Manica is a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 has an area of 62,272 km² and a population of 1,945,994 (2017 census). The province is surrounded by

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 ...

to the west, Tete Province to the northwest, Sofala Province to the east, the Save River to the south, 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 ...

to the northeast.

Chimoio Chimoio is the capital of Manica Province in Mozambique. It is the fifth-largest city in Mozambique. Chimoio's name under Portuguese administration was ''Vila Pery''. Vila Pery developed under Portuguese rule as an important agricultural and t ...

is the capital of the province. The highest mountain in Mozambique, Mount Binga (2436 m), lies in this province on the border with

. The Manica province is divided into nine districts and 34 administrative regions.

History

The province was located in the old Manica kingdom which probably existed since medieval times and existed until the 19th century. Several larger towns in the region were founded before the Portuguese arrival. Later it came under Portuguese influence. The territory of the current province was part of the grant of the Mozambique Company, established in 1891. The territory came under direct control under the Portuguese colonial administration in 1942, the "District of Beira" was established, which came to be known as the "District of Manica and Sofala" in 1947. On 5 August 1970, this district was divided into "District Vila Pery" (the old name of Chimoio) and "District of Sofala". During the period of the transitional government (7 September 1974 to 25 June 1975) the District of Vila Pery was renamed "Province of Vila Pery" and later to its present name. In 2008, when the incumbent president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe lost the first round of the presidential elections, violence broke out in the country. This forced large number of people to flee to Manica. The province is headed by a provincial governor who is appointed by the President. Raimundo Diomba was the governor from 2005–07, Maurício Vieira from 2007 to 2010. Ana Comoana is the current provincial governor. Landmines are present in the province and deaths caused by them have been reported.

Demographics

Economy

The inhabitants practice

subsistence farming Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occ ...

. Main products are maize,

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

and goat meat. Agriculture is favoured by the high rainfall and mild climate. Cashews were once an important export product. Manica Province is rich in terms of gold, copper and base metal. Many farm workers from Zimbabwe have migrated to the province because of the conflicts in their country. The total number of such migrants is disputed and may range from 4,000 to 40,000.

Districts

Manica Province is divided into 12 districts: * Báruè District * Chimoio District * Gondola District * Guro District * Macate District * Machaze District * Macossa District * Manica District * Mossurize District * Sussundenga District * Tambara District * Vanduzi District In 2013, the Mozambican government created Chimoio and Macate districts from portions of Gondola District, and Vanduzi District from portions of Manica and Gondola districts.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Authority control Provinces of Mozambique