Mapai is a small town in southern Mozambique. It is a semi-arid region, with a dry climate and vegetation dominated by mopane and galleries of ironwood. Mapai is served by a station of the southern railway line which runs between Maputo and the Zimbabwe border at Chicualacuala. It is also an important road crossing, with the Chicualacuala-Maputo road meeting the road from Pafuri and the road to Banhine National Park.