Matola

Matola
Municipal Council of Matola
Matola
Coordinates: 25°57′44″S 32°27′32″E / 25.96222°S 32.45889°E / -25.96222; 32.45889
Country	Mozambique
Provinces	Maputo Province
Municipality	Matola
Area
• Total	373 km2 (144 sq mi)
Elevation	3 m (10 ft)
Population (2014)
• Total	893,000
• Density	2,400/km2 (6,200/sq mi)

Matola is the largest suburb of the Mozambique capital, Maputo, and adjacent to it to the west. It is the nation's second most populated place. Matola is the capital of Maputo Province and has had its own elected municipal government since 1998. It has a port and also the biggest industrial area in Mozambique. The population of Matola is, according to the 2007 census, 675,422 inhabitants, having increased to a 2014 projected population (Instituto Nacional de Estatistica Moçambique) of 893,000.

Matola, which is also a common family name, comes from Matsolo a Ronga kingdom that existed in this region when the colonists arrived.

Matola is an industrial centre with an important port for minerals (chromium and iron) and other exports from Swaziland and South Africa. It has petroleum refineries (presently inactive) and diverse industries, which manufacture products like soap, cement, and agricultural materials. The most important of these is an aluminium smelter, installed in 2002, that more than doubled Mozambique's GDP. In November 2014, South Korean car company Hyundai Motor Company opened a plant in Matola, which manufactures the Hyundai i10 and Hyundai Accent.

Matola is served by a station on the southern network of Mozambique Ports and Railways. Coal is exported from here.

Matola is also the name of a small river (some 30 km long), that makes the northern border of the Matola municipality, and flows into Maputo Bay.