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General information Cape Verde

The Republic of Cape Verde 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 fifteenth century (though there may have been earlier discoveries). The country is named after Cap Vert (meaning Green Cape) in Senegal, the westernmost point of continental Africa.

Cape Verde was uninhabited when the Portuguese arrived in 1460 and made the islands 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 hub of the trans-atlantic slave trade, that would later form the contemporary African Diaspora.

In 1975, Cape Verde achieved independence from Portugal after a long armed struggle in the jungles of Guinea-Bissau. The African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC) was the main entity responsible for the independence of Cape Verde. Moreover, the people's revolutionary armed forces of Cuba, too, played a role in the Cape Verdean independence armed struggle in Guinea-Bissau. 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. As a result, the G, standing for Guinea-Bissau, in PAIGC was dropped. Consequently, PAICV (African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde) was formed. In Cape Verde the PAICV (affiliated with the PAIGC) governed until democratic elections, held in 1991, resulted in a change of government. The Movimento para a Democracia (MPD) won that election. The MPD was re-elected in 1996. The PAICV returned to power in 2001, and was re-elected in 2006.

General information

CountryCape Verde
Top-level domain (ccTLD)cv
LanguagePortuguese, Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words)
CurrencyCape Verdean escudo (CVE)
Area+4 km2

