City Africa
Maputo
Maputo is the capital city of Mozambique, in Africa. It is a port city by a bay of the Indian Ocean.
Maputo is the capital of Mozambique, on a bay of the Indian Ocean in the far south of the country. Mozambique's statistics office projected 1,133,200 people in Maputo City in 2023. Until 1976 the city was called Lourenço Marques.
Maputo grew around a Portuguese fort from the late 18th century, became the colony's capital in 1898 and was renamed in 1976, after Mozambique's independence in 1975. Its port is the nearest one for goods from the Johannesburg area; Maputo City's official projection for 1 July 2023 was 1,133,200 people.
Photo: AmigoDia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Maputo
Maputo is the capital city of Mozambique. Mozambique is a long country in Africa, beside the Indian Ocean.
More than one million people live in Maputo.
Maputo is the capital of Mozambique, in the far south of the country, on a bay of the Indian Ocean. Mozambique's statistics office projected 1,133,200 people in Maputo City for 1 July 2023. Matola, which formed 'Greater Maputo' with it from 1980 to 1988, is almost as big: the 2017 census counted 1,080,277 people in Maputo city and 1,032,197 in Matola.
Universalis says Mozambique stretches more than 3,000 kilometers from north to south along the Indian Ocean.
City Population (Instituto Nacional de Estatística, Mozambique) gives Maputo City, a capital-city area of 347 km², 987,943 people in the 1997 census, 1,111,638 in 2007, 1,120,867 in 2017 (all adjusted for undercounting) and 1,133,200 in the official projection for 1 July 2023. In 2017 the Maputo agglomeration counted 2,112,474.
Lex (Denmark's national encyclopedia): Maputo lies in the country's far south, on a bay of the Indian Ocean, and its harbor is one of the most important on the coast of East Africa.
- Country
- Mozambique (its capital)
- People in Maputo City (official projection, 1 July 2023)
- 1,133,200
- People in Maputo City (census, 2017)
- 1,120,867
- Next-biggest city (2017 census)
- Matola, 1,032,197
Maputo from the air
Look! This photo was taken from an airplane. You can see the water, a green slope, and lots of tall buildings and red roofs.
The city goes on and on, far into the haze.
This photo shows Maputo from the air, seen from the southeast, on 29 October 2006. A road runs along the water at the bottom, a green slope rises behind it, and above spread apartment towers, houses with red roofs and many trees. Flat land stretches away into the haze. The edge of the airplane's wing shows in the bottom right corner.
Universalis says the city's first core grew up around a fort on high ground above the Tembe estuary and Maputo Bay.
Commons: 'Maputo seen from the air, from southeast', 29 October 2006, own work by AmigoDia (GFDL and CC BY-SA 3.0; colors and levels later adjusted by other editors); categories 'Aerial photographs of Mozambique', 'Coasts of Mozambique', 'Views of Maputo'. No building is named in the file, so none is named here.
Universalis (Bernard Calas): the original core, still one of the city's key places, lies around the fort built on the corniche overlooking the Tembe estuary and Maputo Bay. Wikidata: Maputo Fortress, listed in the Heritage of Portuguese Influence database.
- Photo
- Maputo seen from the air, from the southeast, 29 October 2006
- Maputo Fortress
- a fortress listed in the Heritage of Portuguese Influence database
- Maputo–Catembe Bridge
- 3,041 m long, opened 10 November 2018
From Lourenço Marques to Maputo
Long ago, a Portuguese explorer explored this area. The city was named after him: Lourenço Marques.
When Mozambique became free from Portugal, the city got a new name: Maputo.
Lex, Denmark's national encyclopedia, says the city grew up around a Portuguese fort from the late 1700s and was named after Lourenço Marques, a Portuguese explorer who explored the area in 1544. In 1898 it became the capital of the Portuguese colony of Mozambique, the UN-Habitat Urban Resilience Hub says.
Mozambique became independent on 25 June 1975, and in 1976 the city was renamed Maputo, after the Maputo River.
UN-Habitat's Urban Resilience Hub: founded in 1782 as a trading post; a town in 1877; a municipality on 10 November 1887 (a city holiday); capital of the colony in 1898; growth in trade, industry and housing in the 1940s to 1970s; renaming announced on 3 February 1976, after the Maputo River on the southern border. Lex says only that the city grew up around a fort from the late 1700s.
Lex: the harbor was greatly enlarged in the late 1800s as the South African mines grew.
- Portuguese explorer Lourenço Marques explores the area
- 1544
- Becomes the capital of the Portuguese colony
- 1898
- Renamed Maputo, after independence
- 1976
Port, railway and bridge
Ships come to Maputo's port. Trains arrive at a railway station. A long bridge crosses the water to the other side.
Lex says Maputo's port is the nearest one for shipping mining and factory goods from the Johannesburg area in South Africa. Joint projects with South Africa along the road and railway link, called the 'Maputo Corridor', include renewing the port.
Maputo Railway Station opened on 19 March 1910, Wikidata says. The Maputo–Catembe Bridge, 3,041 meters long, opened on 10 November 2018, and the international airport lies about 6 kilometers north of the fortress.
Lex: the Maputo Corridor is a set of joint Mozambican–South African projects along the road and rail link to South Africa, including the renewal of Maputo's port; after the end of the civil war in 1992 the port grew in importance for shipping.
Wikidata: Maputo Railway Station (opened 19 March 1910; in the Heritage of Portuguese Influence database) 0.76 km NW of Maputo Fortress; Maputo–Catembe Bridge (opened 10 November 2018, 3,041 m long, 141 m high) 1.37 km W; Maputo International Airport 6.0 km N.
- Maputo Railway Station
- opened 19 March 1910, about 800 m northwest of the fortress
- Maputo International Airport
- about 6 km north of the fortress
- The port
- the nearest one for shipping goods from the Johannesburg area
Hot, wet summers and cooler, drier winters
In Maputo, the hot months are also the rainy months. The middle of the year is cooler and drier.
The World Meteorological Organization's averages for Maputo (1961–1990) give about 814 millimeters of rain in a year. January is the wettest month, with 171 millimeters, and August the driest, with 15.
January highs average about 30 °C. In July, the coolest month, highs average about 24 °C and lows about 14 °C.
WMO World Weather Information Service, Maputo (1961–1990): rainfall 813.6 mm, from 171.1 mm in January to 15.0 mm in August; October to March 628.6 mm. Average highs 24.4 °C (July) to 29.9 °C (January); lows 14.2 °C (July) to 22.3 °C (January and February).
Universalis (Mozambique): the south has a cool, dry season (April to September) and a hot, wet one (October to March).
- January rainfall (WMO, 1961–1990)
- 171.1 mm
- August rainfall (same table)
- 15.0 mm
- Average highs
- 24.4 °C (July) to 29.9 °C (January)
Gardens, beaches and industry
Maputo has a garden park in the city, and beaches near the city.
Tunduru Gardens, a park, lies about 500 meters northeast of the fortress, Wikidata says. Universalis says new well-off neighborhoods have spread along the coast north of the city since the mid-1990s, such as Sommershield and the Costa do Sol seafront.
Lex says a large aluminum smelter, Mozal, was built to process ore from South Africa, using local natural gas.
Universalis: the planned colonial 'cement city' contrasts with the outer districts called caniço ('reed', after the building material once used), where most newcomers live; head-office and logistics work drives the city's economy, while South African investment, notably the very large Mozal aluminum smelter, and tourism widen the choice of jobs.
Lex: local industry includes cement, fish processing, furniture and textiles. Wikidata: Tunduru Gardens 0.49 km NE of Maputo Fortress.
- Tunduru Gardens
- a park about 500 m northeast of the fortress
- Costa do Sol
- a seafront on the coast north of the city, where well-off districts have grown since the mid-1990s
- Mozal
- a large aluminum smelter that processes ore from South Africa
Maputo on the map
Find Africa on the globe. Mozambique is on the east side, by the Indian Ocean. Maputo is near its southern tip.
Maputo lies at about 26.0° south, on a bay of the Indian Ocean near the southern end of Mozambique. Measured from Maputo Fortress, the railway station is about 800 meters northwest, the bridge about 1.4 kilometers west and the airport about 6 kilometers north.
The Maputo River, which gave the city its new name, marks part of Mozambique's southern border.
Maputo lies at about 25.95° S and 32.59° E. From Maputo Fortress (Wikidata points): Tunduru Gardens 0.49 km NE, Maputo Railway Station 0.76 km NW, Maputo–Catembe Bridge 1.37 km W, Maputo International Airport 6.0 km N.
UN-Habitat Urban Resilience Hub: Maputo is on the western shore of Maputo Bay, near the borders with South Africa and Eswatini.
- Latitude
- about 26.0° south
- Longitude
- about 32.6° east
- Setting
- on a bay of the Indian Ocean, in Mozambique's far south
Amazing facts
-
Maputo used to have a different name: Lourenço Marques!
Until 1976 Maputo was called Lourenço Marques, after a Portuguese explorer who explored the area in 1544, Lex says.
Lex: the city was called Lourenço Marques until 1976, after the Portuguese explorer who explored the area in 1544; UN-Habitat: it was renamed after the Maputo River.
-
A very long bridge crosses the water at Maputo!
The Maputo–Catembe Bridge, opened on 10 November 2018, is 3,041 meters long, Wikidata says.
Wikidata: Maputo–Catembe Bridge, a suspension bridge opened 10 November 2018, 3,041 m long and 141 m high.
-
Maputo's port ships goods to and from South Africa.
Maputo's port is the nearest one for shipping goods from the Johannesburg area in South Africa, Lex says.
Lex: the harbor, nearest for the Johannesburg area's mining and industrial products, was greatly enlarged in the late 1800s as the South African mines expanded.
-
Some parts of Maputo are named after reeds, which people once built houses with.
Universalis says Maputo's outer districts are called caniço, meaning 'reed', after the building material once used there.
Universalis: the outer, working-class districts are called caniço ('reed'), after the building material that was once used.
Words to know
- capital
- the city where a country's government works
- port
- a town or harbor where ships load and unload goods
- bay
- part of the sea that curves into the land
- estuary
- the wide mouth of a river, where it meets the sea
- projection
- an official estimate of how many people live somewhere, worked out from the last census
- smelter
- a factory that heats ore to get metal out of it
Discovery challenge
-
Maputo is the capital of which country?
Maputo is the capital of which country on the Indian Ocean?
Maputo became the capital of which Portuguese colony in 1898?
- Kenya
- Mozambique
- Morocco
Show the answer
Mozambique
Mozambique!
Mozambique.
Mozambique.
-
What was Maputo's old name?
What was Maputo called until 1976?
Until 1976 the city carried the name of a Portuguese explorer of 1544. What was it?
- Lourenço Marques
- Vasco da Gama
- Ferdinand Magellan
Show the answer
Lourenço Marques
Lourenço Marques!
Lourenço Marques.
Lourenço Marques.
-
Which ocean is Maputo beside?
Maputo lies on a bay of which ocean?
Maputo Bay opens onto which ocean?
- Atlantic Ocean
- Pacific Ocean
- Indian Ocean
Show the answer
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean!
The Indian Ocean.
The Indian Ocean.
-
Which month has the most rain in Maputo?
In the WMO table, which month is Maputo's wettest?
Which month averages 171.1 mm, the most in the WMO's 1961–1990 Maputo table?
- January
- July
- August
Show the answer
January
January!
January.
January.
-
What was the city named after in 1976?
Maputo's new name in 1976 came from what?
According to UN-Habitat's Urban Resilience Hub, the 1976 name comes from which feature on the southern border?
- A mountain
- A river
- An island
Show the answer
A river
A river: the Maputo River!
The Maputo River.
The Maputo River.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Maputo on the Indian Ocean coast of southern Africa.
- Explain why a port near a neighboring country's industry can grow.
- Read a rainfall table and find the wet and dry seasons.
- Explain why cities are sometimes renamed.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Maputo's port ships goods from South Africa. Why might a country use a port in a neighboring country?
- The city was renamed after independence. Why might a new country choose new names for places?
- Maputo's summers are hot and wet and its winters mild and dry. How is that different from where you live?
Try at home or in class
- Rain chart: plot Maputo's monthly rainfall and color the dry season from April to September.
- Bridge measure: mark out 3,041 meters on a local map and see how far the Maputo–Catembe Bridge would reach.
- Name map: find other cities that changed their names and mark them on a world map.
Key vocabulary: capital, port, bay, estuary, projection, smelter
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Mozambique: Provinces and Cities , City Population (Thomas Brinkhoff), from the Instituto Nacional de Estatística, Mozambique
- Maputo , Encyclopaedia Universalis
- Mozambique , Encyclopaedia Universalis
- Maputo (Peter Tygesen) , Lex, Denmark's national encyclopedia
- Maputo: City Context and History , UN-Habitat, Urban Resilience Hub
- Maputo: climatological information , World Meteorological Organization, World Weather Information Service (Mozambique)
- File:Maputo seen from southeast - October 2006.jpg (AmigoDia, 29 October 2006) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.