Lichinga

Lichinga is the capital of Niassa Province in northern Mozambique, standing on the Lichinga Plateau at about 1,360 metres, east of Lake Niassa (Lake Malawi). The Portuguese colonial administration founded it in 1931 as Vila Cabral, a farming and military settlement laid out for rapid growth, and made it a city in 1962. After independence in 1975 it was renamed Lichinga. Its altitude gives it a cool subtropical highland climate, with a dry season from May to September and heavy rain from December to March. The Yao form about 40 percent of the population, and a railway branch from the port of Nacala ends here.