Gaza Province

Gaza is a province of Mozambique with an area of 75,709 square kilometres and a population of 1,422,460 at the 2017 census, which makes it the least populous province in the country. Xai-Xai is its capital. It borders Inhambane Province to the east, Manica to the north, Maputo Province to the south, South Africa to the west and Zimbabwe to the northwest. The name comes from the Gaza Empire, whose last emperor, Ngungunhane, refused to sign treaties recognising Portuguese sovereignty and was confronted by Portuguese forces at Coolela on 7 November 1895. Most of the province lies in the basin of the Limpopo River, which flows through it to the Indian Ocean near Xai-Xai. The Limpopo railway crosses it, and Limpopo National Park and Banhine National Park lie within it. Xai-Xai and Chokwe were badly affected by the floods of 2000 that followed Cyclone Leon-Eline.