Richard AmmonPemba is a port city in northeast Mozambique. It was founded by the Niassa Company in 1904 as Porto Amélia, after a queen of Portugal. The city is renowned for its Portuguese colonial architecture. It was renamed Pemba at the end of Portuguese rule, in 1975.
The city’s inhabitants are primarily Makondes, Macuas and Mwanis. The local language predominantly spoken is known as Macua, although Portuguese is widespread. In the centre of Pemba, there is an authentic local market or Souk, where arts and crafts, as well as traditional silverware can be bought. Pemba is also renowned as being a prime destination for water sport and diving enthusiasts as a coral reef lies close to the shore. Pemba has increasingly become a tourist destination, particularly for upper-middle class Mozambicans and South Africans.
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