Cap Vert
| Cap-Vert | ||
 Cap Vert |
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| Geographical location | ||
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| Coordinates | 14 ° 45 ′ N , 17 ° 31 ′ W | |
| Waters 1 | Atlantic Ocean | |
| length | 15 km | |
The Cap-Vert ( French ), literally “Green Cape”, means on the one hand the westernmost tip of continental Africa , which is at 14 ° 45 'north latitude and 17 ° 31' west longitude, and on the other hand also the entire Cap-Vert peninsula , on which the metropolis of Dakar with its suburbs lies as the metropolis of Senegal . The westernmost point of Cap Vert is known as the Pointe des Almadies . The cape forms a barren peninsula made of volcanic rock, which is often covered with drifting sand and only provides food for a thin layer of plants.
The north coast of the Cap-Vert peninsula is part of the Grande-Côte and is accompanied by the cold sea water of the Canary Current , while the south coast to the Baie de Gorée as Petite-Côte benefits from the warm ocean current of the equatorial current . Both coastlines run expansively towards each other at an almost right angle to the west. Beyond this imaginary right angle, the two legs of which come together at Rufisque, the Cap-Vert peninsula pushes for another 30 kilometers to the west into the Atlantic. It initially forms an isthmus , the two coastlines of which approach each other within 4.6 kilometers, before the end of the peninsula forms a nine-kilometer wedge-shaped protrusion to the south, which ends at Cap Manuel and the Baie de Gorée and the Rade de Dakar with it protects the island of Gorée and the seaport of Dakar from wind and waves.
Starting from the port area, the urban area of the capital Dakar has gradually expanded over the entire western part of the peninsula with increasing population growth . Even Ngor , the westernmost town on the African continent, is now a district of Dakar.
Near the cape, on the twin basalt cones of Les Mamelles , the highest peaks on the Senegalese coast with a height of approx. 105 meters, the Phare des Mamelles was built, which, along with the Cape Point Lighthouse on the Cape of Good Hope, is considered to be the strongest lighthouse in Africa. Behind the Deux Mamelles are the runways of Dakar airport.
In 1445 the Portuguese navigator Dinis Dias reached and named this place Cabo Verde ( Portuguese ). The Cape Verde Islands , the closest 570 kilometers west of the Cape, are named after this Cabo Verde (see the history of Cape Verdes ).
See also
- Cape Agulhas (southern tip of Africa)
- Cape Guardafui (eastern tip of Africa)
- Ras ben Sakka (northern tip of Africa)