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cabo-verde

The Islands of Cabo-Verde are an archipelago of 10 islands and 5 islets in the Atlantic Ocean  500 kilometers (350 miles) off the coast west  África. The islands are divided into two groups.  The Windward Group consist of the islands of Santo  Antão,  São Vicente,  Santa Luzia, São  Nicolau, Sal  and  Boa Vista.  The Leeward Group consist of the islands of São Tiago, Maio, Fogo and Brava.    The capital of Cabo Verde is Praia, Located on the southern coast of São Tiago.  On July 5, 1975 the Republic of Cabo-Verde gained its independence.  Following a period of single party socialist rule, under the African Party for Independence of Cabo Verde (PAICV), the government held its first multiparty elections in 1991, and experienced a peaceful transition to multipartyism, when elections  brought  the Movement  for  Democracy  (MPD)  to  power.

Caboverdians are famous for their friendliness and hospitality. The climate is perpetually sunny and welcoming. Cool breezes provide for a natural air conditioner environment and great care has been taken to preserve and enhance the natural beauty. At the crossroad of the three continents that border the Atlantic, there is an obligatory stop in the middle of the ocean, the Archipelago of Cabo Verde. Located 450 km off the coast of Senegal, it is composed of 10 islands and 8 islets. Of volcanic origin and positioned between parallels 15 and 17 of the North latitude, Cabo-Verde is made up of two distinctly different types of islands. Its six inhabited islands, located more to the West, are characterized by their mountainous landscapes, whereas the remaining three are distinguished by their long sandy beaches.

The islands are divided into two groups named according to the trade winds that reach them from the African Continent: windward and leeward.  The first group consists of the islands of Santo Antão, The islands are divided into two groups named according to the trade winds that reach them from the African Continent: windward and leeward.  The first group consists of the islands of Santo Antão, São Vicente, Santa Luzia (unhabited), São.Nicolau, Sal, Boavista, and the second, more to the South, comprises the islands of Maio, São Tiago, Fogo and Brava. The sun spreads its warmth the whole year round, soothed by the fresh sea breeze. The climate is tropical and dry. The average temperature is approximately 25°C and changes do not exceed 10°C. With vast beaches that allow for all types of water sports, impressive mountains, high quality fish, various types of delicious seafood and the melodious beauty of its music, all distinguish Cabo-Verde as an exciting tourist destination.

please click on the      below to view the islands

HISTORY

When the Portuguese expedition arrived, the islands were not inhabited and showed no vestiges of what they had been formely.

The Cabo-Verde Islands were discovered by Portugueses navigators between 1460 and 1462. The strategic location of the islands in the Atlantic proved to be of considerable interest to Portugal, for they made it easier to ply sea routes between Europe, África and Brasil (thereby boosting Portuguese expansion), and allowed fuller exploitation of the slave trade, the most lucrative business in those times. The economy of Cabo-Verde developed with this macabre trafic in black men and women, but also went into decline with the abolition of slave trading in the 19th century. Existence on the islands become more dificult with he steady deterioration of the archipelago's environment, leading to  catastrophic period of famine. Cabo-Verde, with few resources, sunk into decline and began to live a subsistence economy.  A long time ago, therefore, emigratiom became the only outlet for the people in the islands, so that the emigrant Caboverdian population, estimated at some 800,000 people, easily exceeds the resident population, estimated at the nearly 410,000.

Europeans and africans living on the islands merged into a single people, the Caboverdian people, with a personality and way of  life very much their own, while the dialect emerged as the language of a mostly mistizo/mistiço people.

REPUBLIC OF CABO-VERDE

Although there had  been over decade of single party  rule under the PAICV, it had in fact operated a liberal system of single party rule in which oposition and dissent were tolerated.  Our new elected president, the honorable Pedro Verona Rodrigues Pires, took office on March 22, 2001.

Although there had  been over decade of single party  rule under the PAICV, it had in fact operated a liberal system of single party rule in which oposition and dissent were tolerated.

The cultural division with respect to Portugal, and the dissemination of nationalistic ideas, led bloodlessly  to independence of the archipelago on July 5th 1975.  it was then that a socialist, single-party regime was set up and it governed the fortunes of the country for sixteen years, implementing a non-aligned foreign policy.

Getting to know Cabo-Verde becomes a matter of nothing the hamonious blending of two radically different culrures, leaving no space for ethnic or religious conflicts develop.

The Caboverdian people are the result of Europeans and Africans, the earliest inhabitants of the archipelago.  This interracial co-existence  shows itself not only in the skin colour of the descendants, but is also evident in their customs and traditions,their religion, their cuisine and their language -- in short, in all that defines being Caboverdian.  The European and African heritage are also clear in Cabo-Verde's traditional festivals and music, while the mainly Catholic religion did not ecape other influences hailing from the neighbouring continent.  The language way of speaking came from the Portuguese and also  from african dialects to become a symbol of Caboverdian identity.

On the 13 of January1991 the country's fisrt free elections led to the final  establishment of multiparty system with all the institutions of a modern democracy.

Thanks to this policy, Cabo-Verde received aid both from USSR and China, on the one hand, and the  United States and the countries  of Western Europe, on the other..

Today Cabo-Verde is a country of political and social stability, with sights set on developing its economy.  For this reason it enjoys credit from overseas governments, companies, and financial institutions.

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Please click on stars Brava Boa Vista Fogo Maio Sal Santo Antão São Nicolau São Tiago São Vicente

cv president bio

class in concord

ambassador brito bio

to  sponsor a  child  in cabo-verde click on  picture

katrina relief

cv prime minister