who,
in 1907, was the first member of the Portuguese royal family to visit
Mozambique. Traditionally the Portuguese Crown prince carried the title of
Prince of Beira, a historical province of mainland Portugal. The Portuguese
built the port and a railway to Rhodesia, Portuguese families settled in the
newly-founded locality and started to develop commercial activities. With the
growth of the village, in 1907 the Portuguese Crown elevated Beira to the
status of city (
cidade). Since
1891 as the headquarters of the
Companhia
de Moçambique (Mozambique Company), the city's administration passed
from the trading company to the Portuguese government in 1942. In 1966, the
construction of a new railway station was completed. Before Mozambique's
independence from Portugal, as a city of Portuguese Mozambique, Beira was noted
for its well-equipped seaport, one of the major facilities of its kind in all
East Africa, tourism, fishing and trade. The city prospered as a cosmopolitan
port with different ethnic communities (Portuguese, Indian, Chinese, indigenous
Africans) employed in administration, commerce, and industry. A large
English-speaking population was the result of being a favourite holiday
destination for white Rhodesians. One reminder of this is the Grande Hotel,
built by the Portuguese, near the shore of the Indian Ocean. By 1970, the city
of Beira had 113,770 inhabitants.
After
independence from Portugal
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