Ribeira Grande is a ''

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 ...

'' (municipality) of Cape Verde. Situated in the northern part of the island of Santo Antão, it covers one fifth of the island area (166.5 km²), and is home to nearly half of its population (18,890 at the 2010 census).2010 Census Summary
/ref> Its seat is the city

Ponta do Sol Ponta do Sol (; en, "Cape of the Sun") is a municipality in the southwestern coast of the island of Madeira, in the archipelago of Madeira. The population in 2011 was 8,862, in an area of . History The settlement of Ponta do Sol began shortly af ...

Subdivisions

The municipality consists of four '' freguesias'' (civil parishes): * Nossa Senhora do Rosário * Nossa Senhora do Livramento * Santo Crucifixo * São Pedro Apóstolo

Demography

Geography

The municipality has a rugged landscape, stretching from the mountains in the interior of the island to the north coast. It has several deep river valleys, including those of Ribeira da Garça, Ribeira Grande and

Ribeira da Torre Ribeira da Torre is a torrential stream in the northeastern part of the island of Santo Antão in Cape Verde. Its source is in the mountains north of the Cova crater, near the locality Rabo Curto. It flows to the north through the settlements X ...

. It borders the municipality

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

to the east and

Porto Novo Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of G ...

to the south. The protected areas

Cova-Paul-Ribeira da Torre Natural Park Cova-Paul-Ribeira da Torre Natural Park, in the east of the island of Santo Antão, is one of ten "natural parks" in the country of Cape Verde.Moroços Moroços Natural Park (''Parque Natural de Moroços''), in the middle of the island of Santo Antão, is one of ten "natural parks" in Cape Verde.

and Cruzinha lie (partly) within the municipality..

History

In 1732 the Municipality of Santo Antão was created, with its seat in the town Ribeira Grande. In 1867 this was divided into the municipality of Paul (covering the area of current Paul and Porto Novo) and the municipality of Ribeira Grande. These were merged in 1895 into one municipality. The municipalities of Paul and Ribeira Grande were recreated in 1917.Inventário dos recursos turísticos do município do Paúl
Direcção Geral do Turismo, p. 16

Politics

Since 2008, the Movement for Democracy (MpD) is the ruling party of the municipality. Its current president is Orlando Delgado (MpD). The results of the latest elections, in 2016:Official results local elections 2016
''Boletim Oficial I Série, Número 53'', 23 September 2016

Persons

* António do Espírito Santo Fonseca, president of the National Assembly from 1996 to 2001 *

Gabriel Mariano José Gabriel Lopes da Silva, also known as Gabriel Mariano (May 18, 1928 in Ribeira Grande – February 18, 2002 in Lisbon, Portugal), was a Cape Verdean poet, novelist, and an essayist. He studied at São Joaquim and graduated as director in Lis ...

, Capeverdean essayist, novelist & poet * Manuel de Novas, Capeverdean poet

Twin towns

Torres Novas Torres Novas () is a Portuguese municipality in the district of Santarém, in the Médio Tejo of the Centro region. The population of the municipality was approximately 36,717 (from the 2011 census), with the city of Torres Novas (seat of the mu ...

, Portugal * Ponta do Sol, Madeira Islands

References

External links

Official website

ANMCV (Associação Nacional dos Municípios Cabo-Verdianos - National Association of the Capeverdean Municipalities)