MOCAMBIQUE

also spelled Mozambique, town, northeastern Mozambique. Located on a small coral island at the mouth of Mossuril Bay (on the Mozambique Channel of the Indian Ocean), it is an important commercial centre and has good harbour facilities. Moambique was originally an Arab settlement; the Portuguese settled there by 1507 and erected St. Sebastian fort. Until 1897 it was the capital of Portuguese East Africa, but it declined in influence after the development of the towns of Beira and Loureno Marques (now Maputo). Its prominence as a port has been diminished by the port of Nacala (to the north), which was opened to navigation in 1951; until the completion of that harbour, all maritime traffic relating to the fertile interior areas had passed through Moambique. Pop. (1970) town, 1,730; (1986 est.) island, 37,773.