Maputo has a healthful climate, tempered by sea breezes. The city has a natural history museum and a university (1962). Its fine bathing beaches made it a popular resort for white South Africans and Rhodesians before Mozambique became independent in 1975; thereafter, revenues from tourism, once a major economic factor, virtually ended.

The port, one of the most important in East Africa, before independence handled transit trade from the mines and industries of South Africa, Swaziland, and Rhodesia, with which it has rail and road connections. After the frontier with Rhodesia was closed, and as Mozambique–South African relations became increasingly strained, the port suffered. Local industries include brewing, shipbuilding and repair, fish canning, iron working, and the manufacture of cement, textiles, and other goods. Pop. (1989 est.) 1,069,727.