Portal:Cape Verde

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Cape Verde

Flag of Cape Verde
Coat of arms of Cape Verde
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The Republic of Cape Verde (Portuguese: Cabo Verde, Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈkabu ˈveɾdɨ]) 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.


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Mindelo harbour - São Vicente, Cape Verde
The view over Mindelo harbour on the island of São Vicente in the archipelago of Cape Verde off the west coast of Africa.

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Raso Lark

The Raso Lark (Alauda razae) is a small passerine bird with a highly restricted range, being found only on Raso islet in the Cape Verde Islands. This critically endangered member of the Alaudidae lives in highly arid terrain, and is considered one of the least known birds in the western Palaearctic region, due to its remoteness and the lack of much ornithological study on the archipelago as a whole.

The Raso Lark is restricted to one small island in the Cape Verde group, although historically it is believed to have ranged over two other islands, Branco and Sao Vicente Island; all three of these islands were joined in the last Ice Age. Branco island itself has no permanent water and has never been inhabited by people, a fact that has probably saved the lark from extinction until now.

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The Cape Verdean Island of Sal
The Santa Maria ship on the island of Sal, Cape Verde

Sal (Portuguese for “salt” — from the mines at Pedra de Lume) is an island in Cape Verde. It belongs to the northern group of islands, called Barlavento. The island is composed by a single administrative division, the Sal municipality. The island is home to Amílcar Cabral International Airport, the main airport of Cape Verde.

The island is 30 km long by 12 km wide. It is one of the three sandy eastern islands (Sal, Boa Vista and Maio) of the archipelago, with white sandy beaches and fairly flat. The highest elevation of 406 m at Monte Grande. Serra Negra has a height of 92 m.

Sal Island has 350 days of sunshine. Winds mainly blow from the northeast. However, many days do also have cloud, but it tends to be broken and seldom brings rain. The 'rainy season' is from August to mid-October, although rainfall is still low.

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Amílcar Cabral, with the flag of Guinea-Bissau in the background, on a DDR stamp

Amílcar Lopes Cabral (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐˈmilkaɾ ˈlɔpɨʃ kɐˈbɾal]; 12 September, 1924 – 20 January, 1973) was an African agronomic engineer, writer, Marxist and nationalist politician. Cabral led African nationalism movements in Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde Islands and led Guinea-Bissau's independence movement. He was assassinated in 1973 by Guinea-natives agents of Portuguese colonialism, just months before Guinea-Bissau declared unilateral independence.

He returned to Africa in the 1950s, and began forming independence movements on the continent. He was instrumental in the formation of the PAIGC or Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (Portuguese for African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde). He also worked to form a liberation party in Angola with Agostinho Neto, an associate he met and befriended in Portugal.

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Mindelo portogrande.jpg

Moored boats at Mindelo's harbor Porto Grande on the island of São Vicente.

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