Beira

Sister cities

• Coimbra
• Bristol
• Amsterdam
• Padua
• Espinho
• Seixal
• Bendery
• Aracaju

History

The city was established in 1890 by the Portuguese and soon supplanted Sofala as the main port in the Portuguese-administered territory. Originally called Chiveve, after a local river, it was renamed to honor the Portuguese Crown prince Dom Luís Filipe who, in 1907, was the first member of the Portuguese royal family to visit Mozambique. Traditionally the Portuguese Crown prince carried the title of Prince of Beira, a historical province of mainland Portugal. The Portuguese built the port and a railway to Rhodesia, Portuguese families settled in the newly founded locality and started to develop commercial activities. With the growth of the village, in 1907 the Portuguese Crown elevated Beira to the status of city (cidade). Headquarters of the Companhia de Moçambique (Mozambique Company) from 1891, the city's administration passed from the trading company to the Portuguese government in 1942. In 1966, the construction of a new railway station was completed. Before Mozambique's independence from Portugal, as a city of Portuguese Mozambique, Beira was noted for its well-equipped seaport, one of the major facilities of its kind in all East Africa, tourism, fishing and trade. The city prospered as a cosmopolitan port with different ethnic communities (Portuguese, Indian, Chinese, Bantus such as the Sena and Ndau) employed in administration, commerce, and industry. A large English-speaking population was the result of being a favourite holiday destination for white Rhodesians. One reminder of this is the Grande Hotel, built by the Portuguese, near the shore of the Indian Ocean. By 1970, the city of Beira had 113,770 inhabitants. After independence from Portugal in 1975, many white ethnic Portuguese left the city. Mozambique was ravaged by a civil war from 1977 to 1992,…

Geography

Beira is located on the Mozambique Channel, an arm of the Indian Ocean located between Madagascar and Mozambique. The city sits north of the mouth of the convergence of two major rivers of Mozambique: the Buzi River and the Pungwe River. The Buzi crosses across Manica and Sofala provinces to form a wide estuary. The Pungwe crosses from the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe also through Manica and Sofala provinces to Beira.

Most-observed species

• House Crow

  Corvus splendens Vieillot, 1817 · Aves
  88
• Pied Crow

  Corvus albus Statius Muller, 1776 · Aves
  84
• Little Egret/Western Reef-Heron

  Egretta garzetta (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  69
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  65
• Cattle Egret

  Bubulcus ibis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  60
• Wattled Lapwing

  Vanellus senegallus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  51
• Long-tailed Cormorant

  Microcarbo africanus (Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  51
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  50

Most recent

• M 5.6 — 2017-06-24
  32 km WNW of Dondo, Mozambique
• M 4 — 2015-03-29
  33 km NW of Dondo, Mozambique
• M 4.5 — 2009-01-19
  14 km N of Beira, Mozambique
• M 4.4 — 2002-03-03
  18 km ESE of Dondo, Mozambique