Chimoio, city in central Mozambique, capital of Manica province. Chimoio, known during the Portuguese colonial era as Vila Pery, is located 170 km (106 mi) west-northwest of Beira, along the Beira corridor, which is the main rail and road connection linking Beira and Harare, Zimbabwe. Chimoio is a regional administrative, commercial, and transportation center. Industrial facilities include a large textile mill, cotton and sisal processing plants, sawmills, and steel factories. Energy is provided by nearby small hydroelectric installations at Chicamba and Mavuzi. The city has a large military base. Chimoio, which gained municipal status in 1956, grew as a result of Portuguese settlement of the fertile agricultural region nearby. Carefully planned, and with attractive Portuguese architecture, Chimoio is often called Mozambique's most beautiful city. During the 1970s Chimoio was attacked by armed forces from neighboring Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). During the 1980s Chimoio's surrounding district suffered attacks by the antigovernment guerrillas of the Mozambique National Resistance (Resistência Nacional Mocambicana; known as Renamo). Both waves of violence increased the city's population through refugee migration but hindered its economic development. Population (1991) 105,818.
