Tete is the capital city of
Tete Province
Tete is a Provinces of Mozambique, province of Mozambique, located in the northwest of the country. It has an area of 98,417 km2 and a population of 2,648,941 (2017 census).
Tete, Mozambique, Tete is the capital of the province. The Cahora ...
in
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
. It is located on the
Zambezi River
The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...
, and is the site of two of the four bridges crossing the river in Mozambique. A
Swahili trade center before the
Portuguese colonial era, Tete continues to dominate the west-central part of the country and region, and is the largest city on the Zambezi. In the local language,
Nyungwe, Tete (or Mitete) means "reed".
History
The region was an important
Swahili trade center before the
Portuguese colonial era. On the
east coast of Africa the Portuguese were drawn to Mozambique and the
Zambezi river
The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...
by news of a local ruler, the
Munhumutapa, who was said to have had fabulous wealth in gold. In their efforts to reach the Munhumutapa, the Portuguese established in 1531 two settlements far up the Zambezi – one of them, at Tete, some from the sea. The Munhumutapa Kingdom and gold mines remained autonomous and mostly isolated from the Portuguese. But in this region of east Africa – as in
Portuguese Guinea
Portuguese Guinea (), called the Overseas Province of Guinea from 1951 until 1972 and then State of Guinea from 1972 until 1974, was a Portuguese overseas province in West Africa from 1588 until 10 September 1974, when it gained independence as G ...
and
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
in the west – Portuguese involvement became sufficiently strong to survive into the third quarter of the 20th century. Under Portuguese influence Tete had become a market centre for
ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...
and
gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
by the mid-17th century. Given a Portuguese town charter in 1761, it became a city of the Portuguese
Overseas Province of Mozambique in 1959. After the
Portuguese Colonial War
The Portuguese Colonial War (), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the Portuguese Empire, former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan War of Independence, Angolan, Guinea-Bissau War of Independence ...
in Portuguese Africa and the April 1974
military coup in
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, the then Portuguese Overseas Province of Mozambique become an independent state. The newly independent
People's Republic of Mozambique
The People's Republic of Mozambique (Portuguese: ''República Popular de Moçambique'') was a socialist state that existed in present-day Mozambique from 1975 to 1990. It was established when the country gained independence from Portugal in June ...
, created in 1975 after the exodus of Mozambique's ethnic Portuguese, descended into
civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
between 1977 and 1992.
Transportation
Chingozi Airport
Chingozi Airport (or Matundo Airport) is an airport in Tete, Mozambique .
According to the BBC, a new airport may be built and the current one shut down to allow for coal mining activities.
Airlines and destinations
References
Airpo ...
on the northeastern side of the city has a 2.4 km paved runway. The one-kilometre-long
Samora Machel Bridge
Samora Machel Bridge is a bridge in Mozambique across the Zambezi River. It is named after Samora Machel, the former President of Mozambique.
It links Tete, the capital of Tete Province, to Moatize. The bridge also connects the countries of ...
, finished in 1973 by the Portuguese and designed by
Edgar Cardoso, is a vital link on the major highway linking not just the northern and southern parts of the country, but
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
and
Malawi
Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...
as well. A second bridge south of the city was opened in late 2014 to allow traffic to Zambia or Malawi to bypass the provincial capital. Tete's bridges, the rail
Dona Ana Bridge
The Dona Ana Bridge spans the lower Zambezi River between the towns of Vila de Sena and Mutarara in Mozambique, effectively linking the two halves of the country. It was originally constructed as a railway bridge to link Malawi and the Moatiz ...
, and the
Armando Emilio Guebuza Bridge
Armando Emilio Guebuza Bridge is a bridge in Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the n ...
at
Caia are the only bridges across the lower Zambezi.
Demographics
Projected to be the ninth fastest growing city on the African continent between 2020 and 2025, with a 5.56% growth.
Climate
Tete has a
hot semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...
(
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''BSh'').
Notable people
*
Francisca Chiponda
References
External links
Diocese of Tete
{{Authority control
Populated places in Tete Province
Provincial capitals in Mozambique
1531 establishments in the Portuguese Empire