Maputo vs Xai-Xai
Tree cover and air quality for both, measured the same way: Sentinel-2 imagery at 10 m detail over a 2 km radius from each city centre, and the live US EPA air quality index. Same radius and same index, so the two numbers compare directly.
Xai-Xai has more tree cover — 62.9% against 11.4%.
Maputo has cleaner air right now — AQI 13 against 41.
- Tree cover gap
- 51.5 points
- Xai-Xai is ahead.
- Air quality gap
- 28 AQI
- Maputo is cleaner.
- Trees between them
- 159K
- Xai-Xai has more standing.
Tree cover
Share of the 2 km radius under canopy.
11.4%
62.9%
Air quality index
US EPA index, live, with its band. Lower is better.
13 · Good
41 · Good
Trees standing
Estimated from the measured canopy area.
33.2K
192K
Trees still needed
To reach the same canopy target. Fewer is better.
54.1K
0
CO₂ absorbed each year
By the trees already standing.
730K kg
4.2M kg
Air quality in detail
What each city is breathing
Concentrations in µg/m³, measured at the same moment as the index above. Lower is better in every row. Maputo is read from nearby ground stations and Xai-Xai is modelled — worth knowing, since the two are not quite like for like.
PM2.5
Fine particles, the pollutant that usually sets the index.
3 µg/m³
9.8 µg/m³
The last week, day by day
A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon. The week says whether it was the weather or the place.
| Day | Maputo | Xai-Xai |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Sept | 45 | 39 |
| 23 Sept | 41 | 38 |
| 24 Sept | 51 | 23 |
| 25 Sept | 33 | 33 |
| 26 Sept | 39 | 37 |
| 27 Sept | 46 | 35 |
| 28 Sept | 38 | 44 |
Reading these numbers
What is actually being measured
Tree cover
The share of ground under canopy inside a 2 km radius of each city centre, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It is a measurement of that circle, not of the whole municipality — which is exactly what makes the two comparable, since city boundaries are drawn to wildly different rules around the world. Xai-Xai leads here at 62.9%.
Air quality index
The live US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations — ground stations where a city has them nearby, and a model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so this is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place: Maputo reads 13 (good) and Xai-Xai reads 41 (good) right now.
Frequently asked
Maputo and Xai-Xai, answered
Which has more trees, Maputo or Xai-Xai?
Xai-Xai, with roughly 192,271 trees inside its 2 km radius against 33,164. Tree cover tells a slightly different story from raw count: Xai-Xai has the denser canopy at 62.9%.
Which has better air quality, Maputo or Xai-Xai?
Maputo right now, at AQI 13 against 41 — a gap of 28 points. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day.
How many more trees does each city need?
Maputo needs about 54,110 more to reach its canopy target, and Xai-Xai about 0. The target is the same share of ground for both, so the figures are directly comparable.
Are these two measured the same way?
Yes — that is the point of the page. Identical radius, identical satellite source at 10 m detail, and the same US EPA index for air. Nothing here is adjusted for population, city limits or climate, so the numbers describe the same-sized circle of ground in each place.
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