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
History of rail transport in Mozambique Ocean north to Mocuba. It has no connection with any other railway lines. All of Mozambique's colonial railways were operated initially by chartered companies, for which the lines were one of their main sources of income, alongside the collection of taxes and profits from agriculture. Only in 1941 was the last concession company nationalized, thus bringing the railways under the total ownership of the Portuguese colonial authorities. In connection with the independence of Mozambique, the national railway company, "Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique", was founded on 25 June 1975. It was later renamed "Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique"