In 1490 Cabinda consisted of a small settlement of fishermen and hunters living along the seashore. From around 1530 onward it became the most important maritime outlet of the
Kingdom of Cacongo, From the 17th century onward Cabinda gradually became a commercial settlement, with the presence of a Portuguese trading post established in 1620 for the trade of enslaved people,
lubongo cloth, salt and timber. In 1783 the Portuguese reached an agreement with the authorities of Cacongo for the construction of the
Fort of Santa Maria de Cabinda. The fort was destroyed the following year after a joint incursion by the
Angoio, Cacongo and France. The attack was successful but ushered in a period of instability for the locality until the end of the
Napoleonic Wars, when the Kingdom of Angoio began a process of political fragmentation and distanced itself from the city of Cabinda. The definitive end of the slave trade through the Cabinda port in the 1840s exposed the financial difficulties of the Kingdom of Cacongo, which became increasingly dependent on trade with the
Fortaleza de Cabinda and on the busy local port that handled fish, textiles, salt and timber. On 1 February 1885, seven kilometers north of the city center—where a monument now stands—the
Treaty of Simulambuco was signed, recognizing the Cabinda region as a Portuguese
protectorate. In 1885 it began to be referred to as Porto Rico. In 1887 Cabinda became the seat of an administrative district. In 1975, on the eve of national independence, intense fighting occurred in the Antó-Iema border battle against the joint forces of the
National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) and the
Zairean army. After repelling the border incursion, MPLA forces engaged in the Battle of Morro do Chizo in the southern area of Cabinda against FNLA units positioned on the banks of the Lucola River, defeating their rivals. The city of Cabinda thus became the focus of the main military efforts in the province between 1974 and 1976, particularly in the Battle of Morro do Chizo, and became a heavily fortified military point, serving as the main base of the
Angolan Armed Forces during the
Cabinda conflict. After the victory of the Angolan state in 1976, the
Cabinda conflict moved away from the capital and was reduced to sporadic actions near the border with the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. To demonstrate the city's capacity for organization and integration, the Angolan government held the First Anti-Imperialist Solidarity Sports Games in February 1976 in Cabinda and three other provincial capitals. This was the first sporting event in which Angola participated with its own teams and the first international event hosted by Angola, receiving athletes and delegations from six countries. On 21 April 1990, after more than a decade of relative calm, a grenade attack occurred at a market in Cabinda, injuring 24 people. The
Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) claimed responsibility. In July 1999 Cabinda hosted, for the first time, a continental sporting event, the
African Men's Basketball Championship (AfroBasket '99), where the
Angola men's national basketball team won the title. Another major sporting event held in the city was the
2010 Africa Cup of Nations, centered on Cabinda's largest and most modern sports facility, the
Estádio Nacional do Chiazi. However, FLEC used the occasion to carry out a terrorist attack,
attacking the bus transporting the
Togo national football team, killing the driver, a member of the technical staff and a journalist. The administrative-territorial reform of 2024 caused Cabinda to cede part of its territory to create the municipalities of
Liambo and
Angoio. ==Geography==