Inhambane

Inhambane, town, southeastern Mozambique. The town is a commercial seaport on Inhambane Bay, an inlet of the Mozambique Channel (Indian Ocean). It is a market centre, and industry consists mainly in the processing of cashew nuts.

The surrounding region, with its subtropical climate and its physiography of littoral lowland, marshy rivers, and small lakes provides suitable conditions for rice production. Cashew trees and mafura trees (used for soap production) are commercially exploited. South of the Save River, grasses abound and cattle are raised by the Tsonga people, the dominant ethnic group in the region. The Chopi, another ethnic group, live primarily along the coast. Apart from rice and cashew nuts, the principal agricultural products of the region are copra, beans, and corn (maize). Pop. (2007 prelim.) 63,867.