The city is located in the interior of Nampula Province, approximately 200 kilometers from the coast and is surrounded by plains and rocky outcrops.

The city has a small international airport connecting to Nairobi in Kenya, Johannesburg in South Africa, Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania and is a hub for local transport in northern Mozambique.

Nampula is the centre of business in Northern Mozambique,[2][3] benefitting from highly productive agricultural areas, proximity to the Nacala Development Corridor, and a fast-growing city population.

[4] Nampula is home to the Mozambican National Ethnographic Museum, several markets, cathedrals, mosques, universities, training institutes and schools.

The name "Nampula" is said to be derived to the eMakhuwa word "Whampula", which according to local legend refers to a tribal leader of the area in the past.

During the Mozambican War of Independence, Nampula was a strategic military centre for the colonial army in the fight against the FRELIMO liberation movement.

After a few years of migratory slow‐down, the growth of the city resumed, as the rapid economic development of Mozambique materialized mostly in the urban areas.

[2] Nampula, in the post‐war period, developed into a major Mozambican growth centre, attracting an increasing number of public and private investments in a wide range of economic and social areas.

An opposition party, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), won the 2013 municipal elections, led by Mahamudo Amurane.