The Treaty of Simulambuco was signed in 1885 by representatives of the Portuguese government and officials in the N'Goyo Kingdom. The agreement was drafted and signed in response to the Treaty of Berlin, which was an agreement between the colonizing European powers about how to divide up

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. The long-established Portuguese, not wanting to miss out on the

Scramble for Africa The Scramble for Africa was the invasion, conquest, and colonialism, colonisation of most of Africa by seven Western European powers driven by the Second Industrial Revolution during the late 19th century and early 20th century in the era of ...

involving territories near its own old possessions, began to colonize deeper than the numerous trading ports it had controlled on the African coast since the early 16th century. In contrast to the violent struggles between the Portuguese and some native peoples in

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

, the colonization of Cabinda was peaceful. Portugal first claimed sovereignty over Cabinda in the February 1885 Treaty of Simulambuco, which gave Cabinda the status of a protectorate of 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 n ...

under the request of "the princes and governors of Cabinda". Article 1 of the treaty, states, "the princes and chiefs and their successors declare, voluntarily, their recognition of Portuguese sovereignty, placing under the protectorate of this nation all the territories by them governed". Article 2, which is often used in separatist arguments, goes even further: "Portugal is obliged to maintain the integrity of the territories placed under its protection." The treaty was signed between the emissaries of the Portuguese Crown and the princes and notables of Cabinda, giving rise to three territories within the Portuguese protectorate of Cabinda: Cacongo, Loango and Ngoio. Cabinda was incorporated into the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire was a colonial empire that existed between 1415 and 1999. In conjunction with the Spanish Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa ...

separately from its larger southern neighbour

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

even though, at the time, the two were separated merely by the

Congo River The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...

and a strip of land of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2005, Cabindans celebrated the 120th anniversary of the treaty, to the annoyance of Angolan officials, who view the treaty as running counter to their claim that the territory is an

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

. This dispute over the treaty has led to an ongoing separatist conflict.Shantz, J. (2006). Cabinda: Africa s Forgotten War. ''UnderCurrents: Journal of Critical Environmental Studies''. 15 (Spring), 23-24.

Sources

1885 treaties Portuguese colonisation in Africa Simulambuco Simulambuco 1885 in Africa 1885 in Portugal 19th century in Angola Treaties with indigenous peoples {{Treaty-stub

See also

Sources