Namaacha District is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

Maputo Province Maputo Province is a province of Mozambique; the province excludes the city of Maputo (which comprises a separate province). The province has an area of and a population of 1,968,906 (2017 census). Its capital is the city of Matola. Geography ...

in southern

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 ...

. The principal town is

Namaacha Namaacha or Naamacha is a town in southern Mozambique, lying 80 kilometers west of Maputo on the border with Eswatini. It is located in the Lebombos area. It is known for its colonial church and for its waterfall. The town of Namaacha lies in ...

. The district is located in the southwest of the province, and borders with Moamba District in the north, Boane District in the east, Matutuíne District in the south, and with Eswatini and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in the west. The area of the district is . It has a population of 41,914 as of 2007.

Geography

The principal rivers in the district are the Movene River, the Mabenga River, the Calichane River, the Impaputo River, and the Umbelúzi River. The eastern part of

Lebombo Mountains The Lebombo Mountains, also called Lubombo Mountains ( pt, Montes Libombos), are an , narrow range of mountains in Southern Africa. They stretch from Hluhluwe in KwaZulu-Natal in the south to Punda Maria in the Limpopo Province in South Africa in ...

is in the district. The climate is tropical humid, varying with altitude, with the average annual rainfall being .

History

The name Namaacha originates from the king Lomahacha, who was active in the area before the Portuguese colonization. In 1869, the Treaty of Pretoria gave the area to Portugal.

Demographics

As of 2005, 40% of the population of the district was younger than 15 years. 63% of the population spoke Portuguese. The most common mothertongue among the population was

Xichangana Tsonga () or Xitsonga ( ''Xitsonga'') as an endonym, is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people of southern Africa. It is mutually intelligible with Tswa and Ronga and the name "Tsonga" is often used as a cover term for all three, ...

. 44% were analphabetic, mostly women.

Administrative divisions

The district is divided into two postos,

(six localities) and Changalane (four localities).

Economy

6% of the households in the district have access to electricity.

Agriculture

In the district, there are 15,000 farms which have on average of land. The main agricultural products are corn,

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

cowpea The cowpea (''Vigna unguiculata'') is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus ''Vigna''. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the semiarid regions across Africa and Asia. It requires very few inputs, ...

, peanut, and sweet potato.

Transportation

There is a road network in the district long, which includes a stretches of national roads EN2, connecting

Maputo 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 1,0 ...

and Eswatini.

References

{{Coord, 25, 58, S, 32, 02, E, region:MZ_type:adm1st_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Districts in Maputo Province