Matola is the largest suburb of the Mozambique capital, Maputo, adjacent to its westernmost side. It is the nation's most populated city. Matola is the capital of Maputo Province and has had its own elected municipal government since 1998. It has a port and also the biggest industrial area in Mozambique. The population of Matola was, according to the 2007 census, 671,556 inhabitants,
Etymology
Matola, which is also a common family name, comes from
Matsolo a
Ronga kingdom that existed in this region when the colonists arrived.
Industry
Matola is an industrial centre with an important port for
(
chromium and
iron) and other exports from
Eswatini and
South Africa. It has
petroleum refineries (presently inactive) and diverse industries, which manufacture products like
soap,
cement, and
agricultural materials. The most important of these is an
aluminium smelter, installed in 2002, that more than doubled Mozambique's
GDP. In November 2014,
car company Hyundai Motor Company opened a plant in Matola (Somyoung Motors), which manufactures the Hyundai i10 and
Hyundai Accent.
Transport
Matola is served by a station on the southern network of Mozambique Ports and Railways, connecting the
Goba railway and the Pretoria-Maputo railway. Coal is exported from here.
Geography
Matola River is also the name of a small river (some 30 km long), that makes the northern border of the Matola municipality, and flows into
Maputo Bay.
Demographics
|
| 1997 | 424,662 |
| 2007 | 671,556 |
| 2017 | 1,032,197 |
Town twinning
See also
-
Transport in Mozambique
-
Metropolitan Maputo
