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 Cape Verde| Facts & Figures |
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| President: Pedro Pires (2001) Prime Minister: José Maria
Neves (2001)
Total area: 1,556 sq mi (4,030 sq km) Population (2009 est.): 429,474 (growth
rate: 0.5%); birth rate: 23.5/1000; infant mortality rate:
41.3/1000; life expectancy: 71.6; density per sq km: 105
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Praia, 99,400 Other large city: Mindelo,
66,100 Monetary unit: Cape Verdean escudo More Facts & Figures |
GeographyCape Verde, only slightly larger than Rhode
Island, is an archipelago in the Atlantic 385 mi (500 km) west of
Senegal.
The islands are divided into two groups:
Barlavento in the north, composed of Santo Antão (291 sq mi; 754 sq
km), Boa Vista (240 sq mi; 622 sq km), São Nicolau (132 sq mi; 342
sq km), São Vicente (88 sq mi; 246 sq km), Sal (83 sq mi; 298 sq
km), and Santa Luzia (13 sq mi; 34 sq km); and Sotavento in the south,
consisting of São Tiago (383 sq mi; 992 sq km), Fogo (184 sq mi;
477 sq km), Maio (103 sq mi; 267 sq km), and Brava (25 sq mi; 65 sq km).
The islands are mostly mountainous, with the land deeply scarred by
erosion. There is an active volcano on Fogo.
GovernmentRepublic.
HistoryUninhabited on their discovery in 1456, the Cape
Verde islands became part of the Portuguese empire in 1495. A majority of
today's inhabitants are of mixed Portuguese and African ancestry.
Positioned on the great trade routes between
Africa, Europe, and the New World, the islands became a prosperous center
for the slave trade but suffered economic decline after the slave trade
was abolished in 1876. In the 20th century, Cape Verde served as a
shipping port.
In 1951, Cape Verde's status changed from a
Portuguese colony to an overseas province, and in 1961 the inhabitants
became full Portuguese citizens. An independence movement led by the
African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau (another former
Portuguese colony) and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was founded in 1956. Following
the 1974 coup in Portugal, after which Portugal began abandoning its
colonial empire, the islands became independent (July 5, 1975).
On Jan. 13, 1991, the first multiparty elections
since independence resulted in the ruling African Party for the
Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) losing its majority to the Movement for
Democracy Party (MPD). The MPD candidate, Antonio Monteiro, won the
subsequent presidential election, and was easily reelected in 1996. In
2001, Pedro Pires became president.
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