- Cacheu
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Port. /kah"she oo/, n.a port in NW Guinea-Bissau. 134,108.
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town located in northwestern Guinea-Bissau. It lies along the south bank of the Cacheu River, near its mouth. Cacheu was made an official Portuguese captaincy in 1588, and it gained economic importance as a centre for the slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its importance declined in the early 19th century with the decline of the western African slave trade and the rising importance of Bolama, the capital of Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) until 1942. It is a small port town and provides a market for coconuts, palm oil, and rice produced in the surrounding coastal lowlands. Subsistence crops of millet, corn (maize), and sorghum are also grown in the area, and some of the land is used for grazing cattle, sheep, and goats. Phosphate deposits were discovered near Cacheu in the late 1970s. Pop. (2004 est.) 14,000.region located in northwestern Guinea-Bissau. The Cacheu River flows east-west through the region, and the Mansôa River, which also flows east-west, forms Cacheu's border with the neighbouring region of Biombo; both rivers empty into the Atlantic Ocean. The area around the mouth of the Cacheu River is mostly covered with mangrove forests. Surrounding the town of Cacheu, the regional capital, are coconut trees and subsistence crops (including millet, corn [maize], sorghum, and rice); some of the land is also used for grazing cattle, sheep, and goats. Phosphates are found near Cacheu, Barro, and Bigene towns. The Mandyako peoples are the main ethnic group; others are the Bram, Felup, and Bijagós. Cacheu town is connected by road with Bissau, the national capital. Pop. (2004 est.) 164,676.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
