Xai-Xai

Xai-Xai is a city in the south of Mozambique and the capital of Gaza Province. Until 1975 it was named João Belo. It developed in the early 1900s under Portuguese rule as a companion port to Lourenço Marques, now Maputo, and as an agricultural and industrial centre handling rice and cashew, with a district hospital and banks. It stands on the Limpopo River close to the Indian Ocean, in a wide fertile plain where rice is grown, about 200 kilometres from Maputo. It was hit hard by the floods of 2000 that followed Cyclone Leon-Eline. Xai-Xai Beach, about 12 kilometres from the town, has a coral reef that protects it from strong waves, and the Wenela Tidal Pool lies two kilometres south of the town. In 2007 the city had a population of 116,343.