Mutare

About Mutare

Mutare, known as Umtali until 1982, is the capital and largest city in the province of Manicaland. It is the third-largest city in Zimbabwe. Having surpassed Gweru in the 2012 census, with an urban population of 224,802 and approximately 260,567 in the surrounding districts, Mutare adds to the wider metropolitan area a total population of over 500,000 people. Mutare is also the capital of Manicaland Province and the largest city in eastern Zimbabwe.

Located near the border with Mozambique, Mutare has long been a centre of trade and a key terminus en route to the port of Beira (in Beira, Mozambique). Mutare is hub for trade with railway links, pipeline transport and highways linking the coast with Harare and Zimbabwe's interior. Other traditional industries include timber, papermaking, commerce, food processing, telecommunications, and transportation. In addition the city serves as a gateway to the scenic Eastern Highlands, nearby Gorongosa National Park, and the Mozambique coast.

Although the city was founded in the late nineteenth century, the region has a long history of trading caravans passing through on the way to the Indian Ocean, from ports such as Sofala, to inland...

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.