Beira, Mozambique 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 in 1975, many white ethnic Portuguese left the city. Mozambique was ravaged by a civil war from 1977 to 1992, opposing Marxist FRELIMO, which controlled the government, to the rebels of RENAMO, descending to near total chaos in a couple of years. The famine, disease and poverty-stricken country collapsed. In Beira, the famous Grande Hotel was occupied by around 1,000
Transport in Mozambique total of 30,400 km of highways, of which 5,685 km was paved. There are 3,750 km of navigable waterways. Seaports on the Indian Ocean coast include: the merchant marine fleet consisted of three cargo ships of 1,000 gt or over, totaling 4,125 gt/. Two of these were Belgian-owned ships registered in Mozambique as a flag of convenience. there were 158 airports in total, 22 of them having paved runways. The main airport in the country is Maputo International Airport, which is also the hub of Mozambique's flag carrier, LAM Mozambique Airlines. Transport in Mozambique Modes of transport in Mozambique include