On the northern bank of Espírito Santo Estuary of Delagoa Bay, an inlet of the Indian Ocean, Lourenço Marques was named after the Portuguese navigator who, with António Caldeira, was sent in 1544 by the governor of Mozambique on a voyage of exploration.

[14] The Luso-British conflict for the possession of Lourenço Marques ended on the 24th of July 1875 with Patrice de MacMahon, the French President, ruling in favour of Portugal.

In 1871, the town was described as a poor place, with narrow streets, fairly good flat-roofed houses, grass huts, decayed forts, and a rusty cannon, enclosed by a recently erected wall 1.8 metres (6 ft) high and protected by bastions at intervals.

A commission was sent by the Portuguese government in 1876 to drain the marshy land near the settlement, to plant the blue gum tree, and to build a hospital and a church.

[15] In the early 20th century, with a well equipped seaport, with piers, quays, landing sheds and electric cranes which enabled large vessels to discharge cargoes direct into the railway trucks, Lourenço Marques developed under Portuguese rule and achieved great importance as a lively cosmopolitan city.

Urban areas of Mozambique grew quickly in this period due to the lack of restriction on the internal migration of indigenous Mozambicans, a situation that differed from the apartheid policies of neighbouring South Africa.

[15] Before Mozambique's independence in 1975, thousands of tourists from South Africa and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) frequented the city and its scenic beaches, high-quality hotels, restaurants, casinos, and brothels.

[16][17] The Mozambique Liberation Front, or FRELIMO, formed in Tanzania in 1962 and led by Eduardo Mondlane, fought for independence from Portuguese rule.

The Mozambican War of Independence lasted over 10 years, ending only in 1974 when the Estado Novo regime was overthrown in Lisbon by a leftist military coup — the Carnation Revolution.

[citation needed] After the Carnation Revolution in Lisbon, over 250,000 Portuguese emigrated virtually overnight,[21] leaving Mozambique's economy and administration unmanageable.

In addition, authoritarian Stalinist policies and bureaucratic central planning made the newly independent country slip into an extremely precarious condition since the beginning, and so the economy plummeted.

Starting shortly after independence, the country was plagued by the Mozambican Civil War, a long and violent struggle between FRELIMO and RENAMO, which lasted from 1977 to 1992.

Undocumented residents of Maputo, the "parasitic" urban population, as well as individuals who displayed criminal behaviour, were forcibly transferred to state-owned communal farms and villages in the rural north of Mozambique.

[15][22] Since the peace agreement ending the civil war, which was signed in 1992, the country and the city has returned to its pre-independence levels of political stability.

After the Carnation Revolution (1974) military coup in Lisbon, Portuguese refugees fled in massive numbers close to the date of independence (1975), and the resultant lack of skills and capital, in the context of a fierce civil war and government mismanagement, contributed to its state of dereliction in the years following these events.

The rates for property in the city are high as investment increases, larger numbers of businesses are hoping to locate within easy reach of the airports, banks and other facilities.

[citation needed] Maputo faces many challenges, such as poor transport and drainage infrastructure, which have profound implications on people's livelihoods, particularly in informal settlements.

These systems would supposedly help the municipality control its budgets and manage tenders, while the GIS would allow for precise information about land location and titling to be kept.

[citation needed] In February 2011, president Armando Guebuza announced that the Vila Algarve would be restored to its former condition and the building transformed into a museum for the veterans of the civil war.

The initial surface of the new track, named Autódromo de Lourenço Marques did not provide enough grip and a crash in the late 1960s killed eight people and injured many more.

Since 2000, interest has been rekindled by the Automovel & Touring Club de Moçambique (ATCM) and several events including go-carting, drag racing and motocross are planned.

Trams lost favor in the second half of the 20th century as cars and buses became more common, and they have not been in use at all since 1936, although parts of some of the tracks can still be seen coming up through the tar in certain streets, like Av.

[49][50] Maputo had always been the center of attention during its formative years and this strong artistic spirit was responsible for attracting some of the world's most forward architects at the turn of the 20th century.

However, prominent architects such as Pancho Guedes fused this with local art schemes giving the city's buildings a unique Mozambican theme.

[citation needed] Additionally, many acacia trees that once lined the footpaths and gave the city its distinct identity have also been removed for unclear reasons.

Before television was introduced in 1981, film and cinema had a prominent position as a form of entertainment in the lives of Mozambicans especially in Maputo where there were at least a dozen movie theaters by the time of independence.

Black Mozambicans, although more heavily discriminated against, also enjoyed movies in makeshift theatres, often in rooms temporarily converted to handle a projector, screen and chairs.

The two best known and most influential contemporary Mozambican artists started their career at Núcleo de Arte, the painter Malangatana Ngwenya and the sculptor Alberto Chissano.

Over one hundred painters, sculptors and ceramists are members of the Núcleo, which regularly stages exhibitions on its own premises and over the last few years has actively participated in exchanges with artists from abroad.

In the early 1990s, a section of the hospital was divided and turned into a private clinic offering higher quality services for those who could afford it called the Clínica Especial de Maputo.