An Introduction to Cape Verde:
Cape Verde, or the Republic of Cape Verde, is about 500km off the west coast of Africa, and is an independent colony, having established independence from Portugal in 1975 following the original discovery of, and colonisation of Cape Verde in the fifteenth century. However, the recognised language is still Portuguese.
Prior to the Portuguese discovering the islands, Cape Verde was entirely uninhabited, then rapidly became very important as a watering station, due to its convenient location. The islands also became significant through the production of sugar cane, and later, the slave trade. Today, most of the inhabitants are either descended from the early Portuguese settlers, or from African slaves who were brought there in the fifteenth century.
Cape Verde is more technically referred to as an archipelago, being a collection of 10 islands, and 8 smaller islets. The islands are divided into the northern and southern islands, in total covering just over 4000 square kilometres. The capital of Cape Verde is Praia (Portuguese for 'beach'), located in Santiago, one of the southern islands and home to 144,000 inhabitants. The name, 'Cape Verde' is taken from 'Cap Vert', which is on the most western point of the nearby continental Africa, and translates as 'Green Cape'.
Today, all of the islands except for Santa Luzia, and five of the small islets, are inhabited, although all islands remain a Natural Reserve. Because Cape Verde is isolated from the continent, many species of animal and in particular, birds, are unique to the islands, and with population growing at a record rate, many species are currently in danger, with numbers reducing significantly in recent years. The islands also hold much significance as volcanic islands, although only one volcano is still active, being Mount Fogo on the island of Fogo – located in the southern group of islands. Thus volcano last erupted in 1995. Only one village, situated at the base of the volcano, had to be evacuated. One of cape Verde's two airports is also to be found on this island. The other airport is situated on the island of Sal. The name of this island comes from the word 'salt', in recognition of the important salt mine in Pedra de Lume. Interestingly, this island was named Llana until the salt mines were discovered by the Portuguese.
The climate in Cape Verde is subtropical, with average rainfall from April to July reaching barely one millimetre. However, whereas its geographical position might otherwise lead it to be quite arid, it's position in the Atlantic means that the climate is significantly less dry than the neighbouring continent. Despite this, agriculture has suffered due to severe droughts, and currently only four of the islands support any form of farming, and even these are not fruitful throughout the whole year. In recent years, with increased interest in property development, the service industries of cape Verde have become its dominant source of income, and have helped it achieve a satisfactory level of growth, allowing it in 1999 to join the euro.