Cabinda (Portuguese Congo)

Cabinda, formerly Portuguese Congo is an exclave and province of Angola, a status that has been disputed by many political organizations in the territory. Cabinda is separated from the rest of Angola by a narrow strip of territory belonging to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which bounds the province on the south and the east. Cabinda is bounded on the north by the Republic of the Congo, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean.

Portugal first claimed sovereignty over Cabinda in the February 1885 Treaty of Simulanbuco, which gave Cabinda the status of a protectorate of the Portuguese Crown. By the mid 1920s, the borders of Angola had been finally established in negotiations with the neighboring colonial powers and from then on, Cabinda was treated as part of this colony. The Portuguese constitution of 1933 distinguished between the colony of Angola and the protectorate of Cabinda but in 1956 the administration of Cabinda was transferred to the governor general of Angola.