Quelimane

Sister cities

• Setúbal

History

The town originated as a Swahili trade centre, and then grew as a slave market of the Indian Ocean slave trade. Quelimane was founded by Muslim traders (see Kilwa Sultanate) and was one of the oldest towns in the region. The origins of the name 'Quelimane' are obscure. One tradition alleges that Vasco da Gama, in 1498, inquired about the name of the place from some inhabitants labouring in the fields outside the settlement. Thinking he was asking what they were doing, they simply replied kuliamani ('we are cultivating'). An alternative explanation is that when the Portuguese reached the settlement, they were welcomed by a notable Arab, or half Arab, who acted as interpreter between them and the natives. The name which the Portuguese applied to this individual, and his settlement, was 'Quelimane' (pronounced Kelimãn), because in the corrupt Arabic spoken on the East African coast 'Kalimãn' is the word for 'Interpreter'. In Swahili it is 'Mkalimani'. In 1761, the settlement became a town. Until 1853 trade was forbidden to any other than Portuguese. Sisal plantations were organized by Swiss planters in the beginning of the 20th century, namely Joseph Émile Stucky de Quay. The town started to grow and attracted several communities from different backgrounds, including Muslims and Indians, and new infrastructure was built by the Portuguese authorities. Its busy port had tea, grown and processed in the district of Zambézia (particularly important in the region around Gurúè, formerly Vila Junqueiro), as its major export. Coconut was also produced and processed in the city. By 1970, Quelimane had 71,786 inhabitants. Mozambique became independent from Portugal in 1975, after the April 1974 Carnation Revolution at Lisbon. Although its location on the Rio dos Bons Sinais is…

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6
• Christmas Butterfly

  Papilio demodocus Esper, 1798 · Insecta
  4
• Common Bulbul

  Pycnonotus barbatus (Desfontaines, 1789) · Aves
  4
• Madagascar periwinkle, Rose periwinkle, Rosy periwinkle, Cape periwinkle, Old-maid, Pink periwinkle

  Catharanthus roseus (L.) G.Don · Magnoliopsida
  4
• Snake plant, Mother-in-law's tongue, Viper's bowstring hemp, Snake Sansevieria, Bowstring hemp, Good luck plant, Mother-in-law's nose

  Dracaena trifasciata (Prain) Mabb. · Liliopsida
  3
• Fornasini's Spiny Reed Frog

  Afrixalus fornasini (Bianconi, 1849) · Amphibia
  3
• Pawpaw

  Carica papaya L. · Magnoliopsida
  3
• Match Me If You Can

  Acalypha wilkesiana Müll.Arg. · Magnoliopsida
  3