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Cape Verde

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: African Countries;
Countries

   SOS Children works in Cape Verde. For more information see SOS Children
   in Cape Verde, Africa
                República de Cabo Verde
   Republic of Cape Verde

   Flag of Cape Verde National Emblem of Cape Verde
   Flag               National Emblem
   Anthem: Cântico da Liberdade
   Location of Cape Verde
          Capital        Praia
                         14°55′N 23°31′W
       Largest city      Praia
    Official languages   Portuguese (official)
                         and nine Portuguese Creoles
   Government            Republic
    - President          Pedro Pires
    - Prime Minister     José Maria Neves
       Independence      from Portugal
    - Recognized         July 5, 1975
                          Area
    - Total              4,033 km² ( 172nd)
                         1,557 sq mi
    - Water (%)          negligible
                       Population
    - July 2005 estimate 507,000 ( 165th)
    - 2001 census        401,343
    - Density            126/km² ( 79th)
                         326/sq mi
        GDP ( PPP)       2005 estimate
    - Total              $3.055 billion ( 158th)
    - Per capita         $6,418 ( 92nd)
        HDI  (2003)      0.721 (medium) ( 105th)
         Currency        Cape Verdean escudo ( CVE)
         Time zone       CVT ( UTC-1)
    - Summer ( DST)      not observed ( UTC-1)
       Internet TLD      .cv
       Calling code      +238

   The Republic of Cape Verde or Cape Verde (Portuguese: Cabo Verde, pron.
   IPA: ['kabu 'veɾdɨ]) is a republic located on an archipelago in the
   Macaronesia ecoregion of the North Atlantic Ocean, off the western
   coast of Africa. The previously uninhabited islands were discovered and
   colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th century.

   The country is named after Cap-Vert (meaning Green Cape), now in
   Senegal, the westernmost point of continental Africa.

History

   Cape Verde was uninhabited when the Portuguese arrived in 1456 and made
   the islands part of the Portuguese empire. Due to its location off the
   coast of Africa, Cape Verde became an important watering station, then
   sugar cane plantation site, and later a major centre of the slave
   trade.

   In 1975, the islands achieved independence, partly due to the efforts
   of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape
   Verde ( PAIGC). After independence, the PAIGC attempted to unite Cape
   Verde and Guinea-Bissau into one nation, the PAIGC controlling both
   governments, but a coup in the latter nation in 1980 ended these plans.
   In Cape Verde itself the PAICV (affiliated with the PAIGC) governed
   until democratic elections, held in 1991, resulted in a change of
   government. The Movimento para a Democracia (MPD) won that election.
   The MPD was re-elected in 1996. The PAICV returned to power in 2001,
   and were re-elected in 2006.

Politics

   Amílcar Cabral
   Amílcar Cabral

   Politics of Cape Verde takes place in a framework of a parliamentary
   representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Cape
   Verde is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system.
   Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is
   vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary
   is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Geography

   Cape Verde satellite image
   Enlarge
   Cape Verde satellite image

   Cape Verde is an archipelago off the west coast of Africa at 15.02N,
   23.34W. It is formed by 10 main islands and about 8 islets. The main
   islands are:
     * Barlaventos (northern island group)
          + Santo Antão
          + São Vicente
          + Santa Luzia
          + São Nicolau
          + Sal
          + Boa Vista
     * Sotaventos (southern island group)
          + Maio
          + Santiago
          + Fogo
          + Brava

   Of these, only Santa Luzia and the five islets are uninhabited.
   Presently it is a Natural Reserve. All islands are volcanic, but an
   active volcano only exists on one of the islands, Fogo (see Mount
   Fogo).

   The islets are Branco, Razo.

Environment

   The isolation of Cape Verde about 500 km from the African mainland has
   resulted in the islands having a large number of endemic species, many
   of which are endangered by human development. Endemic birds include
   Alexander's Swift (Apus alexandri), Raso Lark (Alauda razae), Cape
   Verde Warbler (Acrocephalus brevipennis), and Iago Sparrow (Passer
   iagoensis), and reptiles include the Cape Verde Giant Gecko (Tarentola
   gigas).

Climate

   Cape Verde is in the tropical zone. Average temperatures range from
   24°C (75°F) in January and February to 29°C (85°F) in September. The
   average annual rainfall for Cape Verde is 68.4 mm, with September the
   wettest month with 33.6 mm. Conversely, the months April to July record
   less than one millimetre of rainfall each.

Counties

   Counties of Cape Verde
   Enlarge
   Counties of Cape Verde
   An aerial view of Cape Verde
   Enlarge
   An aerial view of Cape Verde
   Cidade Velha
   Cidade Velha
   Porto Grande, the harbour of Mindelo, Sao Vicente Island
   Enlarge
   Porto Grande, the harbour of Mindelo, Sao Vicente Island
   An aerial view of the capital Praia
   Enlarge
   An aerial view of the capital Praia

   Cape Verde is divided into seventeen counties (concelhos, singular
   concelho), sometimes referred to as municipalities (municípios,
   singular município), listed roughly clockwise:
     * Santo Antão island:
          + Paúl
          + Porto Novo
          + Ribeira Grande
     * São Vicente
          + Santa Luzia island (included in S. Vicente municipio)
     * São Nicolau
     * Sal
     * Boa Vista
     * Maio
     * Santiago island:
          + Praia
          + Santa Catarina
          + Santa Cruz
          + São Domingos
          + São Miguel
          + Tarrafal
     * Fogo island:
          + São Filipe
          + Mosteiros
     * Brava

Economy

   Fishermen in Cape Verde
   Enlarge
   Fishermen in Cape Verde
   Sea salt mine in Cape Verde
   Enlarge
   Sea salt mine in Cape Verde
   Santo Antão, Cape Verde
   Enlarge
   Santo Antão, Cape Verde
   Sao Vicente, Cape Verde
   Enlarge
   Sao Vicente, Cape Verde
   Assomada.S.Catarina.
   Assomada.S.Catarina.

   Cape Verde is a small nation that lacks resources and has experienced
   severe droughts. Agriculture is made difficult by lack of rain, and is
   restricted to only four islands for most of the year. Most of the
   nation's GDP comes from the service industry. Cape Verde's economy has
   grown since the late 1990s, and it is now considered a country of
   average development. Cape Verde has significant cooperation with
   Portugal at every level of the economy, leading it to link its currency
   first to the Portuguese escudo, and, in 1999, to the euro.

   Former Portuguese prime minister José Manuel Durão Barroso, now (second
   semester 2004) president of the European Commission, has promised to
   help integrate Cape Verde within the European Union sphere of influence
   via greater cooperation with Portugal. In March 2005, former Portuguese
   president Mário Soares launched a petition urging the European Union to
   start membership talks with Cape Verde.

   Natural resources

   salt, basalt rock, limestone, kaolin, fish, clay, gypsum.

Demographics

   Most inhabitants of Cape Verde are mestiços, descendants of enslaved
   black Africans and white Portuguese settlers. Mestiços’ European
   ancestors also include Spanish and Italian seamen who were granted land
   by Portuguese Empire and followed by Portuguese settlers and exiles and
   Portuguese Jews who were victims of the Inquisition. The remainder
   includes mostly black Africans or Europeans (most Portuguese stepped
   out of the country after independence). Many foreigners from other
   parts of the world settled Cape Verde as their permanent country. Most
   of them were Dutch, French, British ( English), Arabs and Jews (from
   Lebanon and Morocco), Chinese (especially from Macau), Americans, and
   Brazilians (including people of Portuguese and African descent)
   settlers. All of these have been absorbed into the mestiço population.

   More Cape Verdeans live abroad than in Cape Verde, with significant
   emigrant Cape Verdean communities in the United States (500,000 Cape
   Verdians), Portugal (80,000) and Angola (45,000). There are also
   significant number of Cape Verdeans in São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal,
   France, Brazil and the Netherlands. Cape Verdean populations also
   settled Spain, Germany, and other CPLP countries (Brazil and
   Guinea-Bissau).

Culture

   The culture of Cape Verde reflects its mixed African and Portuguese
   roots. It is well known for its diverse forms of music such as Morna
   (like the Portuguese Fado) and the urban Angolan kizomba, and a wide
   variety of dances: the soft dance Morna, and its modernized version,
   pasada, the Funana - a sensual mixed Portuguese and African dance, the
   extreme sensuality of coladeira (literally "glued"), and the African
   Batuque dance. These are reflective of the diverse origins of Cape
   Verde's residents. The term "Cabo" is used to refer to residents as
   well as the culture of Cape Verde.

Cape Verdean literature

   Cape Verdean literature is one of the richest of Lusitanian Africa.
     * Poets: Frusoni Sergio, Tavares Eugénio, B.Léza, João Cleofas
       Martins, Luís Romano de Madeira Melo, Ovídio Martins, Barbosa
       Jorge, Fortes Corsino António, Baltasar Lopes (Osvaldo Alcântara),
       João Vário, Oswaldo Osório, Arménio Vieira, Vadinho Velhinho, José
       Luís Tavares, etc.
     * Authors: Manuel Lopes - Movimento Claridade, Almeida Germano, Luís
       Romano de Madeira Melo, Germano de Almeida, Orlanda Amarilis, Jorge
       Vera Cruz Barbosa, Pedro Cardoso, Mário José Domingues, Daniel
       Filipe, Mário Alberto Fonseca de Almeida, Corsino António Fortes,
       Arnaldo Carlos de Vasconcelos França, António Aurélio Gonçalves,
       Aguinaldo Brito Fonseca, Ovídio de Sousa Martins , Osvaldo Osório,
       Dulce Almada Duarte, Manuel Veiga
     * Poems in Portuguese: Cape Verdean Poems, Poesia
     * Cape Verdean Literature
     * Sopinha de Alfabeto
     * Famous tales: Ti Lobo and Chibinho

   postcard from Sao Vicente
   Enlarge
   postcard from Sao Vicente

Music

     * Música e Cabo-verdianos em Lisboa (Music portal)

   Composers

   Eugénio Tavares, Francisco Xavier da Cruz (B.Leza), Adalberto "Betu"
   Silva, Carlos Alberto "Kaka" Barbosa, Ano Nobu, Renato Cardoso, Amandio
   Cabral, Paulino Vieira, Code di Dona, Daniel "Nhelas" Spencer, Orlando
   Pantera, Daniel Rendall, Luís Rendall, Manuel de Novas , Vasco Martins,
   Jorge Fernandes Monteiro ( Jotamont), Malamba Caçanhé, Frank Cavaquim
   (Francisco Vicente Gomes)

   Genres

   Morna, Coladeira, Cola-Sanjon, Batuque, Funaná, Mazurca

Artists

   Antoninho Travadinha, Antoni Denti D'Oro, Ana Firmino, Arlinda Santos,
   Bana, Bulimundo, Bius, Bau, Boss AC, Blick Tchutche, Codé di Dona, Cabo
   Verde Show, Cesária Évora, Celina Pereira, Cordas do Sol, Dany Silva,
   Suzanna Lubrano, Daniel Rendall, Dom Clifton aka DECYFA, Eddy Moreno,
   Frank Mimita, Fantcha, Fernando Quejas, Fortinho, Ildo Lobo, Jorge
   Humberto, Jacqueline Fortes, Jorge Neto, José Casimiro, João Cirilo,
   Luís Morais, Leonel Almeida, Livity, Lura, Maria-Alice, Mayra Andrade,
   Marinho Silva, Maria de Barros, Malaquias, Nancy Vieira, Nácia Gomi, Os
   Tubarões, Orlando Pantera, Paulino Vieira, Raiss di Funaná, Gé Mendes,
   Tcheka, Teofilo Chantre, Titina, Tututa, Tulipa Negra, Tito Paris, Tó
   Cruz, Sara Tavares, Simentera, Splash, Gil Semedo, Grace Évora, Gilyto,
   Voz de Cabo Verde, Voz d'África, Voginha, Xema Lopi, Zeca Nha Reinalda,
   Zézé Nha Reinalda, Kiki Lima

Language

   Cape Verde's official language is Portuguese, and the language of
   instruction in official schools. However, the Cape Verdean Crioulo
   languages are also widely spoken. These are a range of Portuguese-based
   creole languages, which vary considerably from island to island.

   There is a substantial body of literature in these languages,
   especially in the Crioulo of Santiago (badiu) and the Crioulo of São
   Vicente (criol d' Soncent). The Crioulo languages have been gaining
   prestige since the nation's independence from Portugal, and there is a
   movement to make the variant of Santiago the official language of the
   country.

   However, the substantial differences between the languages spoken in
   different islands, each with its traditional spelling system, has been
   a major obstacle in the way of this move. Some people have advocated
   the development of two unformized official languages: a North
   (Barlavento) standard, centered on the Crioulo of San Vicente, and a
   South (Sotavento) standard, centered on that of Santiago.

Newspapers

   A SEMANA Nº 495, 2001/03/02.
   A SEMANA Nº 495, 2001/03/02.
     * A Semana (Praia, since 1991)
     * Espresso das Ilhas
     * Jornal O Cidadao (São Vicente)
     * Jornal Horizonte (Praia, since 1988)
     * Terra Nova (S.Vicente, 1975-)
     * Artiletra (S.Vicente, 1991-)

Online

     * A Semana
     * Infopress
     * O Cidadao
     * Paralelo 14
     * Visão News
     * O Liberal
     * Espresso da Ilhas
     * VozDiPovo-Online

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Verde"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
