Republic of Cabinda

The Republic of Cabinda is the name adopted by the currently unrecognized secessionist government of Cabinda, presently an exclave of Angola.

Geography

Cabinda is a territory of 7,283 square kilometers in west central Africa with a population of 264,584 in 2006 (estimate), divided between four municipalities of Belize (17,693), Buco Zau (40,019), Cabinda (185,924) and Cacongo (20,948). It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Republic of Congo to the north, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) to the east and south. The DR Congo territory along the north bank of the Congo River separates Cabinda from the Angolan mainland. More than 20,000 people of Cabinda live in refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the Republic of CongoFact|date=June 2008.

Background

The Republic of Cabinda traces its claims to self-sovereignty to its initial status as a Portuguese protectorate, known as the Portuguese Congo. This protectorate had a separate history and legal status from that of the much larger Portuguese West Africa, dating to its inception on 19 September 1883. Also in the Treaty of Simulambuco and the Berlin Conference in 1885 Cabinda and Angola were treated as distinct entities. Its closest political predecessor was the iron age N'goyo kingdom, which sought voluntarily incorporation into the Portuguese Empire as a way of obtaining protection from hostile neighboring states.

From inception onwards, Cabinda experienced many changes of status within the Portuguese framework, oscillating between positions of relative autonomy and integration within the greater Colony (or Province) of Angola.

Relations with Angola

During the movement for Angolan independence in the 1960s, the situation became more complex. In May 1963 the OAU ranked Cabinda as the 39th state still to be decolonized and Angola as the 35th and one of the groups pushing for independence, FLEC, established a Cabindan government in exile in Kinshasa, declaring Cabinda's independence on August 1, 1975, but this was unrecognized by Portugal or other factions.

Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) troops entered Cabinda via Pointe Noire on November 11, 1975 and incorporated Cabinda into Angola proper as "Cabinda province." The Alvor Agreement, which set the terms of Angola's independence from Portugal, states that "Angola constitutes one indivisible unity. In this context, Cabinda is an integral and inalienable part of Angola." However, though signed by the three other main factions fighting for independence (MPLA, FNLA, and UNITA), the Alvor Agreement was not signed by representatives from the Cabinda exclave, nor by the FLEC.

ee also

*Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda