Beira, Mozambique until Mozambique gained its independence from Portugal in 1975. Beira is located on the Mozambique Channel, an arm of the Indian Ocean located between Madagascar and Mozambique. The city sits north of the mouth of the convergence of two major rivers of Mozambique: the Buzi River and the Pungwe River. The Buzi crosses across Manica and Sofala provinces to form a wide estuary. The Pungwe crosses from the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe also through Manica and Sofala provinces to Beira. The city was established in 1890 by the Portuguese and soon supplanted Sofala as the main port in the Portuguese-administered
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