Mutare

Mutare
City
Aerial view of Central Mutare (2001)
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Gateway to the Eastern Highlands, Zimbabwe's Gateway to the Sea
Motto: Justice and Freedom
Mutare
Coordinates: 18°58′S 32°38′E / 18.967°S 32.633°E / -18.967; 32.633Coordinates: 18°58′S 32°38′E / 18.967°S 32.633°E / -18.967; 32.633
Country	Zimbabwe
Province	Manicaland
District	Mutare
Founded	1897
Government
• Mayor	Tatenda Nhamarare
Elevation	1,120 m (3,675 ft)
Population (2012)Census Results in Brief
• Total	188 243
	estimated
Time zone	Central Africa Time (UTC+2)
Climate	Cwa
Website	City of Mutare

Mutare (known as Umtali until 1983) is the fourth largest city in Zimbabwe, with an urban population of approximately 188,243 and rural population of approximately 260,567. It is the capital of Manicaland province.

Although the city was founded in the late nineteenth century, the region has a long history of trading caravans passing through on the way to the Indian Ocean, from ports such as Sofala, to inland settlements, such as Great Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is also renowned for its soapstone carvings and figurines which are evidence of these trade routes, dating as far back as the late African Iron Age (c. 900 AD) right up to the colonial period. A large hoard of soapstone carvings, jewellery, weapons, sherds and other objects were found in the vicinity of Mutare at the beginning of the twentieth century - they were later donated by the trustees of Cecil Rhodes to the British Museum in 1905. The soapstone figures, which are both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic, may have been part of a votive offering, as they were discovered near what appeared to be an altar by the British archaeologist E M Andrews.

Mutare was founded in 1897 as a fort, about 8 km from the border with Mozambique, and is just 290 km from the Mozambican port of Beira, earning Mutare the title of "Zimbabwe's Gateway to the Sea". It is sometimes also called "Gateway to the Eastern Highlands". Many Zimbabwean locals refer to it as 'Kumakomoyo' (place of many mountains). There is a border railway station on the railway line from Harare to Beira with a railways mechanical workshop.

The area was the site of Chief Mutasa's kraal. In 1890 A.R. Coquhoun was given concessionary rights and Fort Umtali (the fort later became Mutare) was established between the Tsambe and Mutare Rivers. The word mutare originates from the word 'Utare' meaning iron (or possibly meaning gold). The name was probably given to the river as a result of gold being discovered in the Penhalonga valley through which the Mutare River runs.