...higher because of slums and other unofficial settlements. 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.
Geography
Maputo is located on the west side of Maputo Bay, at the mouth of the Tembe River. The bay is 95 km long and 30 km wide. The Maputo River empties into the southern end of the bay.
History
Founded in 1876, the city was named after
Lourenço Marques, the Portuguese trader who was the first European to explore the area in 1544. In 1895, construction of a railroad to Pretoria, South Africa caused the city's population to grow. In 1898, Lourenço Marques became the capital of Mozambique. During the Second Boer War, Winston Churchill, after being captured by the Boers, made a daring escape to Lourenço Marques by slipping past the sentries. After independence, the city's name was changed to Maputo. Maputo's name reputedly has its origin in an old, fierce tribal leader, Maputa, who once ruled over the region.
Transport
Airports
Maputo International Airport is the main international airport of Mozambique.
Maputo's transportation needs are mainly served by minibus taxis, which are believed to transport the majority of the city's commuters. There is also a state-owned bus company with a bus fleet that currently numbers some 37 buses. The minibuses are largely used imports from Japan, and they carry most of the public transport acitivity. There are two major bus terminals in the city: one at Baixa , and another one at Museu .
Infrastructure
Maputo is home to the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique's first university, and to the main campus of the Universidade Pedagógica, another major Mozambican university. The city has a museum of Mozambican history, a mil
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