Cabinda, also known as Chioua, is a city and a municipality located in the Cabinda Province, an exclave of

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. Angolan sovereignty over Cabinda is disputed by the

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

ist Republic of Cabinda. The city of Cabinda had a population of 550,000 and the municipality a population of 624,646, at the 2014 Census. The residents of the city are known as ''Cabindas'' or ''Fiotes''. Cabinda, due to its proximity to rich oil reserves, serves as one of Angola's main oil ports.

History

The city was founded by the Portuguese in 1883 after the signing of the Treaty of Simulambuco, in the same period as the Berlin Conference. Cabinda was an embarkation point for slaves to Brazil. There are considerable offshore oil reserves nearby.

Geography

Cabinda is located on the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

coast in the south of Cabinda Province, and sits on the right bank of the

Bele River Bele may refer to: * Bele language * Bale Robe, town and separate woreda in south-central Ethiopia * Bele (Wolaita), administrative centre of Kindo Koysha, woreda in Wolaita, Ethiopia * Bele, Saint-Louis-du-Sud, Haiti, a village in the Aquin arr ...

. It is north of

Moanda Moanda is one of the largest towns in Gabon, lying on the N3 road in Haut Ogooué. It is also one of the most important manganese mining towns in the world, under the auspices of the '' Compagnie Minière de l'Ogooué'' (COMILOG), which beg ...

(

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

), north of

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

estuary and south of

Pointe-Noire Pointe-Noire (; kg, Njinji, french: Ndjindji with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department since 2004. Befor ...

( Rep. Congo).

Districts

The city of Cabinda is divided into three districts, or ''comuna'': *Cabinda, the city seat, with 88.6% of the population the city *Malembo, with 3.1% *Tando-Zinze, with 8.3%

Education and science

Cabinda is home to two public higher education institutions, namely the 11 de Novembro University and the Higher Institute of Education Sciences of Cabinda. In addition, it has campuses of the Lusíada University and the Private University of Angola.

Culture

The city's population has a distinctive culture from its way of dressing and eating to traditional rituals, especially Chicumbe and celebrated ceremonies of ''Bakamas do Tchizo'', a traditional ritual that enables the interaction between the living and the occult spirits of the gods and the ancestors, thus ensuring the reconciliation between the dead and the living.

Language

Ibinda Ibinda (also ''Kibinda'', ''Chibinda'', ''Tchibinda'', ''Cibinda'') is ostensibly a Bantu language or a dialect group spoken in the Angolan province and exclave of Cabinda. Ibinda is Western Kongo ( Guthrie: H16d) as it is spoken in Cabinda. ...

, a

Bantu language The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. T ...

, is the primary language of both the city and province of Cabinda. Portuguese, the official language of Angola, is also spoken, though mostly as an administrative role. Since Cabinda was colonized relatively later (late nineteenth century) by Portugal compared to most of Angola, Portuguese is not as widely spoken, though language speakers are rapidly growing in number.

Transport

In 2012, a proposed railway connection to the main Angolan system has to cross territory of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

Notable people

* Eduardo Camavinga (born 2002), French football player

References

Bibliography

External links

Profile of Cabinda Municipality
* {{Authority control Provincial capitals in Angola Populated places in Cabinda Province Port cities and towns in Angola Municipalities of Angola