Cape Verde

Amílcar Cabral on a stamp of the former East Germany

Following the April 1974 revolution in Portugal, the PAIGC became an active political movement in Cape Verde. In December 1974, the PAIGC and Portugal signed an agreement providing for a transitional government composed of Portuguese and Cape Verdeans. On 30 June 1975, Cape Verdeans elected a National Assembly which received the instruments of independence from Portugal on 5 July 1975.[15] In the late 1970s and 1980s, most African countries prohibited South African Airways from overflights but Cape Verde allowed them and became a centre of activity for the airline's flights to Europe and the United States.

Immediately following the November 1980 coup in Guinea-Bissau, relations between Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau became strained. Cape Verde abandoned its hope for unity with Guinea-Bissau and formed the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV). Problems have since been resolved and relations between the countries are good. The PAICV and its predecessor established a one-party system and ruled Cape Verde from independence until 1990.[15]

Responding to growing pressure for pluralistic democracy, the PAICV called an emergency congress in February 1990 to discuss proposed constitutional changes to end one-party rule. Opposition groups came together to form the Movement for Democracy (MPD) in Praia in April 1990. Together, they campaigned for the right to contest the presidential election scheduled for December 1990.

The one-party state was abolished 28 September 1990, and the first multi-party elections were held in January 1991. The MPD won a majority of the seats in the National Assembly, and MPD presidential candidate António Mascarenhas Monteiro defeated the PAICV's candidate with 73.5% of the votes. Legislative elections in December 1995 increased the MPD majority in the National Assembly. The party won 50 of the National Assembly's 72 seats.

A February 1996 presidential election returned President Monteiro to office. Legislative elections in January 2001 returned power to the PAICV, with the PAICV holding 40 of the National Assembly seats, MPD 30, and Party for Democratic Convergence (PCD) and Labour and Solidarity Party (PTS) 1 each. In February 2001, the PAICV-supported presidential candidate Pedro Pires defeated former MPD leader Carlos Veiga by only 13 votes.[15]

Map of countries with Cape Verdean embassies

Cape Verde follows a policy of nonalignment and seeks cooperative relations with all friendly states.[15] Angola, Brazil, China, Libya, Cuba, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Senegal, Russia, Luxembourg, and the United States maintain embassies in Praia.[15] Cape Verde maintains a vigorously active foreign policy, especially in Africa.[15]

Cape Verde is a founding member state of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, and international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portuguese is an official language.

Cape Verde has bilateral relations with some Lusophone nations and holds membership in a number of international organisations.[15] It also participates in most international conferences on economic and political issues.[15] Since 2007, Cape Verde has a special partnership status[21] with the EU, under the Cotonou Agreement, and might apply for special membership, even because the Cape Verdean escudo, the country's currency, is indexed to the Euro.[22] In 2011 Cape Verde ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.[23] In 2017 Cape Verde signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.[24]

Marines of the Cape Verdean Coast Guard

The military of Cape Verde consists of the National Guard and the Coast Guard; 0.7% of the country's GDP was spent on the military in 2005.

Having fought their only war for independence against Portugal between 1974 and 1975, the efforts of the Caboverdean Armed Forces have now been turned to combating international drug trafficking. In 2007, together with the Cape Verdean Police, they carried out Operation Flying Launch (Operacão Lancha Voadora), a successful operation to put an end to a drug trafficking group which smuggled cocaine from Colombia to the Netherlands and Germany using the country as a reorder point. The operation took more than three years, being a secret operation during the first two years, and ended in 2010.

Although located in Africa, Cape Verde has always had close relations with Europe. Because of this, some scholars argue that Cape Verde may be eligible to join the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and NATO.[25]

The most recent engagement of the Armed Forces was the Monte Tchota massacre that resulted in 11 deaths.[26]

Cape Verde is often praised as an example among African nations for its stability and developmental growth despite its lack of natural resources. In 2013 then United States President Barack Obama said Cape Verde is "a real success story."[27] Among other achievements, it has been recognised with the following assessments:

The countryside in Estrada Baía das Gatas

Beach east of Curral Velho, Boa Vista

Geologically, the islands, covering a combined area of slightly over 4,033 square kilometres (1,557 square miles), are principally composed of igneous rocks, with volcanic structures and pyroclastic debris comprising the majority of the archipelago's total volume. The volcanic and plutonic rocks are distinctly basic; the archipelago is a soda-alkaline petrographic province, with a petrologic succession similar to that found in other Macaronesian islands.

Magnetic anomalies identified in the vicinity of the archipelago indicate that the structures forming the islands date back 125–150 million years: the islands themselves date from 8 million (in the west) to 20 million years (in the east).[33] The oldest exposed rocks occurred on Maio and northern peninsula of Santiago and are 128–131 million year old pillow lavas. The first stage of volcanism in the islands began in the early Miocene, and reached its peak at the end of this period, when the islands reached their maximum sizes. Historical volcanism (within human settlement) has been restricted to the island of Fogo.

The islands lie on a bathymetric swell known as the Cape Verde Rise.[34] The Rise is one of the largest protuberances in the world's oceans, rising 2.2 kilometres (1.4 miles) in a semi-circular region of 1200 km², associated with a rise of the geoid.[33]

Most recently erupting in 2014, Pico do Fogo is the largest active volcano in the region. It has an 8 kilometres (5 miles) diameter caldera, whose rim is 1,600 metres (5,249 feet) altitude and an interior cone that rises to 2,829 metres (9,281 feet) above sea level. The caldera resulted from subsidence, following the partial evacuation (eruption) of the magma chamber, along a cylindrical column from within magma chamber (at a depth of 8 kilometres (5 miles)).

Extensive salt flats are found on Sal and Maio.[32] On Santiago, Santo Antão, and São Nicolau, arid slopes give way in places to sugarcane fields or banana plantations spread along the base of towering mountains.[32] Ocean cliffs have been formed by catastrophic debris landslides.[35]

According to the president of Nauru, Cape Verde has been ranked the eighth most endangered nation due to flooding from climate change.[36]

Cape Verde's climate is milder than that of the African mainland, because the surrounding sea moderates temperatures on the islands and cold Atlantic currents produce an arid atmosphere around the archipelago. Conversely, the islands do not receive the upwellings (cold streams) that affect the West African coast, so the air temperature is cooler than in Senegal, but the sea is warmer, because the orographic relief of some islands, such as Santiago with steep mountains, cover it with rich woods and luxuriant vegetation where the humid air condenses and soak the plants, rocks, soil, logs, moss, etc. On the higher islands and somewhat wetter islands, exclusively in mountainous areas, like Santo Antão island, the climate is suitable for the development of dry monsoon forest, and laurel forest as this vegetation.[32] Average daily high temperatures range from 26 °C (79 °F) in February to 31 °C (87.8 °F) in September.[37] Cape Verde is part of the Sahelian arid belt, with nothing like the rainfall levels of nearby West Africa.[32] It rains irregularly between August and October, with frequent brief heavy downpours.[32] A desert is usually defined as terrain that receives less than 250 mm (9.8 in) of annual rainfall. Sal's total of (145 mm (5.7 in)) confirms this classification. Most of the year's rain falls in September.[38]

Sal, Boa Vista and Maio have a flat landscape and arid climate, whilst the other islands are generally rockier and have more vegetation. Because of the infrequent occurrence of rainfall the landscape is arid. The archipelago can be divided into four broad ecological zones — arid, semiarid, subhumid and humid, according to altitude and average annual rainfall ranging from less than 100 millimetres (3.9 inches) in the arid areas of the coast as in the Deserto de Viana (67 millimetres (2.6 inches) in Sal Rei) to more than 1,000 millimetres (39 inches) in the humid mountain. Most rainfall precipitation is due to condensation of the ocean mist.

The small valley (or dale) of Principal, Santiago Island

In some islands, as Santiago, the wetter climate of the interior and the eastern coast contrasts with the dryer one in the south/southwest coast. Praia, on the southeast coast, is the largest city of the island and the largest city and capital of the country.

Because of their proximity to the Sahara, most of the Cape Verde islands are dry, but on islands with high mountains and farther away from the coast, by orography, the humidity is much higher, providing a rainforest habitat, although much affected by the human presence. Northeastern slopes of high mountains often receive a lot of rain while southwest slopes do not. These umbria areas are identified with cool and moisture. Cape Verde lies in the Cape Verde Islands dry forests ecoregion.[40]

Western Hemisphere-bound hurricanes often have their early beginnings near the Cape Verde Islands. These are referred to as Cape Verde-type hurricanes. These hurricanes can become very intense as they cross warm Atlantic waters away from Cape Verde. The average hurricane season has about two Cape Verde-type hurricanes, which are usually the largest and most intense storms of the season because they often have plenty of warm open ocean over which to develop before encountering land. The five largest Atlantic tropical cyclones on record have been Cape Verde-type hurricanes. Most of the longest-lived tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin are Cape Verde hurricanes.

The islands themselves have only been struck by hurricanes twice in recorded history (since 1851): once in 1892, and again in 2015 by Hurricane Fred, the easternmost hurricane ever to form in the Atlantic.

Cape Verde's isolation has resulted in the islands having a number of endemic species, particularly birds and reptiles, many of which are endangered by human development. Endemic birds include Alexander's swift (Apus alexandri), Bourne's heron (Ardea purpurea bournei), the Raso lark (Alauda razae), the Cape Verde warbler (Acrocephalus brevipennis), and the Iago sparrow (Passer iagoensis).[41] The islands are also an important breeding area for seabirds including the Cape Verde shearwater. Reptiles include the Cape Verde giant gecko (Tarentola gigas).

Cape Verde is divided into 22 municipalities (concelhos) and subdivided into 32 parishes (freguesias), based on the religious parishes that existed during the colonial period:

The European Commission's total allocation for the period of 2008–2013 foreseen for Cape Verde to address "poverty reduction, in particular in rural and periurban areas where women are heading the households, as well as good governance" amounts to €54.1 million.[52]

Yachts in Porto Grande, Mindelo, on the island of São Vicente. Tourism is a growing source of income on the islands.

Cape Verde's strategic location at the crossroads of mid-Atlantic air and sea lanes has been enhanced by significant improvements at Mindelo's harbour (Porto Grande) and at Sal's and Praia's international airports. A new international airport was opened in Boa Vista in December 2007 and on the island of São Vicente the newest international airport (Cesária Évora Airport) in Cape Verde was opened in late 2009. Ship repair facilities at Mindelo were opened in 1983.[15]

The major ports are Mindelo and Praia, but all other islands have smaller port facilities. In addition to the international airport on Sal, airports have been built on all of the inhabited islands. All but the airports on Brava and Santo Antão enjoy scheduled air service. The archipelago has 3,050 km (1,895 mi) of roads, of which 1,010 km (628 mi) are paved, most using cobblestone.[15]

The country's future economic prospects depend heavily on the maintenance of aid flows, the encouragement of tourism, remittances, outsourcing labour to neighbouring African countries, and the momentum of the government's development programme.[15]

Cape Verde's population, (1961–2003)

Cape Verde's population pyramid, 2005

The official Census recorded that Cape Verde had a population of 512,096 in 2013.[53] A large proportion (236,000) of Cape Verdeans live on the main island, Santiago.[54]

The Cape Verde archipelago was uninhabited when the Portuguese discovered it in 1456. The modern population of Cape Verde descends from the mixture of European settlers and African slaves who were brought to the islands to work on Portuguese plantations. Most Cape Verdeans are therefore mulattos, also called mestiços in Portuguese. Another term is creole, meaning those of mixed native-born African and native-born European descent.

European input included Spaniards and Italian seamen who were granted land by the Portuguese Empire, followed by Portuguese settlers and exiles, as well as Portuguese Muslims (ethnic Moors) and Portuguese Jews (ethnic Sephardim). Both of these religious groups were victims of the Inquisition. Other immigrants came from places such as the Netherlands, France, Britain, the Arab countries (especially Lebanon and Morocco), China (especially from Macau), India, Indonesia, South America, and North America (including people of Portuguese and African descent) and were absorbed into the mestiço population.

People in Santiago

Cape Verde's population in the 21st century is mostly creole; the capital city Praia accounts for a quarter of the country's population. Over 65% of the population in the archipelago live in urban centers, and the literacy rate is 89% (i.e., 93,3% among men aged 15 and above and 84,7% among women aged 15 and above) according to the 2017 National Statistics Bureau data. Many Cape Verdeans have since emigrated, mainly to the United States and Europe.

A genetic study revealed that the ancestry of the population in Cape Verde is predominantly European in the male line and West African in the female line; counted together the percentage is 56% African and 44% European.[55] The high degree of genetic and ethnic mixture of individuals is a result of centuries of migration.

Cape Verde's official language is Portuguese.[1] It is the language of instruction and government. It is also used in newspapers, television, and radio.

Cape Verdean Creole is used colloquially and is the mother tongue of virtually all Cape Verdeans. The national constitution calls for measures to give it parity with Portuguese.[1] Cape Verdean Creole or Kriolu is a dialect continuum of a Portuguese-based creole. There is a substantial body of literature in Creole, especially in the Santiago Creole and the São Vicente Creole. Creole has been gaining prestige since the nation's independence from Portugal.

The differences between the forms of the language within the islands have been a major obstacle in the way of standardization of the language. Some people have advocated the development of two standards: a North (Barlavento) standard, centered on the São Vicente Creole, and a South (Sotavento) standard, centered on the Santiago Creole. Manuel Veiga, PhD, a linguist and Minister of Culture of Cape Verde, is the premier proponent of Kriolu's officialization and standardization.[56]

Around 95% of the population are Christian. More than 85% of the population were nominally Roman Catholic in 2007.[58] For a minority of the population, Catholicism is syncretized with African influences.[59]

As of 2007, the largest Protestant denomination is the Church of the Nazarene; other religious groups include the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Assemblies of God, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[58] There is a small Muslim community.[58] There were Jewish settlements on several islands.[60] The number of atheists is estimated at less than 1% of the population.[58]

Today, more Cape Verdeans live abroad (nearly a million) than in Cape Verde itself, with significant emigrant[61] Cape Verdean communities in the United States (500,000) of Cape Verdean descent, with a major concentration on the New England coast; Providence, Rhode Island, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts. Brockton, Massachusetts is the city with the largest number of Cape Verdean descents and immigrants (18,832)[62] in the United States.

There are significant Cape Verde populations in Portugal (150,000), Angola (45,000), São Tomé and Príncipe (25,000), Senegal (25,000), the Netherlands (20,000, of which 15,000 are concentrated in Rotterdam), Spain (65,500), United Kingdom (35,500), France (25,000), Italy (10,000), Luxembourg and Scandinavia (7,000), and Mexico (5,000). There is a Cape Verdean community in Argentina numbering 8,000. A large number of Cape Verdeans and people of Cape Verdean descent who emigrated before 1975 are not included in these statistics, because Cape Verdeans had Portuguese passports before 1975.

The Chinese make up a sizable and important segment of the immigrant population in Cape Verde. The immigrants from the nearby West African coast make up the majority of foreigners in the country. Over the last several years, a few thousand Europeans and Latin Americans have settled in the country. On the islands, there are over 22,000 foreign-born naturalized Cape Verdeans who hail from over 90 countries around the world, living and working in the country on a permanent basis.

Over the years, Cape Verde has increasingly become a net immigration country due to its relative high per capita income, political and social stability, and freedom.

Emigrants from the Cape Verde islands to North America have a long history of involvement with the armed forces. They have enlisted in aid of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the First and Second World Wars, as well as the Korean and Vietnam Wars.[63] Cape Verdeans moved to places all over the world, from Macau to Haiti, and Argentina to northern Europe.[64]

The Cape Verdean people's history and experience with immigration has inspired many songs and musicians, like the song Sodade by Cesaria Evora.[65]

A health clinic in a residential area of Praia

The infant mortality rate among Cape Verdean children between 0 and 5 years old is 15 per 1,000 live births according to the latest (2017) data from the National Statistics Bureau,[66] while the maternal mortality rate is 42 deaths per 100,000 live births. The HIV-AIDS prevalence rate among Cape Verdeans between 15 and 49 years old is 0.8%.[67]

According to the latest data (2017) from the National Statistics Bureau,[66] life expectancy at birth in Cape Verde is 76,2 years, that is, 72,2 years for males and 80,2 years for females. There are six hospitals in the Cape Verde archipelago: two central hospitals (one in the capital city of Praia and one in Mindelo, São Vicente) and four regional hospitals (one in Santa Catarina (northern Santiago region), one on São Antão, one on Fogo, and one on Sal). In addition, there are 28 health centers, 35 sanitation centers and a variety of private clinics located throughout the archipelago.

Cape Verde's population is among the healthiest in Africa. Since its independence, it has greatly improved its health indicators. Besides having been promoted to the group of "medium development" countries in 2007, leaving the least developed countries category (becoming the second country to do so[68]), is currently the 10th best ranked country in Africa in its Human Development Index.

The total expenditure for health was 7.1% of GDP (2015).

A kindergarten graduation on Santiago Island

Although the Cape Verdean educational system is similar to the Portuguese system, over the years the local universities have been increasingly adopting the American educational system; for instance, all 10 existing universities in the country offer 4-year bachelor's degree programs as opposed to 5-year bachelor's degree programs that existed before 2010. Cape Verde has the second best educational system in Africa, after South Africa. Primary school education in Cape Verde is mandatory and free for children between the ages of 6 and 14 years.[69]

In 2011, the net enrollment ratio for primary school was 85%.[69][70] Approximately 90% of the total population over 15 years of age is literate, and roughly 25% of the population holds a college degree; a significant number of these college graduates hold doctorate degrees in different academic fields. Textbooks have been made available to 90 percent of school children, and 98 percent of the teachers have attended in-service teacher training.[69] Although most children have access to education, some problems remain.[69] For example, there is insufficient spending on school materials, lunches, and books.[69]

As of October 2016, there were 69 secondary schools throughout the archipelago (including 19 private secondary schools) and at least 10 universities in the country which are based on the two islands of Santiago and São Vicente.

University of Santiago

In 2015, 23% of the Cape Verdean population had either attended or graduated from secondary schools. When it came to higher education, 9% of Cape Verdean men and 8% of Cape Verdean women held a bachelor's degree or had attended universities. The overall college education rate (i.e., college graduates and undergraduate students) in Cape Verde is about 24%, in relation to the local college age population . The total expenditure on education was 5.6% of GDP (2010). The mean years of schooling of adults over 25 years is 12.

In 2011, Cape Verde devoted just 0.07% of its GDP to research and development, among the lowest rates in West Africa. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Culture plans to strengthen the research and academic sectors by placing emphasis on greater mobility, through exchange programmes and international co-operation agreements. As part of this strategy, Cape Verde is participating in the Ibero-American academic mobility programme that expects to mobilize 200,000 academics between 2015 and 2020.[71]

Cape Verde counted 25 researchers in 2011, a researcher density of 51 per million inhabitants. The world average was 1,083 per million in 2013. All 25 researchers were working in the government sector in 2011 and one in three were women (36%). There was no research being conducted in either medical or agricultural sciences. Of the eight engineers involved in research and development, one was a woman. Three of the five researchers working in natural sciences were women, as were three of the six social scientists and two of the five researchers from the humanities.[71]

In 2015, the government was planning to build a 'cyber-island' which would develop and offer services that include software development, computer maintenance and back office operations. Approved in 2013, the Praia Technology Park is a step in this direction. Financed by the African Development Bank, it is expected to be operational by 2018.[71]

Theft and burglary are common in Cape Verde, especially in crowded environments such as marketplaces, festivals, and celebrations.[72] Often the perpetrators of these crimes are gangs of street children.[72] Murders are concentrated in the major population centres of Praia and Mindelo.[72]

Newspapers of Cape Verde including Expresso das Ilhas, A Nação and Já

In towns with electricity, television is available on three channels; one state owned (RTC - TCV) and three foreign owned, RTI Cabo Verde launched by the Portuguese-based RTI in 2005, on 31 March 2007, Record Cabo Verde, its own version was launched by the Brazilian-based Rede Record.[32] Cape Verde has now received TV CPLP and some of its programs are broadcast, the network first aired in 2016. Premium channels includes the Cape Verdean versions of Boom TV and Zap Cabo Verde, two channels owned by Brazil's Record.[73] Other premium channels are aired in Cape Verde, especially satellite networks common in hotels and villas. Availability is mostly limited, though. One channel is RDP África, the African version of the Portuguese radio station RDP.

As of early 2017, about 19% of the Cape Verdean population own an active cellular phone, 70% have access to the Internet, 11% own a landline telephone, and 2% of the population subscribe to local cable TV. In 2003, Cape Verde had 71,700 main line telephones with an additional 53,300 cellular phones in use throughout the country.

In 2004, there were seven radio stations; six independent and one state owned. The media is operated by the Capeverdean News Agency (secondarily as Inforpress). Nationwide radio stations include RCV, RCV+, Radio Kriola, the religious station Radio Nova. Local radio stations include Rádio Praia, the first radio station in Cape Verde, Praia FM, the first FM station in the nation, Rádio Barlavento, Rádio Clube do Mindelo and Radio Morabeza in Mindelo.

Cesária Évora, Cape Verdean singer

The Cape Verdean people are known for their musicality, well expressed by popular manifestations such as the Carnival of Mindelo. Cape Verde music incorporates "African, Portuguese and Brazilian influences."[74] Cape Verde's quintessential national music is the morna, a melancholy and lyrical song form typically sung in Cape Verdean Creole. The most popular music genre after morna is the coladeira, followed by funaná and batuque music. Cesária Évora was the best-known Cape Verdean singer in the world, known as the "barefoot diva," because she liked to perform barefooted on stage. She was also referred to as "The Queen of Morna"[75] as opposed to her uncle Bana, who was referred to as "King of Morna". The international success of Cesária Évora has made other Cape Verdean artists, or descendants of Cape Verdeans born in Portugal, gain more space in the music market. Examples of this are singers Sara Tavares, Lura and Mayra Andrade.

Another great exponent of traditional music from Cape Verde was Antonio Vicente Lopes, better known as Travadinha, and Ildo Lobo, who died in 2004. The House of Culture in the center of the city of Praia is called Ildo Lobo House of Culture, in his honor.

There are also well known artists born to Cape Verdean parents who excelled themselves in the international music scene. Amongst these artists are jazz pianist Horace Silver, Duke Ellington's saxophonist Paul Gonsalves, Teófilo Chantre, Paul Pena, the Tavares brothers and singer Lura.

Dance forms include the soft dance morna, the coladeira, the Cape Verdean version of the zouk from Guadeloupe called Cabo love, the Funaná (a sensual mixed Portuguese and African dance), the Batuque dance, and the Cabo Zouk.

Fundação Amílcar Cabral, in Praia

Cape Verdean literature is one of the richest of Lusophone Africa. Famous poets include Paulino Vieira, Manuel de Novas, Sergio Frusoni, Eugénio Tavares, and B. Léza, and famous authors include Baltasar Lopes da Silva, António Aurélio Gonçalves, Manuel Lopes, Orlanda Amarílis, Henrique Teixeira de Sousa, Arménio Vieira, Kaoberdiano Dambará, Dr. Azágua, and Germano Almeida.

The Carnival and the island of São Vicente are portrayed in the 2015 feature documentary Tchindas, nominated at the 12th Africa Movie Academy Awards.

Cachupa, typical Cape Verdean dish

The Cape Verde diet is mostly based on fish and staple foods like corn and rice. Vegetables available during most of the year are potatoes, onions, tomatoes, manioc, cabbage, kale, and dried beans. Fruits such as bananas and papayas are available year-round, while others like mangoes and avocados are seasonal.[32]

A popular dish served in Cape Verde is Cachupa, a slow cooked stew of corn (hominy), beans, and fish or meat. A common appetizer is the pastel which is a pastry shell filled with fish or meat that is then fried.[32]

Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde in Praia.

The country's most successful sports team is the Cape Verde national basketball team, which won the bronze medal at the FIBA Africa Championship 2007, after beating Egypt in its last game. The country's most well-known player is Walter Tavares, who plays for Real Madrid of Spain.

Cape Verde is famous for wave sailing (a type of windsurfing) and kiteboarding. Josh Angulo, a Hawaiian and 2009 PWA Wave World Champion, has done much to promote the archipelago as a windsurfing destination. Mitu Monteiro, a local kitesurfer, was the 2008 Kite Surfing World Champion in the wave discipline.

The Cape Verde national football team, nicknamed either the Tubarões Azuis (Blue Sharks) or Crioulos (Creoles), is the national team of Cape Verde and is controlled by the Cape Verdean Football Federation. The team has played at two Africa Cup of Nations, in 2013 and 2015.[76]

The country has competed at every Summer Olympics since 1996.

New port in Santo Antão

There are four international ports: Mindelo, São Vicente; Praia, Santiago; Palmeira, Sal; and Sal Rei, Boa Vista. Mindelo on São Vicente is the main port for cruise liners and the terminus for the ferry service to Santo Antão. Praia on Santiago is a main hub for local ferry services to other islands. Palmeira on Sal supplies fuel for the main airport on the island, Amílcar Cabral International Airport, and is important for the hotel construction taking place on the island. Porto Novo on Santo Antão is the only source for imports and exports of produce from the island as well as passenger traffic since the closure of the airstrip at Ponta do Sol. There are smaller harbors, essentially single jetties at Tarrafal on São Nicolau, Sal Rei on Boa Vista, Vila do Maio (Porto Inglês) on Maio, São Filipe on Fogo and Furna on Brava. These act as terminals for the inter-island ferry services, which carry both freight and passengers. The pier at Santa Maria on Sal used by both fishing and dive boats has been rehabilitated.

Aristides Pereira International Airport in Boa Vista island

There were seven operational airports as of 2014 — 4 international and 3 domestic. Two others were non-operational, one on Brava and the other on Santo Antão, closed for safety reasons.

Due to its geographical location, Cape Verde is often flown over by transatlantic airliners. It is part of the conventional air traffic route from Europe to South America, which goes from southern Portugal via the Canary Islands and Cape Verde to northern Brazil.

• Amílcar Cabral International Airport, Sal Island
• Nelson Mandela International Airport, Santiago Island
• Aristides Pereira International Airport, Boa Vista Island
• Cesária Évora Airport, São Vicente Island
• João dos Santos Airport, CPV