António de Campo, one of the captains of the famously successful Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, had in 1502 discovered Delagoa Bay (now Maputo Bay), an inlet of the Indian Ocean on the coast of the extreme southeastern part of present-day Mozambique.

Lourenço Marques, after exploring the upper reaches of the estuaries leading into the bay, establishes an eponymous settlement in 1544, situated on a large natural harbor and peopled with the Portuguese trader's native wife and mixed-race children.

Today the capital and largest city of Mozambique, its economy centered around the harbor, Maputo, the former Lourenço Marques, has an official population of approximately 1,244,227 (2006), but the actual population is estimated to be much higher because of slums and other unofficial settlements.