Cacheu is a town in northwestern

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ), ...

, lying on the

Cacheu River The Cacheu is a river of Guinea-Bissau also known as the Farim along its upper course. Its total length is about 257 km. One of its major tributaries is the Canjambari River. Course Its headwaters are near the northern border of the country, ...

. Its population was estimated to be 9,849 .

History and landmarks

The town of Cacheu is situated in territory of the

Papel people Papels also known as Moium, Oium, Papei, Pepel or Pelels, are an ethnic group primarily located in Guinea Bissau, though are also found in Casamance (Senegal) and Guinea. Its population in Guinea Bissau is 183,000, with 9,000 living outside of th ...

. The name is of Bainuk origin: "i.e. ''Caticheu'', meaning 'the place where we rest'." Founded in 1588, Cacheu was one of the earliest European colonial settlements in sub-saharan Africa, due to its strategic location on the Cacheu river. Cacheu developed a European/Afro-European population from the late fifteenth century through informal settlement of Cape Verdian and Portuguese traders, adventurers and outcasts (''

lançados The ''lançados'' (literally, ''the thrown out ones'' Pardue 2015: p. 42 or ''the cast out ones'') were settlers and adventurers of Portuguese origin in Senegambia, Cabo Verde, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and other areas on the coast of West Africa. M ...

''). The authorities in mainland

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

also sent to Cacheu '' degredados'' - people condemned to exile for a variety of offences. For most of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Cacheu was the official slave trading point for the Portuguese in the Upper Guinea region - the point at which the

Portuguese crown This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Through the ne ...

endeavoured to ensure that duties on all slaves exported were paid. Multiple companies were established to facilitate the trade of slaves from Cacheu to the New World, including that of the Company of Cacheu and Rivers and Commerce of Guinea. Notable buildings in Cacheu include the Portuguese-built 16th century

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, dating from the period when Cacheu was a centre for the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

Cacheu Today

Roads in the town are paved with

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm '' Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its co ...

kernels. Other attractions in the town include the Tarafes de Cacheu Natural Park mangrove swamp and a regular market.

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Cacheu is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Lisbon, Portugal

References

{{Authority control Cacheu Region Populated places in Guinea-Bissau Former Portuguese colonies Sectors of Guinea-Bissau Populated places established in 1588