Gurúè (also spelt Gurué; known before independence as ''Vila Junqueiro'') is a town located in the northern part of
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
, near the center of the province of
Zambezia. It serves as the principal town of
Gurué District, and is Mozambique's largest
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
estate. According to the 2007 census, the town had a population of 145,466, an increase from the 99,335 inhabitants counted in the 1997 census.
History
Portuguese rule
The name Gurúè is said to be local tribal dialect (
Lomwe) for "porco do mato" (
peccary
A peccary (also javelina or skunk pig) is a medium-sized, pig-like hoofed mammal of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North A ...
), or the name of a local tribal chief. Gurúè was founded and named by the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
in the 19th century and developed as a major
tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
producing town starting in the 1930s. The Portuguese authorities promoted a thriving economic climate and local tea companies become major players in the industry. SDZ Cha, Chá Moçambique, Companhia da Zambézia, Chá Gurúè and Plantações Manuel Saraiva Junqueiro were the major tea companies headquartered in the town. With good natural attractions -
Namuli mountain range (2419 m), large tea plantations (''chá'' in Portuguese), and rivers, leading tea brands, such as Cha St Antonio, Cha Murrace, ''Chá Moçambique'', ''Chá Licungo'', ''Chá Gurúè'', and ''Chá Montebranco Junqueiro'', achieved international recognition – most of the production was exported to the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, United States and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Other agricultural activities were developed as well. In the 1940s, over 300 Portuguese lived in the small town of Gurúè which gravitated around the tea aristocracy who provided all the amenities for the entire working population, including a private small airline to the largest cities on the coast, like
Nampula
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, approxi ...
, and the port city of
Quelimane
Quelimane () is a seaport in Mozambique. It is the administrative capital of the Zambezia Province and the province's largest city, and stands from the mouth of the Rio dos Bons Sinais (or "River of the Good Signs"). The river was named when V ...
, the capital of
Zambezia, in
Portuguese East Africa
Portuguese Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique) or Portuguese East Africa (''África Oriental Portuguesa'') were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese colony. Portuguese Mozambique originally ...
. After the death of tea tycoon Manuel Saraiva Junqueiro, in an airplane crash, the town of Gurúè was renamed Vila Junqueiro in October 1959. By the late 1950s the town had grown, the cinema was founded and TAZ airline (Transportes Aéreos da Zambézia) increased its flights in the town's airfield. Under Portuguese administration the town expanded harmoniously in terms of urbanism and architectural landscape.
[QUELIMANE](_blank)
a film of the cosmopolitan port of Quelimane and tea centre of Vila Junqueiro, Portuguese Mozambique, before 1975.
/ref>
After independence from Portugal
After the independence of Mozambique from Portugal in 1975, Vila Junqueiro returned to its original name, Gurúè, and started a process of deep deterioration and economic and social decline. The exodus of the Portuguese, the eruption of the Mozambican Civil War
The Mozambican Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Moçambicana) was a civil war fought in Mozambique from 1977 to 1992. Like many regional African conflicts during the late twentieth century, the Mozambican Civil War possessed local dynamics but was a ...
(1977-1992) and the effects of FRELIMO
FRELIMO (; from the Portuguese , ) is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It is the dominant party in Mozambique and has won a majority of the seats in the Assembly of the Republic in every election since the country's first ...
's communist ideology, transformed the once thriving town in a few years.
Geography
Gurué is located in the North of the Zambezia province
Zambezia ( pt, Zambézia) is the second most-populous province of Mozambique, located in the central coastal region south-west of Nampula Province and north-east of Sofala Province. It has a population of 5.11 million, according to the 2017 censu ...
, 350 km from the next international Airport in Blantyre, Malawi
Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Li ...
and also 350 km from Quelimane
Quelimane () is a seaport in Mozambique. It is the administrative capital of the Zambezia Province and the province's largest city, and stands from the mouth of the Rio dos Bons Sinais (or "River of the Good Signs"). The river was named when V ...
or Nampula
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, approxi ...
, two of Mozambique's biggest cities.
It is located at longitude 37 degrees 1 minute East and latitude 15 degrees 30 minutes South.
Climate
Gurúè has a temperate climate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
. Summers have temperatures in the range of 30 °C to 34 °C. Winters have temperatures in the range of 17 °C to 20 °C. Like in tropical climates, winter is usually referred to as the dry season
The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...
, while summer is called the rainy season
The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs.
Rainy Season may also refer to:
* ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King
* "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni
* ''T ...
. Gurué's climate has much more rainfall than most of the rest of the province due to the effect of the mountains that surround the town. It creates a microclimate which is unusually cool and wet and therefore good for growing tea.
Economy
Gurúè's economy depends mainly on the tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...
plantations
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
(90%), though other plantation types can also be found such as coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
, fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
, etc. Most people also have small subsistence farms to supplement their irregular salaries.
Demographics
According to Mozambique's Government 1997 census, Gurúè's population was estimated at 99,335 and in the 2007 census at 145,466. Most people in the area speak Lomwe.
Transportation
Gurúè can be reached by car. One aerodrome is available for small aero planes. At present some South African investors engaged in Macadamia nuts use the aerodrome. Chartered planes could land at Gurue. The roads were tarred and in good condition until the floods of 2015.
Wildlife
A 1998 birding expedition to Gurúè re-discovered the country's only endemic bird, Namuli apalis, unseen since it was discovered in 1932. It is now known to be thriving in forests in this area.
According to a recent University of Cape Town scientific expedition "in a land of many natural treasures, Namuli
Mount Namuli is the second highest mountain in Mozambique and the highest in the Province of Zambezia. It is high and was measured, surveyed and described in 1886 by Henry Edward O'Neill, the British consul in Mozambique. The Namuli massif con ...
(a mount near Gurúè, with 2419m and being the second highest mountain in Mozambique) is the jewel in the crown" and "a high-priority site for birds in Africa".
SDZ Cha, one of the tea plantation companies, maintain amidst their estate a small patch of rainforest, preserving the pristine nature. They also have some camp huts which are rented out for tourists.
See also
* Zambezia Province
Zambezia ( pt, Zambézia) is the second most-populous province of Mozambique, located in the central coastal region south-west of Nampula Province and north-east of Sofala Province. It has a population of 5.11 million, according to the 2017 censu ...
* Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurué
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurue
Populated places in Zambezia Province