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Until 3rd February 1976, Maputo was known as Lourenco Marques after the 16th century Portuguese explorer who explored the area in 1544 and later settled there with his
indigenous wife and children. The modern day name of Maputo was taken from a
Ronga Chief whose people lived in eastern and southern Africa, much of modern
day Mozambique. By 1787 the Portuguese had constructed a
fort at Lourenco Marques which existed
within an uneasy and often turbulent relationship with the Ronga people who
occupied the territory further inland not least because when the British
arrived in the area their trade, mainly for ivory, was considered to be
superior by the Ronga than the Portuguese.
Maputo Profile: Volunteer in Mozambique
Maputo Profile: Maputo City Map
Maputo Profile: Child Sponsor Mozambique
Maputo Profile: Mozambique Country Profile
By the mid-nineteenth century
Lourenco Marques was still
undeveloped however in 1876 the Portuguese started building there in earnest
with it becoming a capital city in 1887 once the area had been gifted to Portugal at
the Berlin Conference of 1885 as Portuguese East Africa. This development was
spurred by the defeat of Ronga Chief Gungunyane when he was captured, taken to
Lisbon, then died in exile with his successor committing suicide rather than being captured. This action effectively ended the Rongo conflict against the Portuguese. The city then grew in prominence thanks
to the construction of a railway to Pretoria in neighbouring South Africa that
started in 1895 and, by the start of the 20th century, Lourenco Marques was a bustling city port with a strongly
cosmopolitan European look and feel (see image slideshow below).
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Much of this elegance was destroyed
during the civil war that
engulfed the country following its independence from Portugal in 1975 that was to last until 1992 and claim the lives of some 900,000 of its population,
displace around five million and left many more injured and amputees through
the deployment of landmines. Maputo was left shattered, teeming with refugees with all major services
such as electricity and water no longer functioning. Even today bullet holes
adorn many of the colonial buildings that line its once proud tree-lined
avenues. The city of Maputo has been slowly rebuilt, however has yet to
reclaim it full former glory.
Some 1,121,697 (2021) live there
with a wide income gap; many live in poverty and squalor in the city's
numerous slums with concrete tower blocks overlooking affluent Portuguese
style villas with multi-million pound houses straddling the bay. Maputo has a vibrant cultural scene, with many restaurants and performance venues. Its economy is centered around the port through which much of Mozambique's imports and exports are shipped with main exports including cotton, sugar, chromite, sisal, copra, and hardwood. The city boasts several colleges and universities including Pedagogical University, Sao Tomas University, Catholic University of Mozambique, and Eduardo Mondlane University, the oldest in the country. Attractions include the Fortress of Maputo, the Museum of Natural History and the Tunduru Gardens.
Check out all the latest fee paying and free African volunteer work placements and charity work job opportunities abroad with local projects and volunteering organisations in Mozambique.
A satellite map of Maputo, capital city of Mozambique, which you can use to zoom in to explore each street of the city and its major tourist attractions.
Details of how to sponsor children in Mozambique with Mozambique child sponsor organisations, charities, programs and projects.
In another of our African country profiles, find out all about Mozambique in a series of information articles, latest daily news, videos, and images together with volunteering and child sponsorship opportunities.
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