{{short description, none
Cape Verde
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, demonym ...
is an
archipelago, and its islands are historically divided into two groups, or regions:
*
Barlavento (meaning literally
Windward), including
Santo Antão,
São Vicente,
Santa Luzia,
São Nicolau,
Sal
Sal, SAL, or S.A.L. may refer to:
Personal name
* Sal (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname
Places
* Sal, Cape Verde, an island and municipality
* Sal, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province
* Ca ...
and
Boa Vista, in the northern side.
*
Sotavento (meaning literally
Leeward
Windward () and leeward () are terms used to describe the direction of the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e. towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point of reference ...
), including
Maio,
Santiago,
Fogo and
Brava, in the southern side.
In addition to the historical regions, the islands can also be divided by geographical features, resulting in:
* A group of dry, very flat, and geologically old islands (Sal, Boa Vista and Maio), lying to the east and closer to the African coast (which makes them a target for sand from the
Sahara desert, resulting in long sandy beaches, typically used for beach tourism), and
* A group of rocky, volcanic, agricultural islands more to the west. Their
orography is rougher because they're geologically newer, and the westernmost islands (such as Santo Antão) tend to be the most mountainous.
Geography of Cape Verde
Cape Verde
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, demonym ...