Cacheu
Encyclopedia
Cacheu is a town in north western Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau
The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....

, lying on the Cacheu River. Population 9,849 (2008 est).

History and landmarks

The town of Cacheu is situated in territory of the Papel people.

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 Portugues traders, adventurers and outcasts (lancados
Lançados
The Lançados were settlers and adventurers of Portuguese origin in Senegambia, the Cape Verde Islands and other areas of the West Africa. Many were Jews escaping persecution from the Portuguese Inquisition, and many had wives from the local African groups...

). The authorities in mainland Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 also sent to Cacheu degregados - 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
Upper Guinea
Upper Guinea or la Haute-Guinée is a large plain covering eastern Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and extending into north western Côte d'Ivoire. Mostly forming the upper watershed of the River Niger, it is sparsely populated and is home to the Haut Niger National Park.Upper Guinea can also refer to...

 region - the point at which duties on all slaves exported had to be paid.

Notable buildings in Cacheu include the Portuguese-built 16th century fort, dating from the period when Cacheu was a centre for the slave trade.

Cacheu Today

Roads in the town are paved with oil palm
Oil palm
The oil palms comprise two species of the Arecaceae, or palm family. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African Oil Palm Elaeis guineensis is native to West Africa, occurring between Angola and Gambia, while the American Oil Palm Elaeis oleifera is native to...

 kernels. Other attractions in the town include the Tarafes de Cacheu Natural Park mangrove swamp
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...

 and a regular market
Market
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...

.
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