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:''For the geographical name, see Maputo''
'Lourenço Marques' was a 16th century Portuguese trader.

Contents

Biography

Other uses

Sources and references

Biography

He explored the area that is now Maputo Bay in 1544. He settled permanently in present-day Mozambique, where he spent most of his life with his black wife and mixed-race children.
By order of King John III the bay was named 'Baia de Lourenço Marques' in his honor, although this name was never in common use.

Other uses

Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique, was named after him before Mozambique became independent from Portugal in 1975; it got its present name on 3 February 1976. It was the seat of the governor-general of Portuguese East Africa and gave its name to one of the six districts into which that colonial province was divided.

Sources and references

★ Harm J. De Blij, ''The Functional Structure and Central Business District of Lourenco Marques, Mocambique'', ''Economic Geography'', Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 56-77.

★ [Catholic Encyclopaedia]

★ [WorldStatesmen- Mozambique]