. Maio is located south of the island of Boa Vista and east of
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
. Administratively, the island forms one ''
concelho
Concelho () is the Portuguese-language term for municipality, referring to the territorial subdivision in local government. In comparison, the word ''município'' () refers to the organs of State. This differentiation is still in use in Portugal a ...
'' (municipality): Maio.
History
The island was discovered in 1460. It was first settled at the end of the 16th century, when the land was used to raise livestock, especially goats. Salt was first exploited in the 17th century which caused the population to grow. The English exported salt to Europe from
Porto Inglês
Porto Inglês (Portuguese for "English port", also: ''Cidade do Maio'', ''Vila do Maio'') is a city
, hence the name of that city.História Municipio do Maio
The inconclusive
Battle of Maio
The Battle of Jobourg was a minor naval engagement between British and French frigate squadrons during the last weeks of the War of the Sixth Coalition in the 22nd and penultimate year of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. In October ...
was fought between British and French
frigate
A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat.
The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...
squadrons off the island's southern coast on 23 January 1814 in the last stages of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. Due to persisting drought many inhabitants emigrated from Maio in the 20th century.
Terras Salgadas
Terras Salgadas (Portuguese meaning "salty lands") is a vast natural area covering the northwestern part of the island of Maio, Cape Verde. It is part of the protected area ''Parque Natural do Norte da Ilha do Maio''.Ponta Cais. 20% of the island area (54.5 km2) is forested and 28% of the island area (76.0 km2) is a protected area.Estatísticas do Ambiente - 2016 Instituto Nacional de Estatística, p. 24-25 Bays includes Baía do Galeão and
Baía da Santana
Baía da Santana (Portuguese meaning Saint Anne's bay) is a bay on the northwest coast of the island of Maio in Cape Verde. The nearest village is Morrinho, about 2 km to the south.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Santana Baia
Bays of Cape Verde ...
to the north and in the southeast is a lagoon named
Lagoa Cimidor
Lagoa Cimidor is a small coastal lagoon in the southeastern part of the island of Maio in Cape Verde. It is situated 3.5 km northeast of the village Ribeira Dom João and 13 km east of the island capital Cidade do Maio. It is part of a protecte ...
. The uninhabited islet Ilhéu Laje Branca lies near its north coast. The island's main town is
Porto Inglês
Porto Inglês (Portuguese for "English port", also: ''Cidade do Maio'', ''Vila do Maio'') is a city
, near which its
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
,
Maio Airport
The Maio Airport (Portuguese ''Aeródromo do Maio'') is an airport in Cape Verde located in the island of Maio, about 3 km north of the island capital Porto Inglês. Its runway measures by wide.
Concelho
Concelho () is the Portuguese-language term for municipality, referring to the territorial subdivision in local government. In comparison, the word ''município'' () refers to the organs of State. This differentiation is still in use in Portugal a ...
do Maio''. This municipality consists of one ''
freguesia
''Freguesia'' (), usually translated as "parish" or "civil parish", is the third-level administrative subdivision of Portugal, as defined by the 1976 Constitution. It is also the designation for local government jurisdictions in the former Port ...
'' (civil parish), ''Nossa Senhora da Luz'', which also covers the whole island. The ''freguesia'' is subdivided into the following settlements:
*
Alcatraz
Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...
*
Barreiro Barreiro may refer to:
People
* Bruno Barreiro (born 1965), American politician
* Gustavo Barreiro (1959–2019), American politician
* Manu Barreiro (born 1986), Spanish footballer
Places
* Barreiro, Portugal
** Barreiro Municipality, a mu ...
Cascabulho
Cascabulho is a village in the northern part of the island of Maio, Cape Verde, Maio in Cape Verde. In 2010 its population was 204. It is located 15 km northeast of the island capital Porto Inglês. Further north is the nature reserve Terras Salga ...
Morrinho
Morrinho is a settlement in the northwest of the island of Maio in Cape Verde. It is 14 km north of the island capital Porto Inglês and 4 km north of Calheta. As of the 2010 census, its population was 444. To its north are the nature reserve ...
Santo António
Santo António (Portuguese for Saint Anthony), also known as Santo António do Príncipe, is the main settlement of the island of Príncipe in São Tomé and Príncipe. It lies on the north east coast. It is the capital of the Autonomous Regio ...
In the 1830s, the population was estimated at 2,500. Most people in Maio are Roman Catholic.
Economy
The island prospered around
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
collecting in its early days of colonialism, with a little
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
and
grazing
In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...
.
There are two types of agriculture practiced in Maio, rain fed and irrigated. During the raining season products as corn, beans, pumpkins and melons are being cultivated. Products that farmers cultivate year round are sweet potato, cassava, papaya, fig, coconut and tamarind. Goats, cows, pigs, chickens and donkeys are common on the island. Few people own a horse. Scarcity of water is the biggest problem for the locals.
Fishery is important and abundant available. Tuna, sailfish and different coral fishes such as the coral hind are caught.
The economy is heavily supported by migrants who send money to their family on the island.
Sports
Football is by far the most popular sport, but basketball and futsal along with water sports as surfing, diving and swimming are becoming more popular.
Edy Tavares
Walter Samuel "Edy" Tavares da Veiga (born 22 March 1992) is a Cape Verdean professional basketball player for Real Madrid of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He was selected with the 43rd overall pick in 2014 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks and ...
, basketball player
*
Horace Silver
Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s.
After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...