thumb|300px|maputo bay from space, january 1990 maputo bay (baÃ­a de maputo), formerly delagoa bay, baÃ­a da lagoa (in portuguese) is an inlet of the indian ocean on the coast of mozambique, between 25Â° 40' and 26Â° 20' s, with a length from north to south of over 90&nbsp;km long and 32&nbsp;km wide.maputo and delagoa bay ==description== the bay is the northern termination of the series of lagoons which line the coast from saint lucia bay. the opening is toward the n.e. the southern part of the bay is formed the machangulo peninsula, which on its inner or western side affords safe anchorage. at its n.w. point is port melville. north of the peninsula is inhaca island, and beyond it a smaller island, "ilha dos portugueses" (the portugueses' island), formerly known as elephants island. in spite of a bar at the entrance and a number of shallows within, maputo bay forms a valuable harbour, accessible to large vessels at all seasons of the year. the surrounding country is low and very unhealthy, but the island of inhaca (inyak) has a height of 73&nbsp;m, and is used as a sanatorium. a river 3.7 to 5.5&nbsp;m deep, known as the manhissa or komati, enters the bay at its northern end; several smaller streams, the matola (from the north), the umbeluzi (from the west), and the tembe (from the south), from the lebombo mountains, meet towards the middle of the bay in the estuary called by the portuguese the espÃ­rito santo, but generally known as the english river; and the maputo, which has its headwaters in the drakensberg, enters in the south, as also does the umfusi river. these rivers are the haunts of the hippopotamus and the crocodile. ==history== the bay was discovered by the portuguese navigator antÃ³nio de campo, one of vasco da gama captains, in 1502. in 1544 the merchant trader lourenÃ§o marques explored the upper reaches of the estuaries leading into the bay. subsequently king john iii ordered the bay to be named baia de lourenÃ§o marques. lourenÃ§o marques is reputed to have named the bay baÃ­a da lagoa (portuguese: "bay of the lagoon"). in english the portuguese "baia da lagoa" then was translated and slightly transformed to "delagoa bay". in 1720 the dutch east india company built a fort and factory called lijdzaamheid (lydsaamheid) on the spot of lourenÃ§o marques (now maputo), since april 1721 governed by an opperhoofd (chief factor), under authority of the dutch cape colony, interrupted by taylor's pirate occupation from april 1722 to 28 august 1722; in december 1730 the settlement was abandoned. thereafter the portuguese hadâintermittentlyâtrading stations in the espÃ­rito santo estuary. the
Former_Dutch_colonies Geography_of_Maputo