Beira (L4)

Name:Beira (Moc)

Google count:15,300,000 for Beira
Date: 23 July 2008

Historic fact:

Beira is the second largest city in Mozambique. It lies in the central region of the country in Sofala Province, where the Pungue River meets the Indian Ocean. It had a population of 412,588 in 1997 and an estimated 546,000 in 2006. It holds the regionally-significant Port of Beira which acts as a gateway for both the central interior portion of the country as well as the land-locked nations of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi. Beira was originally developed by the Portuguese Mozambique Company in the 19th century, and directly developed by the Portuguese colonial government from 1947 to 1975, when Mozambique become independent from Portugal.

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beira,_Mozambique

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Rail Stories:

By 1889 channel buoys marked the entrance to the Pungue estuary and six years later work began on the first landing stage. A wooden pier was also constructed to serve the railway, which was then under construction.

The railway was built to a narrow gauge (two foot) and reached Umtali (now Mutare) on the Rhodesian border in 1898, but was soon converted to the more practical Cape Gauge of 3ft 6ins (1067mm). The railway quickly became the lifeline of the port and for many years carried much of the cargo and passengers to and from the landlocked Rhodesias (now Zimbabwe and Zambia) as well as Nyasaland (now Malawi). During the UDI days of Rhodesia much of this traffic was lost to Beira and the port and town suffered accordingly. The civil war in Moçambique also took its effect, particularly with the loss through sabotage of the railway leading to Malawi and the mineral-rich Tete Province

More:
http://www.ports.co.za/beira.php