CABINDA ENCLAVE, ANGOLA: ITS ECONOMY AND SHIPPING POINTS

Markedly increased exploitation of the tropical timber resources has been a significant feature of postwar economic development in Western Africa. With increasing demand and wider acceptance of various species in the world markets, other western African areas turned more actively to logging and some of their ports became important as shippers of tropical timber. The Cabinda Enclave is one such area. That little-known part of Africa to the north of the Congo Estuary lies separated from the main body of Angola and is wedged in between two new republics of the Congo Basin: Congo (Brazzaville), until 1958 the Middle Congo territory of French Equatorial Africa, and Congo (Leopoldville), until 1960 the Belgian Congo. The Enclave has a land area of only 2,794 square miles, or 0.6 per cent of the total for Angola, and a population of about 50,000 or 1.2 per cent of Angola's total. Other commercial production of the Enclave includes robusta coffee, cacao, and oil and kernels from the abundant stands of wild elaeis palm. (Author)