Cape Verde

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Coordinates: 15°06′40″N 23°37′00″W / 15.11111°N 23.61667°W / 15.11111; -23.61667
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For the surface feature on Mars, see Cape Verde (Mars).
Republic of Cape Verde
República de Cabo Verde
Anthem: Cântico da Liberdade
Location of Cape Verde
Location of Cape Verde
Capital
and largest city
Praia
Official languagesPortuguese
Recognised regional languagesCape Verdean Creole
Demonym(s)Cape Verdean
GovernmentRepublic
• President
Pedro Pires
José Maria Neves
Independence 
from Portugal
• Recognised
July 5 1975
Area
• Total
4,033 km2 (1,557 sq mi) (172nd)
• Water (%)
negligible
Population
• 2008 estimate
499,796 (165th)
• 2000 census
436,821
• Density
126/km2 (326.3/sq mi) (79th)
GDP (PPP)2006 estimate
• Total
$3.905 billion (157th)
• Per capita
$7,904 (90th)
HDI (2007)Increase 0.736
Error: Invalid HDI value (102nd)
CurrencyCape Verdean escudo (CVE)
Time zoneUTC-1 (CVT)
• Summer (DST)
UTC-1 (not observed)
Calling code238
ISO 3166 codeCV
Internet TLD.cv

The Republic of Cape Verde (Portuguese: Cabo Verde, 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 fifteenth century (though there may have been earlier discoveries), and attained independence in 1975.

Naming

Cape Verde is named after the original Portuguese form for Cap Vert (Cabo Verde, Green Cape) in Senegal, the westernmost point of continental Africa. The country's name can be pronounced many ways in English. Cape is pronounced like the article of clothing. Verde is generally pronounced to rhyme with "bird" or "Herd," though rhyming with "bear D" or "bear day" are also heard. "Cabo" is not used in English.

History

Main article: History of Cape Verde

Cape Verde was uninhabited when the Portuguese explorer, Diogo Gomes, arrived in 1460 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 hub of the trans-atlantic slave trade, that would later form the contemporary African Diaspora.

In 1975, Cape Verde achieved independence from Portugal after the PAIGC long armed struggle in the jungles of neighboring Guinea-Bissau and a military coup at Lisbon in April 1974, which overthrew the Estado Novo regime. Although there was no armed struggle in Cape Verde, some Cape Verdeans (number not known but likely to be some hundreds) who fought in Guinea-Bissau asked for independence of Cape Verde. The African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was the main entity responsible for the independence of Cape Verde. Moreover, the people's revolutionary armed forces of Cuba, though consisting of less than 50 guerrilleros, also played a role in the Cape Verdean independence armed struggle in Guinea-Bissau. In 1974, the PAIGC refused to hold a referendum (proposed by Portugal) to ask whether the Capeverdeans wanted to stay part of Portugal or to become an independent state. 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. As a result, the G, standing for Guinea-Bissau, in PAIGC was dropped, and the PAICV (African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde) was formed. In Cape Verde 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 was re-elected in 2006.

Politics

File:CaboVerde128463.jpeg
Current president of Cape Verde, Pedro Pires, meeting with Brazilian president Lula da Silva.
Main article: Politics of Cape Verde

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 multi-party system. Executive power is held 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.

Cape Verde has a Special Partnership status[1] with the EU and might apply for membership.[2]

Municipalities and parishes

Main article: Administrative divisions of Cape Verde

Cape Verde is divided into 22 municipalities (concelhos), and subdivided into 32 parishes (freguesias).

Geography

Main article: Geography of Cape Verde
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:

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).

Environment

The isolation of Cape Verde about 500 km (310 mi) 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),[3] and reptiles include the Cape Verde Giant Gecko (Tarentola gigas).

Charles Darwin gives a vivid description of the geology, climate, zoology and botany of the islands in the first chapter of his book The Voyage of the Beagle.

Climate

Tracks of Atlantic tropical cyclones

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 (2.7 in), with September being the wettest month with 33.6 mm (1.3 in). Conversely, the months April to July record less than one millimetre of rainfall each. The climate is arid, but Cape Verde's position in the Atlantic contributes to soften the aridity, that otherwise would be the same aridity as that in continental areas.

Many Atlantic hurricanes originate just east of Cape Verde on the African continent and pass via Cape Verde towards the Americas. Specifically, a hurricane that originates around Cape Verde is called a Cape Verde-type hurricane.

Economy

1000 CVE bank note issued in 1992
Main article: Economy of Cape Verde

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, which has led it to link its currency first to the Portuguese escudo and, in 1999, to the euro.

Former Portuguese prime minister José Manuel Durão Barroso, former (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.

In 2007 the United Nations graduated Cape Verde from the category of Least Developed Countries, only the second time this has happened to a country.[4]

Cape Verde has been on the list of the United Nations Small Island Developing States, and is considered a Developing country in economic terms.

On December 18, 2007, the General Council of the World Trade Organization approved a package for the accession of Cape Verde to the WTO. Accession became effective 30 days after ratification by Cape Verde, which took place on 23 June 2008.[5][6] The package requires Cape Verde to adapt some of its economic regulation. In particular, it will need to introduce a new Customs Code, and to introduce copyright and patent laws complying with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.[7][8] According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Cape Verde does not have legislation for industrial property, such as patents, trademarks, and industrial designs but does have a law on copyrights (Law No. 101/III/90, December 1990).[9] Pascal Lamy, director-general of the WTO said, "I am very pleased to welcome Cape Verde as a new member. This new membership will strengthen multilateral trading system. Being part of the WTO will enable Cape Verde to continue its integration into the world economy."[10]

Demographics

Local people from Santiago island
Population pyramid, 2005
Main article: Demographics of Cape Verde

Most inhabitants of Cape Verde are a genetic blend of Sub-Saharan Africans and Europeans, the Africans having been slaves and hailing mostly from Senegal, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. Cape Verdeans' European ancestors include Portuguese settlers and exiles, Portuguese Jews who were victims of the Inquisition, and Spanish and Italian seamen who were granted land by the Portuguese Empire. Many foreigners from other parts of the world settled Cape Verde as their permanent country. Most of them were Dutch, French, British, Arabs and Jews (from Lebanon and Morocco), Chinese (especially from Macau), Americans, All of these have been absorbed into the general Cape Verdean population.

The majority of the population adheres to Christianity, mostly Catholicism which constitutes some 90% of the population (in many areas Catholicism and traditional African religions are syncretised). The remaining includes a sizeable Protestant community as well as a small number of Bahá'í and Buddhist and even smaller Muslim groups.[11]

Cape Verde has been steadily developing[12] since its independence, and besides having been promoted to the group of "medium development" countries in 2007, leaving the Least Developed Countries category (which is only the second time it has happened to a country[13]), is currently the 5th best ranked country in Africa in terms of Human Development Index.

Cape Verdean diaspora

Main article: Cape Verdean diaspora

The Cape Verdean diaspora refers to both historical and present emigration from Cape Verde. Today, more Cape Verdeans live abroad than in Cape Verde itself, with significant emigrant Cape Verdean communities in the United States (500,000 Cape Verdeans, with a major concentration on the New England coast from Providence, R.I., to New Bedford, Mass.), Portugal (80,000) and Great Britain (UK) (est.40-70,000) Angola (45,000). There is also a significant number of Cape Verdeans in São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, France, Brazil, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Cape Verdean populations also settled in Spain, Germany, and other CPLP countries such as Guinea-Bissau.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Cape Verde

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 and a wide variety of dances: the soft dance Morna, and its modernized version, passada, the Funaná - a sensual mixed Portuguese and African dance, the extreme sensuality of coladeira, and the Batuque dance. These are reflective of the diverse origins of Cape Verde's residents. The term "Criolo" is used to refer to residents as well as the culture of Cape Verde.

Cape Verdean literature

Eugénio Tavares is one of the most well-known poets of the Cape Verdean literature
See also: List of African writers (by country) § Cape Verde

Cape Verdean literature is one of the richest of Lusitanian Africa.

Music

A group playing morna.
Main article: Music of Cape Verde

Cape Verde is known internationally for morna, a form of folk music usually sung in the Cape Verdean Creole, accompanied by clarinet, violin, guitar and cavaquinho. The islands also boast funaná and batuque music.

Cesária Évora is perhaps the best internationally-known practitioner of morna. Madonna was so inspired by her that she even purchased a house on the island of Sal.[citation needed]

Language

Main article: Cape Verdean Creole

Cape Verde's official language is Portuguese. It is the language of instruction and official acts. However, the Cape Verdean Creole is used colloquially and is the mother tongue of virtually all Cape Verdeans. Cape Verdean Creole or Kriolu is a dialect continuum of a Portuguese-based creole, which varies from island to island.

There is a substantial body of literature in Creole, especially in the Santiago Creole and the São Vicente Creole. Creole has been gaining prestige since the nation's independence from Portugal.

However, the differences between the varied forms of the language within the islands have been a major obstacle in the way of standardization of the language. Some people have advocated the development of two standards: a North (Barlavento) standard, centered on the São Vicente Creole, and a South (Sotavento) standard, centered on the Santiago Creole. Minister of Culture Manuel Veiga, PhD, a linguist by training, is the premier proponent of Kriolu's officialization and standardization.

Transportation

São Pedro airport in São Vicente island
Main article: Transportation in Cape Verde

TACV Cabo Verde Airlines is a scheduled and charter, passenger and cargo airline based in Cape Verde. It is the national flag carrier of Cape Verde, operating an inter-island service and flights to Europe, North America, South America and the West African mainland. Its main base is Sal Airport (SID), with a hub at Praia International Airport (RAI).

See also

References

  1. ^ Percival, Debra, "Cape Verde-EU ‘Special Partnership’ takes shape", The Courier, Commission of the European Communities publication, May 25, 2008
  2. ^ Cape Verde could seek EU membership this year
  3. ^ Endemic Bird Areas: Cape Verde Islands
  4. ^ "UN advocate salutes Cape Verde’s graduation from category of poorest States", UN News Centre, 14 June 2007.
  5. ^ "Cape Verde to join WTO on 23 July 2008", WTO: 2008 News Items, July 4, 2008.
  6. ^ "Cape Verde to join WTO on [[July 23]], 2008". WTO News. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  7. ^ WTO press release on Cape Verde's accession
  8. ^ Cape Verde's other accession commitments: Besides Market access for goods and services, WTO, 18 December 2007. "Intellectual property: Cape Verde would apply the TRIPS agreement by January 2013. In light of the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health, the provisions related to the scope and use of patents and the protection of undisclosed information would be implemented by January 2016."
  9. ^ WIPO, Legislative Profile of Cape Verde Intellectual Property Laws
  10. ^ "Cape Verde joins WTO". afrol News. 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  11. ^ Cape Verde - Religion
  12. ^ Cape Verde HDI Trend from the 2007 Human Development Report country fact sheet
  13. ^ "UN advocate salutes Cape Verde’s graduation from category of poorest States", UN News Centre, 14 June 2007.
  • Dr Marcel Gomes Balla of Boston University has written a short history of these islands, Antonio's Island, ISBN 1-898030-48-0.
  • Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

External links

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