Maputo Bay
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Maputo Bay ( pt, Baía de Maputo), formerly also known as Delagoa Bay from ''Baía da Lagoa'' in Portuguese, is an
inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In marine geogra ...
of the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
on the coast 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 ...
, between 25° 40' and 26° 20' S, with a length from north to south of over 90 km long and 32 km wide.


Geography

The bay is the northern termination of the series of lagoons which line the coast from Saint Lucia Bay. The opening is toward the northeast. The northwestern end of the Bay is defined by the Ponta da Macaneta, a spit with beaches facing westwards towards the
Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (french: Canal du Mozambique, mg, Lakandranon'i Mozambika, pt, Canal de Moçambique) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about long ...
, and mangroves behind. The eastern side of the bay is defined by the
Machangulo The southern perimeter of Maputo Bay from space: Machangulo peninsula and Inhaca Island are at right and top right respectively. The Machangulo peninsula is situated in the southernmost part of Mozambique adjacent to Inhaca and Portuguese Isla ...
peninsula, which on its inner or western side affords safe anchorage. North of the peninsula is
Inhaca Island Inhaca Island ( Portuguese: ''Ilha da Inhaca'') is a subtropical island of Mozambique off the East African coast. The main village is Inhaca, situated just over a kilometer from Inhaca Airport. Various tourist lodges are situated along the north ...
, and beyond it a smaller island, "Ilha dos Portugueses" (Portuguese Island), formerly known as Elephant's Island. In spite of a bar at the entrance and a number of shallows within, Maputo Bay forms a valuable harbour, accessible to large vessels at all seasons of the year. The surrounding country is low and very unhealthy, but Inhaca island has a height of 73 m, and was used as a sanatorium. The
Komati River The Komati River, also known as the Inkomati River or Incomati River (in Mozambique, from Portuguese Rio Incomati), is a river in South Africa, Eswatini and Mozambique. Originating in north-western Eswatini, it is joined by the Crocodile R ...
, also known as the Inkomati or Manhissa, enters the bay at its northern end. Three rivers, the
Matola Matola is the largest suburb of the Mozambique capital, Maputo, adjacent to its westernmost side. It is the nation's second most populated city. Matola is the capital of Maputo Province and has had its own elected municipal government since 199 ...
from the north, the Mbuluzi or Umbeluzi from the west, and the Tembe from the south, meet in the
Estuário do Espírito Santo The Estuário do Espírito Santo is an estuary on the western bank of Maputo Bay, Mozambique where four rivers flow: the Tembe, Mbuluzi, Matola and Infulene Rivers. Its maximum depth is 11 meters, with the channels dredged. The north bank of t ...
on the west side of the bay. The city of
Maputo Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...
lies north of the estuary, and the Maputo–Katembe bridge, completed in 2018, spans the estuary. The
Maputo River The Maputo River (Portuguese ''Rio Maputo''), also called Great Usutu River, Lusutfu River, or Suthu River, is a river in South Africa, Eswatini, and Mozambique. The name ''Suthu'' refers to Basotho people who lived near the source of the river, ...
, which has its headwaters in the
Drakensberg The Drakensberg (Afrikaans: Drakensberge, Zulu: uKhahlambha, Sotho: Maluti) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest elevation – within th ...
, enters in the south.


Ecology

Maputo Bay is part of the
Delagoa Delagoa is a marine ecoregion along the eastern coast of Africa. It extends along the coast of Mozambique and South Africa from the Bazaruto Archipelago (21°14’ S) to Lake St. Lucia in South Africa (28° 10' S) in South Africa's Kwazulu-Natal ...
marine ecoregion. Habitats in the bay include mangrove wetlands, seagrass beds, and fringing coral reefs around
Inhaca Inhaca is a town, settlement in Mozambique, on the subtropical Inhaca Island ('':pt:Ilha da Inhaca, Ilha da Inhaca'' in Portuguese language, Portuguese) off the East African coast. Inhaca settlement is centered on a Mission (station), mission stat ...
and Portuguese islands.
Humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hump ...
s and several species of
dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...
s live in the water while
southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...
s and
dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...
s were once numerous in the bay and are rare today.


History

The first European to reach the bay was
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 ...
navigator
António de Campo Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular mal ...
, one of
Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...
's captains, in 1502. In 1544 the merchant trader
Lourenço Marques Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088 ...
explored the upper reaches of the estuaries leading into the bay. Subsequently, King João III ordered the Bay to be named Baia de Lourenço Marques. Lourenço Marques is reputed to have named the bay Baía da Lagoa (Portuguese: "Bay of the Lagoon"). In English the Portuguese "Baia da Lagoa" then was translated and slightly transformed to "Delagoa Bay". In 1720, the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
built a fort and factory called Lijdzaamheid (Lydsaamheid) on the spot of Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), since April 1721 governed by an ''
Opperhoofd ''Opperhoofd'' is a Dutch word (plural ''opperhoofden'') that literally translates to "upper-head", meaning "supreme headman". The Danish equivalent ''overhoved'', which is derived from a Danish pronunciation of the Dutch or Low German word, is als ...
'' (chief factor), under authority of the Dutch Cape Colony, interrupted by Taylor's pirate occupation from April 1722 to 28 August 1722; in December 1730 the settlement was abandoned. Thereafter the Portuguese had—intermittently—trading stations in the Espírito Santo estuary. These stations were protected by small forts, usually incapable, however, of withstanding attacks by the natives. In 1779 the
Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
ship "Joseph und Theresia" of the
Austrian East India Company Austrian East India Company (german: Österreichische Ostindien-Kompanie) is a catchall term referring to a series of Austrian trading companies based in Ostend and Trieste. The Imperial Asiatic Company of Trieste and Antwerp (french: Société i ...
lands at the bay and the Austrians erect the St. Joseph and St. Maria forts. In 1778, an Austrian expedition led by English adventurer
William Bolts William Bolts (1738–1808) was a Dutch-born British merchant active in India. He began his career as an employee of the East India Company, and subsequently became an independent merchant. He is best known today for his 1772 book, ''Consideratio ...
established a trading factory at Delagoa Bay. The factory, composed of 155 men and a number of women, traded in ivory, reaching as high as 75,000 pounds per year until the factory was expelled by the Portuguese in 1781. In 1823, Captain (afterwards Vice-Admiral) W. F. W. Owen, of the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
, finding that the Portuguese exercised no jurisdiction south of the settlement of Lourenço Marques, concluded treaties of cession with native chiefs, hoisted the British flag, and appropriated the country from the English river southwards; but when he visited the bay again in 1824 he found that the Portuguese, disregarding the British treaties, had concluded others with the natives, and had endeavoured (unsuccessfully) to take military possession of the country. Captain Owen re-hoisted the British flag, but the sovereignty of either power was left undecided till the claims of the
Transvaal Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...
rendered a solution of the question urgent. In the meantime the United Kingdom had taken no steps to exercise authority on the spot, while the ravages of
Zulus Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Na ...
confined Portuguese authority to the limits of their fort. In 1835
Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape Colony, Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controll ...
s, under a leader named Orich, had attempted to form a settlement on the bay, which is the natural outlet for the Transvaal; and in 1868 the Transvaal president,
Marthinus Pretorius Marthinus Wessel Pretorius (17 September 1819 – 19 May 1901) was a South African political leader. An Afrikaner (or "Boer"), he helped establish the South African Republic (''Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek'' or ZAR; also referred to as Transv ...
, claimed the country on each side of the Maputa down to the sea. In the following year, however, the Transvaal acknowledged Portugal's sovereignty over the bay. In 1861, Royal Navy Captain Bickford declared
Inhaca Inhaca is a town, settlement in Mozambique, on the subtropical Inhaca Island ('':pt:Ilha da Inhaca, Ilha da Inhaca'' in Portuguese language, Portuguese) off the East African coast. Inhaca settlement is centered on a Mission (station), mission stat ...
and Elephant islands to be British territory; an act protested by the authorities in Lisbon. In 1872, the dispute between the United Kingdom and Portugal was submitted to the arbitration of
Adolphe Thiers Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers ( , ; 15 April 17973 September 1877) was a French statesman and historian. He was the second elected President of France and first President of the French Third Republic. Thiers was a key figure in the July Rev ...
, the French president; and on 19 April 1875 his successor,
Marshal MacMahon Marie Edme Patrice Maurice de MacMahon, marquis de MacMahon, duc de Magenta (; 13 June 1808 – 17 October 1893) was a French general and politician, with the distinction of Marshal of France. He served as Chief of State of France from 1873 to 1 ...
, ruled in favor of the Portuguese. Previously, the United Kingdom and Portugal had agreed a right of pre-emption would be granted to the unsuccessful claimant in case of sale or cession of the bay. Portuguese authority over the Mozambican interior was not established until some time after the MacMahon decision; nominally, the country south of the Manhissa river was ceded to them by the Matshangana chief
Umzila King Mzila Nxumalo, Mzila kaSoshangane Nxumalo, Umzila, Muzila, or Nyamende was the son of Soshangane kaZikode, the founder of the Gaza empire, which at the height of its power stretched from southern Mozambique to the Limpopo River. He defeated h ...
in 1861. In honor of the French president's decision, a beer brewed in Maputo is still today called "MacMahon" or "2M" (Portuguese: "Dois M"). Similarly, the Maputo railway station sat at "Praça MacMahon" (MacMahon Square). After Mozambique's independence from Portugal, it was renamed "Praça dos Trabalhadores" (Workers' Square). In 1889, another dispute arose between Portugal and the United Kingdom over the Portuguese seizure of the railway running from the bay to the Transvaal. This dispute was also referred to arbitration: in 1900, Portugal was found liable and ordered to pay nearly £1,000,000 in compensation to the railway company's shareholders.


See also

* List of Opperhoofden of Delagoa Bay


References


Sources

* Sir E. Hertslet, ''The Map of Africa by Treaty'', iii. 991–998 (London, 1909). An account of the Delagoa Bay arbitration proceedings. * The British blue-book, ''Delagoa Bay, Correspondence respecting the Claims of Her Majesty's Government'' (London, 1875) * L. van Deventer, ''La Hollande et la Baie Delagoa'' (The Hague, 1883) * * G. McC. Theal, ''The Portuguese in South Africa'' (London, 1896), and ''History of South Africa since September 179,f'', vol. v. (London, 1908). ''The Narrative of Voyages to explore the shores of Africa, performed under direction of Captain W. F. W. Owen, RN.'' (London, 1833) contains much interesting information concerning the district in the early part of the 19th century.
WorldStatesmen- Mozambique
{{Authority control Bays of Mozambique Former Dutch colonies Maputo River Geography of Maputo 1720 establishments in the Dutch Empire Former Austrian colonies