876 to drain the swampy ground near the village, plant blue gum trees, and build a hospital and a church.
In 1898, Lourenço Marques surpassed the Island of Mozambique as the capital of Mozambique.
With the inauguration of the NZASM railroad to Pretoria, South Africa in 1895, the city’s population grew.
Furthermore, the Witwatersrand Gold Rush, which began in 1886, fueled economic growth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, as Lourenço Marques served as the closest harbor for exporting gold from South Africa.
Under Portuguese sovereignty in the early twentieth century, Lourenço Marques developed as a thriving cosmopolitan city.
The city permitted direct freight discharge from huge vessels into railway vehicles by providing a well-functioning seaport with piers, quays, landing sheds, and electric cranes.
The city was served by British, Portuguese, and German liners, and the majority of imported commodities were sent to Southampton, Lisbon, and Hamburg.
Prior to Mozambique’s independence in 1975, Lourenço Marques drew a large number of tourists from South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), who came to enjoy the beautiful beaches, high-quality hotels, restaurants, casinos, and brothels.
The Mozambique Liberation Front, founded in Tanzania in 1962 by Eduardo Mondlane, campaigned for independence from Portuguese control.
The Mozambican War of Independence lasted over a decade until 1974, when the Estado Novo dictatorship in Lisbon was defeated during the Carnation Revolution, resulting in Portugal ceding independence to the majority of its overseas possessions.
The phrase “Aqui é Portugal” (Here is Portugal) was previously written on the walkway of the municipal building of Lourenço Marques.
Independence
On June 25, 1975, in accordance with the Lusaka Accord signed in September 1974, the establishment of the People’s Republic of Mozambique was proclaimed.
Independence celebrations took place in the capital, and there were plans to rename the city Can Phumo, meaning “Place of Phumo,” in honor of a former Shangaan chief who resided in the area before the arrival of Portuguese navigator Lourenço Marques in 1545, which led to the city’s original name.
However, the city’s name was eventually changed to Maputo in February 1976. The name Maputo is believed to be derived from the Maputo River, which serves as the border with South Africa in the southernmost region of Mozambique.
During the armed struggle against Portuguese rule led by FRELIMO, the river held symbolic significance, representing united Mozambique from Rovuma to Maputo, as expressed in the motto “Viva Moçambique unido, do Rovuma ao Maputo” (Hail Mozambique, united from Rovuma to Maputo, Rovuma being the river that marks the northern border with Tanzania).
Following independence, statues of Portuguese heroes in the capital were removed and stored at the fortress.
Portuguese Army soldiers, both black and white, armed with Western weapons, were replaced by FRELIMO soldiers equipped with Russian rifles in city barracks and on the streets.
After the Carnation Revolution in Lisbon, over 250,000 Portuguese individuals emigrated, resulting in a sudden depletion of Mozambique’s skilled workforce and causing severe strain on the country’s economy and administration.
With limited resources and the absence of trained Portuguese personnel, the newly independent country struggled to maintain its infrastructure.
The implementation of authoritarian Stalinist policies and bureaucratic central planning further exacerbated the precarious situation, leading to a sharp economic decline.
Seeking assistance, the governing party, FRELIMO, turned to the communist governments of the Soviet Union and East Germany.
By the early 1980s, Mozambique found itself in a state of bankruptcy. Inflation soared, rendering the local currency worthless, and essential commodities became scarce.
Additionally, Mozambique faced the Mozambican Civil War, a prolonged and violent conflict between FRELIMO and RENAMO, which lasted from 1977 to 1992.
The war had detrimental effects on economic activity and political stability in Maputo. To address the economic crisis, the ruling FRELIMO party initiated “Operation Production” (Operação Produção) in 1983, which involved the forced relocation of undocumented residents and individuals engaged in criminal activities from Maputo to state-owned communal farms and villages in the rural north of Mozambique.
Since the signing of the peace agreement in 1992, which marked the end of the civil war, the country, including the city of Maputo, has gradually regained political stability reminiscent of the pre-independence era.
This stability has instilled confidence and positioned Mozambique as an attractive destination for foreign investment.
On July 11, 2003, the Maputo Protocol, also known as the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, was adopted in the city by the African Union.
Interesting Facts About Maputo
1. The Iron House (Casa do Ferro): In Maputo, there exists a unique house entirely constructed out of iron. Imported in 1892 as the residence for Governor Rafael Jàcome de Andrade, the house proved to be unbearably hot due to its iron structure. Consequently, the governor never occupied the house. Today, the Iron House serves as the offices for the National Directorate of Cultural Heritage, having undergone modifications to include air-conditioning.
2. Civil War: From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Maputo endured a 17-year-long civil war, which significantly impacted the city. During this period, various areas within Maputo fell victim to raids and conflicts associated with the war.
Source
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maputo
