“The capital and the representative port city of Mo”
Maputo (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐˈputu]; formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976) is the capital and most populous city of Mozambique. It is located near the southern end of the country, within 120km of the Swaziland and South Africa borders. The city has a population of 1,101,170 (2017 census) distributed over a land area of 347 km2 (134 sq mi). The Maputo metropolitan area includes the neighbouring city of Matola, and has a total population of 2,717,437. Maputo is a port city, with an economy centered around commerce. It is also noted for its vibrant cultural scene and distinctive, eclectic architecture.Maputo is situated on a large natural bay on the Indian Ocean, near where the rivers Tembe, Mbuluzi, Matola and Infulene converge. The city consists of seven administrative divisions, which are each subdivided into quarters or bairros. The city is surrounded by Maputo Province, but is administered as a self-contained, separate province since 1998. Maputo City is the geographically smallest and most densely populated province in Mozambique. Maputo is a cosmopolitan city, with Bantu, Portuguese, and to a lesser extent, Arabic, Indian, and Chinese, languages and cultures present.
The area on which Maputo stands was first settled as a fishing village in the 1500s. The modern city traces its origins to a Portuguese fort established on the site in 1781. It was soon named Lourenço Marques, after the navigator of the same name who first explored the area in 1544. A town grew around the fort starting around 1850, and in 1877, it was elevated to city status. In 1898, the colony of Portuguese Mozambique relocated its capital there. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Lourenço Marques grew both in population and economic development as a port city. Upon Mozambican independence in 1975, the city became the national capital and was renamed Maputo. During the Mozambican Civil War, the city's economy was devastated. When the war ended, the FRELIMO government launched