Cape Verde

The Republic of Cape Verde or Cape Verde (Portuguese: Cabo Verde, pron. IPA //) 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 15th century; they subsequently became a trading centre for African slaves. Most Cape Verdeans descend from both groups.

"Cape Verde" is named for Cap-Vert (meaning Green Cape), now in Senegal, the westernmost point of continental Africa.

History

Main article: History of Cape Verde

Cape Verde was uninhabited when the Portuguese arrived in 1456, and the islands were thus made part of the Portuguese empire. Due to its location off the coast of Africa, Cape Verde became an important watering station, then sugar cane plantation site, and later a major center of the slave trade.

In 1975, the islands achieved independence, partially due to the efforts of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC). After independence, the PAIGC attempted to unite Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau into one nation, the PAIGC controlling both governments, but a coup in the latter nation in 1980 ended these plans. In Cape Verde itself the PAICV (affiliated with the PAIGC) governed until democratic elections were held in 1991 that resulted in a change of government. The MpD (Movimento para a Democracia) won that election and it was re-elected in 1996. The PAICV returned to power in 2001,and they achieved the re-election in 2006.

Politics

Politics of Cape Verde takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Cape Verde is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Cape Verde

Cape Verde is an archipelago off the west coast of Africa at 15.02N, 23.34W. It is formed by 10 main islands and about 8 islets. The main islands are:

Barlaventos (northern island group)
Sotaventos (southern island group)

Of these, only Santa Luzia and the five islets are uninhabited. Presently it is a Natural Reserve. All islands are volcanic, but an active volcano exists on one of the islands, Fogo. See Mount Fogo.

The islets are Branco, Razo.

Counties

Cape Verde is divided into 17 counties (concelhos, singular - concelho), sometimes referred to as municipalities (municípios, singular - município), listed roughly clockwise:

Santo Antão island:
São Vicente
- Santa Luzia island (included in S. Vicente municipio)
São Nicolau
Sal
Boa Vista
Maio
Santiago island:
Fogo island:
- São Filipe
- Mosteiros
Brava

Economy

Main article: Economy of Cape Verde Cape Verde is a small nation that lacks resources and has experienced severe droughts as well as water shortages. Agriculture is somewhat stymied by lack of rain, and is restricted to only four islands for most of the year. Most of the nation's GDP is from the services industry. Cape Verde's economy has largely grown since the late 1990s, and it is now considered a country of average human development. Cape Verde has significant cooperation with Portugal at every level of the economy, leading it to link its currency first to the Portuguese escudo, and, in 1999, to the euro.

Former Portuguese prime minister José Manuel Durão Barroso, now (second semester 2004) president of the European Commission, has promised to help integrate Cape Verde within the European Union sphere of influence via greater cooperation with Portugal. In March 2005, former Portuguese president Mário Soares launched a petition urging the European Union to start membership talks with Cape Verde.

NATURAL RESOURCES: Salt, Basalt rock, limestone, kaolin, fish, clay, gypsum, (natural gas reserves are said to have been found late 2005 in the coastal waters)

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Cape Verde

Most inhabitants of Cape Verde are mestiços, descendants of the white Portuguese settlers and black African slaves. Mestiços’ European ancestors also include Spanish and Italian seamen who were granted land by Portuguese Empire and followed by Portuguese settlers and exiles and Portuguese Jews who were victims of the Inquisition. The remainder includes mostly pure blacks and pure whites (most Portuguese stepped out of the country after independence). Many foreigners from other parts of the world settled Cape Verde as their permanent country. Most of them were Dutch, French, British (English), Arabs and Jews (from Lebanon and Morocco), Chinese (especially from Macau), Americans, and Brazilians (including people of Portuguese and African descent) settlers. All of these have been absorbed into the mestiço population. More Cape Verdeans live abroad than in Cape Verde, with significant emigrant Cape Verdean communities in the United States (500,000 Cape Verdians), Portugal (80,000) and Angola (45,000). There are also significant number of Cape Verdeans in São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, France, Brazil and the Netherlands. Cape Verdean populations also settled Spain, Germany, and other CPLP countries (Brazil and Guinea-Bissau).

Culture

Main article: Culture of Cape Verde

The culture of Cape Verde reflects its mixed Portuguese and African roots. It is well known for its diverse forms of music such as Morna (the Capeverdian Fado) and the urban Cape Verdian kizomba, and a wide variety of dances: the soft dance Morna, the Funana - a sensual mixed Portuguese and African dance, the extreme sensuality of coladeira (literally "glued"), and the African Batuque dance. These are reflective of the diverse origins of Cape Verde's residents. Indigenously, the term "Cabo" is used to refer to residents as well as the culture of Cape Verde.

See also: List of writers from Cape Verde
See also: List of painters from Cape Verde

Cape Verdean Literature

Cape Verdean literature is one of the richest of Lusitanian Africa.

Poets: Frusoni Sergio, Tavares Eugénio, B.Léza, João Cleofas Martins, Luís Romano de Madeira Melo, Ovídio Martins, Barbosa Jorge, Fortes Corsino António, Baltasar Lopes (Osvaldo Alcântara), João Vário, Oswaldo Osório, Arménio Vieira, Vadinho Velhinho, José Luís Tavares, etc.
Authors: Manuel Lopes - Movimento Claridade, Almeida Germano, Luís Romano de Madeira Melo, Germano de Almeida, Orlanda Amarilis, Jorge Vera Cruz Barbosa, Pedro Cardoso, Mário José Domingues, Daniel Filipe, Mário Alberto Fonseca de Almeida, Corsino António Fortes, Arnaldo Carlos de Vasconcelos França, António Aurélio Gonçalves, Aguinaldo Brito Fonseca, Ovídio de Sousa Martins , Osvaldo Osório, Dulce Almada Duarte, Manuel Veiga
Poems in Portuguese: Cape Verdean Poems, Poesia
Cape Verdean Literature
Sopinha de Alfabeto
Famous tales: Ti Lobo and Chibinho

Football In Cape Verde

Football in the Cape Verde has never been famous world wide but there is one man trying to change all this. Preferring to remain anonymous to the masses we shall refer to him as Untitled User from now on. Having recently taken control of the national team it seems he sees the youth as the way forward. This has lead to many, unfounded, allegations which an encyclopedia is not the place to debate. Mr User struggled at first, suffering two heavy defeats but a 2-1 victory over Liberia had everyone in the country dancing in the streets for hours. Unfortunately, as a result of this, it then rained for 4 days non-stop.

Belay Gamba Ajani Ellema Ilom ,roughly translated as Superior Warrior Man That Wins The Struggle Of Milking A Cow Whose Enemies Are Many, is kindly referred to as "nuts" by many of his team mates. This is partly because of his penchant for flying out of his area for headers and tackles alike. With 3 bookings and many more fouls to his name over the first season he certainly is a fiery character.

Kiros Kimoni, widely known as The Beast is a midfield general that, rumour has it, once made Roy Keane, pardon the expression, sh*t a brick. There is nobody tougher than Kiros Kimoni in world football right now and on the rare occasion in training he gets forward the clashes between him and Belay Ilom have everyone wincing.

Gazali Hajari managed to find his way into Germany somehow and was plying his trade at Duisber last season. They were unfortunately relegated, and so Hajari will be looking out for a transfer soon no doubt to keep his international career alive. This fleet footed winger ties your legs in knots with his dazzling step overs then you watch helplessly as he flicks it through the gap, shouts nuts, and sprints off into the sunset.

Music

Compositor: Manuel de Novas, Vasco Martins, Jorge Monteiro (Jotamonte), Frank Cavaquim (Francisco Vicente Gomes)
Artist: Antoninho Travadinha, Bana, Bau, Gé Mendes, Bulimundo, Celina Pereira, Cesária Évora, Cordas do Sol, Fantcha, Jorge Humberto, Ildo Lobo, Luís Morais, Lura, Gilyto, Maria-Alice, Mayra Andrade, Orlando Pantera, Os Tubarões, Paulino Vieira, Simentera, Tchéka, Teofilo Chantre, Titina, Tito Paris, Sara Tavares

Language

Portuguese is Cape Verde's official language, and the language of instruction in official schools. However, the Cape Verdean Crioulo languages are also widely spoken. These are a range of Portuguese-based creole languages, which vary considerably from island to island.

There is a substantial body of literature in these languages, especially in the Crioulo of Santiago (bádiu) and the Crioulo of São Vicente (criol di de Soncente). The Crioulo languages have been gaining prestige since the nation's independence from Portugal, and there is a movement to make the variant of Santiago the official language of the country.

However, the substantial differences between the languages spoken in different islands, each with its traditional spelling system, has been a major obstacle in the way of this move. Some people have advocated the development of two unformized official languages: a North (Barlavento) standard, centered on the Crioulo of San Vicente, and a South (Sotavento) standard, centered on that of Santiago.

Newspapers

Newspapers:

A Semana (Praia,1991-)
Espresso das Ilhas
Jornal O Cidadao (São Vicente)
Jornal Horizonte (Praia, 1988-)
Terra Nova (S.Vicente, 1975-)
Artiletra (S.Vicente, 1991-)

Newspapers Online:

Miscellaneous topics

References

Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.
Dr Marcel Gomes Balla of Boston University has written a short history of these islands, Antonio's Island ISBN 1898030480, covering: The 'official' discovery of Cabo Verde, The Treaty of Tordesilhas- the complete text-in English, The Cape Verdean navigator who made an extraordinary impact on America, Africa, Europe and Asia, The involvement of the church with slavery, The historical ties between Cabo Verde and Columbus, Cabo Verde Vasco da Gama and Cabral, The creation of Brazil, The historical ties with Italy and other countries, The first non-Europeans to cross the Atlantic with a regular sailing schedule and a lot more useful information such as: Portraits of Cape Verdean navigators published for the first time for the public (Africans , mestizos, Europeans, but always Cape Verdeans). Still other famous Cape Verdeans in science, politics etc. Maps confirming the discovery of the islands and the importance of Cape Verdeans and Cabo Verde in world history.

External links

Information Sites

Cape Verde Portal News & Info sharing site (in English)

Government

República de Cabo Verde official government site (in Portuguese)
Assembleia Nacional de Cabo Verde official parliamentary site

Overviews

Directories

Open Directory Project - Cape Verde directory category
Stanford University - Africa South of the Sahara: Cape Verde directory category
The Index on Africa - Cape Verde directory category
University of Pennsylvania - African Studies Center: Cape Verde directory category

Cape Verde | CPLP member states | Island nations

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