Product Code Database
Nampula is the capital city of Nampula Province in Northern Mozambique. With a population of 743,125 (2017 census), it is the third-largest city in Mozambique after Maputo and Matola. The city is located in the interior of Nampula Province, approximately 200 kilometers from the coast and is surrounded by plains and rocky outcrops. The city is a major regional centre for the entire Northern region of Mozambique, as well as parts of Central Mozambique and border areas of Malawi and Tanzania.
The city links the port city of Nacala with land-locked Southern African countries, particularly Malawi through a road and railway line. The city has a small international airport connecting to Nairobi in Kenya, Johannesburg in South Africa, Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania and is a hub for local transport in northern Mozambique. Nampula is the centre of business in Northern Mozambique, benefitting from highly productive agricultural areas, proximity to the Nacala Development Corridor, and a fast-growing city population.
Nampula is home to the Mozambican National Ethnographic Museum, several Marketplace, cathedrals, mosques, universities, training institutes and schools. The city is diverse, with the native Makhuwa language population being the largest group but with a visible Indian, European (dominantly Portuguese), Chinese, Lebanese, Somali, and Nigerian population.
After independence in 1975, the Portuguese abandoned Nampula and rural populations migrated to the city, squatting in unplanned areas on the city outskirts. This migratory movement dramatically increased during the Mozambican Civil War, affecting Nampula in the decade between 1982 and 1992. When the war ended the Mozambican Government expected the refugees to return to the countryside, but they remained in the city. After a few years of migratory slow‐down, the growth of the city resumed, as the rapid economic development of Mozambique materialized mostly in the urban areas. Nampula, in the post‐war period, developed into a major Mozambican growth centre, attracting an increasing number of public and private investments in a wide range of economic and social areas. In colonial times there was a Nampula Town Hall with a very limited mandate which was dissolved in 1979. The Municipal Council of Nampula was created in 1998, alongside those of other major Mozambican cities. FRELIMO won the first local elections that year, and in the subsequent elections in 2003, 2008, and 2011. An opposition party, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), won the 2013 municipal elections, led by Mahamudo Amurane. Mayor Amurane was assassinated in October 2017, and investigations into his death proved to be inconclusive. Amurane's death led to a collapse of the MDM's support base in Nampula and another opposition party, RENAMO, won subsequent municipal elections led by Paulo Vahanle.
Since the establishment of the city, Nampula has had numerous mayors:
| 1997 | 303,346 |
| 2007 | 471,717 |
| 2017 | 743,125 |
There is a Portuguese international school, Escola Lusófona de Nampula," ESCOLAS COM CURRÍCULO PORTUGUÊS EM MOÇAMBIQUE" ( Archive). Direção de Serviços de Ensino e Escolas Portuguesas no Estrangeiro (DSEEPE) of the Portuguese Education Ministry. Retrieved on October 26, 2015. as well as four international English schools, with the oldest being Stella Maris International School.
Nazira Abdula, pediatrician and Mozambican Minister of Health, was born in Nampula.
Rui Águas, Portuguese racing driver, was born in Nampula.
|
|
