The history of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, traces its origins back over 500 years, when a fishing village developed by Maputo Bay on the site where the modern city of Maputo now stands. The first Europeans to discover the bay were Portuguese navigators led by António de Campo in 1502. In 1544, the Portuguese merchant and explorer Lourenço Marques reached the bay and named it Delagoa Bay. The Portuguese established a fort on the site, but were soon forced to abandon it. In 1721, the Dutch East India Company established Fort Lydsaamheid on the bay, but abandoned it due to conflicts with local Africans and the unhealthy environment. In the mid-18th century, the Portuguese returned to the bay, selling ivory to British ships carrying Indian textiles. In 1773, William Bolts of the Trieste Company reached the bay and claimed it for the Holy Roman Empire. Bolts and the Austrians were forced out in 1781 by Portuguese ships sent from Goa.
That year, hoping to prevent other European powers from claiming the area in the future, the Portuguese constructed a fortress on the bay, naming it Lourenço Marques. During the late 18th and early 19th century, the fort was mainly used by French, British, and American whaling ships to stop for provisions. 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 a program to revive the city's economy, and to clean up the city by forcibly removing criminals, squatters, and undocumented residents. Since then, Maputo's economy, centered around its port, has recovered, and stability has returned.
The historyofMaputo, the capital of Mozambique, traces its origins back over 500 years, when a fishing village developed by Maputo Bay on the site where...
Maputo (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐˈputu]) is the capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within...
Maputo Bay (Portuguese: Baía de Maputo), formerly also known as Delagoa Bay from Baía da Lagoa in Portuguese, is an inlet of the Indian Ocean on the coast...
timeline of the historyof the city ofMaputo, Mozambique (until 1976 known as Lourenço Marques). 1544 - Portuguese Lourenço Marques explores Maputo Bay....
Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol, is an international human rights instrument...
ofMaputo, also called the Maputo-Matola port complex, is a Mozambican port located in the cities ofMaputo and Matola. They are installed in Maputo Bay...
groups continuing to Mozambique and reaching Maputo in the 2nd century AD. In Southern Africa, settlements of Bantu peoples who were iron-using agriculturists...
with the identity and operations of what became the Maputo Hebrew Congregation Synagogue. The Maputo synagogue traces its congregational records to 1899...
Mozambique: Beira history and timeline Maputohistory and timeline "Stone age pantry: Archaeologist unearths earliest evidence of modern humans using...
Desportivo de Maputo, usually known as Desportivo de Maputo, Desportivo Maputo or by the acronym GDM, is an association football club from Maputo, Mozambique...
city is Maputo. Between the 7th and 11th centuries, a series of Swahili port towns developed on that area, which contributed to the development of a distinct...
Maputo Central Hospital is a multi-block specialist referral hospital in Maputo, Mozambique. It was established during Portuguese rule in around 1900...
(modern-day Maputo, Mozambique). The discovery of gold in Mpumalanga, such as at Pilgrim's Rest and Barberton, encouraged further development. The historyof Nelspruit...
Maputo City Hall or Municipal Council Building ofMaputo (Portuguese: Edifício do Conselho Municipal de Maputo) is the seat of the local government of...
September 2006 in Maputo (Mozambique), the African Ministers of Education pointed out in their Declaration the teaching of African history as one of the issues...
The Maputo University (Portuguese: Universidade Maputo) is one of Mozambique's principal universities. The name of the university is abbreviated to UniMaputo...
railway reached the Rand. Two years later the line from Lourenço Marques (now Maputo) arrived in the Republic and a third route was opened from Durban the next...
Tombi, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Kingdom of Tembi, a historic kingdom in Mozambique (see HistoryofMaputo) Vale of Tempe This disambiguation page lists articles...
Roman Catholic Archdiocese ofMaputo (Latin: Maputensis) is the Metropolitan See for the ecclesiastical province ofMaputo in Mozambique. 21 January 1612:...
the banks of the Pongola River and prior to that in the area of the Tembe River near present-day Maputo. Dlamini III was a king or iNgwenyama of the Swazi...
(Portuguese: Estação Central dos Caminhos de Ferro) is a historic train station in Maputo, Mozambique. Administered by Mozambique Ports and Railways, it is located...
Mercado Central de Maputo (the Maputo Central Market in English) is a market in the centre of Mozambique’s capital city ofMaputo. It is well-known for...
Limpopo Railway, also called Gweru-Maputo railway, is a railway that connects the city ofMaputo, Mozambique, to the city from Somabhula, in Zimbabwe...