Cape Verde

Capital: Praia Population: 523,568 Official Languages: Portuguese Time Zone: -1 Dialing Code: +238

Government: Parliamentary republic Area: 4,033 km2 largest city: Praia Currency : Cape Verdean escudo ISO 3166 code: CV

Basic Info

Cape Verde, officially the Republic of Cape Verde, is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres (350 miles) off the coast of Western Africa. The islands, covering a combined area of slightly over 4,000 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi), are of volcanic origin and while three of them (Sal, Boa Vista and Maio) are fairly flat, sandy and dry, the remaining ones are generally rockier and have more vegetation.

Geography

The Cape Verde archipelago is located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 570 kilometres (350 mi) off the coast of West Africa, near Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania, and is part of the Macaronesia ecoregion. It lies between latitudes 14° and 18°N, and longitudes 22° and 26°W.

Climate

Cape Verde's climate is milder than that of the African mainland because the surrounding sea moderates temperatures on the islands. Average daily high temperatures range from 23 °C (73 °F) in January to 29 °C (84.2 °F) in September. Cape Verde is part of the Sahelian arid belt, with nothing like the rainfall levels of nearby West Africa. It does rain irregularly between August and October, with frequent brief-but-heavy downpours. A desert is usually defined as terrain which receives less than 250 mm (9.8 in) of annual rainfall. Cape Verde's total (265 mm/10.4 in) is slightly above this criterion, which makes the area climate semi-desert.

Religion

Roman Catholic (infused with indigenous beliefs); Protestant (mostly Church of the Nazarene), Buddhist 0.2%

Administrative divisions

Cape Verde is divided into 22 municipalities (concelhos) and subdivided into 32 parishes (freguesias), based on the religious parishes that existed during the colonial period:

See Other Map

Santiago Tarrafal 1 Sao Miguel 2 Sao Salvador do Mundo 3 Santa Cruz 4 Sao Domingos 5 Praia 6 Ribeira Grande 7 Sao Lourenco dos Orgaos 8 Santa Catarina 9 Brava 10

Fogo Sao Filipe 11 Santa Catarina 12 Mosteiros 13 Maio 14 Boa Vista 15 Sal 16

Sao Nicolau Ribeira Brava 17 Tarrafal de Sao Nicolau 18 Sao Vicente 19

Santo Antao Porto Novo 20 Ribeira Grande 21 Paul 22

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