Cape Verde
The 2007 Cape Verde Preach Team
Progress on the Cape Verde Institute
Country Facts
Cape Verde is slightly larger than Rhode Island in area with a population of 408,760. Seventy percent of the population lives in rural area. The primary agricultural crops are bananas, corn, beans, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, coffee, peanuts and fish, but 82% of food must be imported.
Cape Verde suffers from a poor natural resourse base, including serious water shortages. The climate is warm, dry summer with precipitation meager and very erratic. The natural resourses are salt, basalt, rock, limestone, kaolin and fish. The terrain is steep, rugged, rock and volcanic. The economy is service oriented with commerce, transport and public works accounting for 70% of GDP. The literacy rate is 67% and infant mortality is 51.86 deaths for every l,000 live births.
Cape Verde became part of the Portuguese empire in 1495. Positioned on the great trade routes between Africa, Europe and the New World, the islands became a prosperous center for the slave trade and suffered economic decline after slave trade was abolished in 1876. Independence was achieved in 1975. A majority of the inhabitants are of mixed Portuguese and African ancestry.
|
Country |
Republic of Cape Verde |
|
Capital |
Praia |
|
Total Area |
1,557.15 sq mi |
|
Population |
418,224 |
|
Languages |
Portuguese, Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words) |
|
Literacy |
71.6% total, 81.4% male, 63.8% female (1995 est.) |
|
Religions |
Roman Catholic (infused with indigenous beliefs); Protestant (mostly Church of the Nazarene) |
|
Life Expectancy |
65.93 male, 72.6 female (2001 est.) |
|
Government Type |
republic |
|
Currency |
1 Cape Verdean escudo (CVEsc) = 100 centavos |
|
GDP (per capita) |
$1,700 (2000 est.) |
|
Industry |
food and beverages, fish processing, shoes and garments, salt mining, ship repair |
|
Agriculture |
bananas, corn, beans, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, coffee, peanuts; fish |
|
Arable Land |
11% |
|
Natural Resources |
salt, basalt rock, pozzuolana (a siliceous volcanic ash used to produce hydraulic cement), limestone, kaolin, fish |
An excellent view of Cape Verde