Cabo Verde

Cabo Verde is a country made of islands.

The big Atlantic Ocean is all around. It is warm and dry. The capital city is called Praia.

Cabo Verde is a country of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, about 620 kilometers off the coast of West Africa. Nine islands have people living on them, one has no people, and there are many tiny islets too. Its name, like the English Cape Verde, means Green Cape, after a cape on the African coast.

Praia, the capital, is on Santiago, the biggest island. The 2021 census counted about 491,000 people in Cabo Verde. Rain is rare and unpredictable, so water is precious.

Cabo Verde lies about 620 km off the west coast of Africa, between 14°30′ and 17°30′ N and 22°30′ and 25°30′ W. It has nine inhabited islands, one uninhabited island and several islets, divided into the northern Barlavento (Windward) and southern Sotavento (Leeward) groups. It is named after Cape Verde (Cap Vert) in Senegal, the westernmost cape of Africa; in 2013 the government asked that the Portuguese form, Cabo Verde, be used in all languages.

The 2021 census of the National Statistics Institute (INE) counted 491,233 residents, almost the same as in 2010. The majority are urban, concentrated in Praia and Mindelo, and more than one-fourth are under 15. Cabo Verde is a multiparty republic; José Maria Neves has been president since November 2021.

Praia is the capital city.

Big ships and ferries come to its harbor. Mindelo is a port on another island. An old town called Cidade Velha has very old buildings.

Praia, the capital, is on the island of Santiago. Ferries and cargo ships dock in its harbor. On the island of São Vicente, the port of Mindelo has a deep harbor where big ships have stopped for fuel since the 1800s.

Near Praia is Cidade Velha, which means Old City. Founded by Portuguese settlers in the 1400s as Ribeira Grande, it was the first town built by Europeans in the tropics. Its historic center is a World Heritage Site. On the island of Fogo rises an active volcano, the highest point in the country.

Praia, on Santiago, is the capital and has an ethnographic museum and the National Historic Archive, which holds documents on the slave trade. Mindelo, on São Vicente, is the largest port; its deepwater harbor has been a fueling station since the 19th century.

Cidade Velha, historic center of Ribeira Grande, was inscribed by UNESCO in 2009. Founded after Portuguese settlers landed on Santiago in 1462, it was the first European colonial town built in the tropics, a key port for Portuguese colonization in the 16th and 17th centuries and, UNESCO notes, a major platform of the Atlantic trade in enslaved people, where the first developed Creole society emerged. Fogo's active volcano, Pico, is the archipelago's highest point at 2,829 m.

Some islands are flat and sandy.

Others have tall, rocky mountains. Fogo has a big volcano. It does not rain very often.

The eastern islands, such as Sal, Boa Vista and Maio, are old, flat and sandy, worn down by the wind. The western islands are younger, rocky and mountainous. On Fogo, which means Fire, an active volcano called Pico rises 2,829 meters.

The weather is warm all year, from the low 20s °C in February to the high 20s °C in August and September, the wettest months. But rain is unpredictable, and sometimes years go by with almost none. When it does rain, it can pour so hard that it washes soil away. Big storms that form near the islands can grow into hurricanes that cross the Atlantic.

The archipelago is volcanic: almost a quarter of the land is volcanic rock, often basalt, and soils are shallow and rocky. The older eastern islands (Boa Vista, Maio, Sal) are wind-eroded and flat; the younger western islands are jagged and mountainous, with Pico on Fogo (2,829 m) and Tope de Coroa on Santo Antão (1,979 m).

The climate is moderate but extremely arid. Rain depends on how far north the intertropical convergence zone moves each summer and is unpredictable; years may pass with little or none, and downpours cause erosion and floods. Windward slopes catch enough moisture for grasses and some pines, while leeward slopes, in a rain shadow, are desertlike. Britannica notes that hurricanes generated near Cabo Verde travel west across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and the U.S. coast. Since independence, reforestation, dikes, dams and terracing have fought erosion, and about one-fifth of the land was forested in the early 21st century.

Sea turtles lay eggs on quiet beaches.

Seabirds fly over the ocean. Little lizards run over the rocks. Goats climb the slopes of Fogo.

Because the islands are so dry, few land animals live there. But sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs on the sandy beaches of empty islets, and many geckos, lizards and skinks live among the rocks.

More than 100 kinds of birds have been seen, and seabirds such as petrels and shearwaters nest on the islands. A long-eared bat is a native mammal. Goats on Fogo and the monkeys on the islands came from animals that people brought long ago.

Britannica explains that scarcity of water limits land animals, but two species of sea turtles nest on the sandy shores of the uninhabited islets. Geckos, lizards and several skinks are common; butterflies are all of African origin, with none endemic.

More than 100 bird species have been recorded, but only some breed regularly, including four petrels and two shearwaters; most others are migrants, and gulls and terns, remarkably, do not breed there. Feral goats on Fogo descend from domestic goats, rodents probably arrived on early ships, monkeys were introduced from the African mainland, and a long-eared bat is native. Overgrazing by sheep and goats over centuries worsened erosion.

About 491,000 people live in Cabo Verde.

Most people speak Crioulo. People love music and dancing. Football is a favorite sport.

The 2021 census counted about 491,000 people in Cabo Verde. Most have both African and European ancestors. Portuguese is the official language, but almost everyone speaks Crioulo, one of the oldest creole languages based on Portuguese. Many Cabo Verdeans live in other countries, especially in the United States and Europe.

Cabo Verde's music is famous. Morna is a sad style of song, a kind of lament, and the singer Cesária Évora made it known around the world. Batuko is drumming and singing by groups of women. Farmers grow corn, beans and potatoes, and tuna and lobster are caught at sea. Football is probably the most popular sport.

The great majority of people are of mixed European and African descent (mestiço or Crioulo), with an African minority including Fulani, Balante and Mandyako, people of Portuguese origin, and many who trace roots to Sephardic Jews. Portuguese is official, but Crioulo, one of the oldest Portuguese creoles, is by far the most spoken. Most people are Roman Catholic, and saints' days may include drumming, processions, masks and dance. The diaspora has often outnumbered the home population, from 19th-century whalers who settled in New England to communities in Dakar, Rotterdam and Lisbon.

Batuko, with polyrhythm and call and response by women, carries African traditions; the morna, a lament like Portuguese fado, and the mazurka show European roots; funana features the accordion-like gaita. The magazine Claridade (1936–60) launched a distinctly Cabo Verdean literature. Corn, beans, potatoes and peanuts are grown despite droughts, but most food is imported. The national football team, the Blue Sharks, reached the World Cup for the first time in 2026.