Cape Verde is an archipelago located in the Atlantic Ocean off the Senegalese coast. These islands were uninhabited until they were discovered in the fifteenth century by the Portuguese who colonized them to serve as the basis for the It deals with slaves. Join us to know these 20 Curiosities of Cabo Verde, an island country of Africa , that will surprise you .
20 Curiosities of Cape Verde
Made up of ten large islands and five smaller ones, it has a population of approximately 525,000 people. The majority of its inhabitants are descendants of Africans and Portuguese. We have divided the curiosities of Cape Verde in sections to facilitate reading. We hope you like them!
Cape Verde curiosities geographical and political
1. South of the island of Santiago is Cidade Velha, which was the first European colonial post in the tropics and has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Cidade Velha
2. Many Jews settled on the islands of Cape Verde, escaping from the Inquisition . Others were forced to work on the islands and in other Portuguese colonies. Although, finally in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries moved mostly to Morocco, you can still see many Jewish tombs in Sao Antao and Brava.
3. Cape Verde suffers a desertification that seems unstoppable. Droughts and wind erosion are to blame because, even if it rains heavily, the earth is too hot for water to penetrate beyond the surface layers and arid areas can not turn green.
4. There are more Cape Verdeans living abroad than in their country. Only in the USA they live 350,000. They have also emigrated to other countries such as Portugal, Luxembourg o The Netherlands.
5. One of the curiosities of Cape Verde More interesting is turtle nesting. It is the third most important nesting site for loggerhead turtles in the world. They come to lay their eggs in the sand of the beaches of Cape Verde.
6. In Cabo Verde it rains little and sometimes the annual monsoon of the southwest does not rise. The record without monsoon rain in Cape Verde is 18 years.
7. Cape Verde has one of the most stable democratic governments in Africa . This has as a consequence that although it is one of the countries that receive the most international aid, it is also one of the countries with the highest standard of living in Africa.
8. One of the curiosities of Cape Verde is that it is estimated that in the country there one goat for every two people.
9. Cape Verde's food is based on corn. Its national dish is called "Cachupa" and consists of a stew with two kinds of corn, four types of beans and fish or meat. It is accompanied with yam, cassava and sweet potato.
10. Another of the curiosities of Cape Verde Worthy of mention is that there are no railways. On the islands there are seven operational airports, but only one has a runway with more than 3,047 m. of length.
Trips to Cape Verde
To travel to Cape Verde you will need a visa that you can request until shortly before leaving. The currency is the shield and you can not bring or take shields from the country.
11. The trips to Cape Verde they are fashionable and tourism increases year after year having a predominant role in the economy of the country. In 2017, one of its beaches the "Praia de Santa Maria" was chosen as one of the best beaches in the world by TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice. The natural winds in the clear waters of the sea, make Cape Verde one of the best places in the world for diving, windsurfing and kite surfing.
12. The trips to Cape Verde were discouraged for some travelers in August 2016, since active local transmission of the virus was detected Zika by mosquitoes of the Aedes species.
Cape Verde Islands
13. Of the ten Cape Verde Islands considered "major", nine are inhabited.
14. The Cape Verde Islands They are divided into two groups: those of Barlovento which are Santo Antão, São Vicente, Santa Luzia, São Nicolau, Sal and Boa Vista and the islands of Sotavento which are Maio, Santiago, Fogo and Brava.
Cape Verde Islands
15. It is considered that Cape Verde Islands they are a marine extension of the desert of Sahara . This is because between June and October the sandstorms of the Sahara reach Cape Verde.
Capital of Cape Verde
16. The capital of Cape Verde It is Praia and it is also the most populated city, with about 150,000 inhabitants.
Praia, capital of Cape Verde
17. The island of Santiago is the largest of all, both in size and in number of inhabitants. capital of Cape Verde , Praia.
Language of Cape Verde
18. The language of Cape Verde considered official is Portuguese. It is used in government and teaching, as well as in newspapers, television and radio.
19. However, the population has Creole as its mother tongue. This is the language of Cape Verde authentic. It has been tried constitutionally to equate it with Portuguese, but due to language differences between the islands, it is still being studied how to do it.
Flag of Cape Verde
20. The Flag of Cape Verde It consists of a blue background with a horizontal strip of red with white edges and envelopes these bands a circle of 10 five-pointed stars. The stars represent the 10 largest islands, the blue is the ocean and the sky, and the white and red the peace and the effort in the construction of the country.
Flag of Cape Verde
Cape Verde is a country full of curiosities that also has a paradisiacal natural environment. Did you know these curiosities of Cape Verde ? Do you know any more? Share them with us!
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