Cabinda, also known as Chioua,[2] is a city and a municipality located in the Cabinda Province, an exclave of Angola. Angolan sovereignty over Cabinda is disputed by the secessionist Republic of Cabinda. The city of Cabinda had a population of 550,000[3] 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.[4][5]
Quick Facts Chioua, Country ...
Close
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%[7]
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.
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,[8] 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.[9]
Since Portugal colonized Cabinda later than the rest of Angola, Portuguese, the official language of Angola, is not yet widely spoken, although Portuguese speakers are rapidly growing in number. Portuguese is used mostly in official or administrative settings. It is Ibinda, a Bantu language, that is the primary language of both the city and province of Cabinda.[5]
LaGamma, Alisa (2015). Kongo – Power and Majesty. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
"Cabinda". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. 2014. Archived from the original on 2011-02-08. Retrieved 2014-06-21. "Cabinda" (in Portuguese). Luanda, Angola: Info-Angola. 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-11-25. Retrieved 2014-05-21.