Matola
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Matola is a city in the south of Mozambique, with a population of 440,927 (1997 census), and lies to the west of the country's capital, the city of Maputo. It is the capital of the province of Maputo and has had its own elected government, since 1998.
Matola is an industrial centre with an important port for mineral (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.
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.
[edit] Origin of the name
Matola, which is also a common family name, comes from Matsolo a Ronga kingdom that existed in this region when the colonists arrived.
[edit] Town twinning
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