Sofala Province

Sofala
Province
Gogogo, the highest peak of the Gorongosa mountain complex
Sofala, Province of Mozambique
Country	Mozambique
Capital	Beira
Government
• Governor	Maria Helena Taipo
Area
• Total	68,018 km2 (26,262 sq mi)
Population (2007 census)
• Total	1,642,920
• Density	24/km2 (63/sq mi)
Postal code	21xx
Area code(s)	(+258) 23
Website	www.sofala.gov.mz

Coordinates: 19°0′S 34°45′E / 19.000°S 34.750°E / -19.000; 34.750

Sofala is a province of Mozambique. It has a population of 1,642,920 (2007 census).Beira is the capital of the province, named for the ruined port of Sofala which is 35 kilometres (22 mi) to the south.

Portuguese landholder and imperialist Joaquim Carlos Paiva de Andrada established a base at the river mouth at what is now Beira in 1884.

Sofala Province is one of the strongholds of the RENAMO. In late 1978 RENAMO guerrillas were "ranging into Sofala Province and launching attacks along the Beira–Chimoio road and rail line, the Dondo–Inhaminga corridor". Some of the more scarcely populated areas of the province are affected by landmines; defensive rings around villages were still common in some rural areas according to mid 1990s reports by Oxfam.

Sofala Province, in central-eastern Mozambique, covers an area of 68,018 square kilometres (26,262 sq mi). The province is bordered to the north by Tete Province, to the northeast by Zambezia Province, to the south by Inhambane Province, and to the west by Manica Province. Rivers flowing through the province include the Chiveve River, the Buzi River, the Save River, which flows along the Inhambane provincial border, and the Púnguè River, which flows into the sea at Beira. On the Urema River, a tributary of the Púnguè, the river forms the lagoon which are home to hundreds of hippopotamus. The valleys of the province are subject to flooding; in late January 2012, unusually heavy rain caused widespread flooding along the banks of the Púnguè and the Save, and other major rivers in Africa such as the Zambezi and Limpopo, leading over 100,000 people in total to be evacuated.