Sal (Portuguese for "

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 ...

") is an island in

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

. Sal is a tourist destination with white sandy beaches and over 350 days of sunshine a year. It is one of the three sandy eastern islands of the Cape Verde archipelago in the central Atlantic Ocean, off the west coast of Africa. Cabo Verde is known for year-round

kiteboarding Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

, for the large reserve of Caretta turtles which hatch from July to September, and the music of

Cesaria Evora Cesaria may refer to: * Cesaria River, an old name for the Cohansey River *Cesária ''Cesária'' is the fifth album by Cesária Évora. The album, consisting of Cape Verdean morna and coladeira songs, was released by Paris-based Lusafrica on 1 ...

History

For Europeans , the island was discovered on 3 December 1460 and named ''Llana'' ("flat"). This name was changed into the current "Sal" when the two large salt ponds (

Pedra de Lume Pedra de Lume is a village in the northeastern part of the island of Sal, Cape Verde. The village is situated on the east coast, about 5 km east of the island capital Espargos. It has a small port and a lighthouse, Farol de Pedra de Lume. Sa ...

and Santa Maria) were discovered. The first three centuries after its discovery, the island was only sparsely inhabited; in 1720 there was a small fishing village near present Palmeira. This changed when the salt industry was developed at the end of the 18th century, starting in Pedra de Lume. Santa Maria was founded in the south of the island in 1830 by Manuel António Martins. During this time the salt industry thrived, with 30,000 tons of salt being exported in the early years. Most of the salt was exported to Brazil until its nationalization in 1887, Portuguese and French salt investors resumed salt production until 1984. In 1939 Italy started constructing an airport to receive flights from Europe and South America. Construction was halted and ceased around

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The Portuguese bought the airport from the Italians and finished it in 1949. Northeast of the airport, workers from São Nicolau Island settled in a village named Preguiça, now part of Espargos. Hurricane Fred struck the island of Sal in late summer 2015, causing damage to houses, tourist facilities and ships.

Geography

The island is 29.7 km long and 11.8 km wide.Cabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2015
Instituto Nacional de Estatística Its area is .2010 Census Summary
/ref> It is one of the three sandy eastern islands (Sal, Boa Vista and Maio) of the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

, with white sandy beaches. The island is fairly flat; its highest point is

Monte Grande Monte Grande is a city which forms part of the urban agglomeration of Greater Buenos Aires. It is the administrative seat of Esteban Echeverría Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It was founded on April 3, 1889, by a company named ''Soc ...

, at 406 m elevation. The uninhabited islet Ilhéu Rabo de Junco lies near the west coast of Sal. Saline marshes can be found in the ''

'' crater and north of Santa Maria.

Climate

Sal Island has on average 350 days of sunshine a year. Winds mainly blow from the northeast. However, some days do also have clouds, but they tend to be scattered and seldom bring rain. The 'rainy season' is from July to mid-October, although rainfall is still low.

Municipality

Administratively, the island of Sal is covered by one municipality, ''

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 Sal''. 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 das Dores'', which also covers the whole island. The municipality of Sal was created in 1935, when it was separated from the Municipality of Boa Vista. The municipal seat was originally at Santa Maria, but Espargos became the municipal seat in the 1970s. The ''freguesia'' is subdivided into the following settlements: *

Espargos Espargos (Portuguese for "asparagus") is the capital and main commercial centre of the island and municipality of Sal, Cape Verde. The city

(city) *

Murdeira Murdeira is a village in the island of Sal, Cape Verde. The village is situated on the west coast, 9 km south of the island capital Espargos and 10 km north of Santa Maria. roughly midway along the island's major highway linking Murde ...

* Palmeira (town) *

* Santa Maria (city) * Terra Boa

Politics

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

Demographics

As of 1832, the population was estimated at 400 people. Until 1960, it was the least populous island of the nine inhabited islands of Cape Verde, with less than 3,000 inhabitants. Since then the population has been growing rapidly, reaching around 40,000 in 2019, which makes it the third most populous island in Cape Verde, after Santiago and São Vicente, and having overtaken Santo Antão and Fogo.Instituto Nacional de Estatistica, Cabo Verde (web).

Economy

Sal's main town,

Espargos Espargos (Portuguese for "asparagus") is the capital and main commercial centre of the island and municipality of Sal, Cape Verde. The city

, is home to one of the nation's international airports. Tourism, focused on the area of Santa Maria, has replaced salt and fishing as the main source of income. In 2017, 48.2% of the country's available beds were on the island of Sal. The living standards on the island are among the best in the Cape Verde archipelago. The island's

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

per capita as of 2015 is 495,827

escudos The escudo ( Portuguese: 'shield') is a unit of currency historically used in Portugal and its colonies in South America, Asia, and Africa. It was originally worth 16 silver . The Cape Verdean escudo and the former Portuguese escudo (PTE), eac ...

(4,497

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

).Anuário Estatístico 2016
Instituto Nacional de Estatística

Infrastructure

The island is home to

Amílcar Cabral International Airport Amílcar Cabral International Airport , also known as Sal International Airport, is the main international airport of Cape Verde. The airport is named after the revolutionary leader Amílcar Cabral. It is located two km west-southwest from Espa ...

, the busiest airport of Cape Verde. The main port of the island of Sal is at Palmeira. The main roads are: *Santa Maria - Espargos Road (

EN1-SL01 EN1-SL01 is a first class national road on the island of Sal, Cape Verde. It runs from Espargos to Santa Maria.

) *Palmeira - Espargos Road (EN1-SL02)

Sports

Football (soccer) is the chief sports on the island. It has the Sal Regional Football Association and its main competitions are the Premier and the

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

Divisions. Its main clubs are

Académica do Sal Académica may refer to: * Academica a Miami, Florida-based charter school operator * Associação Académica de Coimbra (Coimbra Academic Association), the students' union of the University of Coimbra * Associação Académica de Coimbra – O. ...

Académico do Aeroporto Académico do Aeroporto ( Capeverdean Crioulo, ALUPEC or ALUPEK: ''Akadémiku du Aeropurtu'') is a football club that had played in the Premier division and plays in the Sal Island League in Cape Verde. It is based in the city of Espargos in the i ...

, Juventude and

SC Santa Maria Sport Clube Santa Maria (also in Capeverdean Crioulos of ALUPEC or ALUPEK and Sal) is a football club that had played in the Premier division and plays in the Sal Island League in Cape Verde. It is based in the town of Santa Maria in the so ...

. The island's main stadium is

Estádio Marcelo Leitão Estádio Marcelo Leitão is a multi-use stadium in Sal Island, Cape Verde. It is used mostly for football matches and now track and field and has a capacity of 8,000 people. It is named for Marcelo Leitão, one of the two main features on the ...

situated southeast of Espargos's center and all regional matches are played. Also Basketball is the second most popular on the island as well as volleyball, they are played at Polidesportivo do Sal, Académico do Sal is the island's best basketball team. Futsal is also played. Also dominant particularly in the beaches the south of the island and its surrounding waters are surfing, windsurfing and kitesurfing, recently gained for about 25 years and becoming the most dominant in the nation in windsurfing and kitesurfing.

Twin towns - Sister cities

Sal is twinned with: *

Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourism in Portugal, tourist de ...

, Portugal *

Desenzano del Garda Desenzano del Garda ( lmo, label=Brescian, Dezensà) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy, on the southwestern shore of Lake Garda. It borders the communes of Castiglione delle Stiviere, Lonato, Padenghe sul Gard ...

, Italy *

Grottammare Grottammare is a town and ''comune'' on Italy's Adriatic coast, in the province of Ascoli Piceno, Marche region. The town is crossed by the 43rd parallel north. Economy is mostly based on summer tourism; other sectors include food and vegetab ...

, Italy *

South Normanton South Normanton is a village and civil parish in the Bolsover District of Derbyshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 9,445. An ex-mining village, it is two miles east of Alfreton. The historic industries of the village were agr ...

, England

Notable residents

* Maria Alice, singer *

Carlos Andrade Carlos Eduardo Fernandes Vieira de Andrade (born April 27, 1978) is a former Portuguese basketball player who played as a small forward. Andrade played college basketball in the United States, and had brief spells in Germany and Spain. He is the ...

, basketball player *

Rodirlei José Ascensão Duarte Rodirlei "Rodi" José Ascensão Duarte, sometime known as "Rody" (born 28 May 1991) is a Cape Verdean former association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. Career Rodi spend his youth career in Portuga ...

(Rody), footballer * Elvis Évora (Elvis), footballer * Ana Firmino, singer * Hermínia da Cruz Fortes, singer *

Ildo Lobo Ildo Lobo (November 25, 1953 – October 20, 2004) was a Cape Verdean singer. His versatile and melodic voice, commanding stage presence and trademark berets made him one of the most recognizable performers in Cape Verde.Mirri Lobo Mirri Lobo (born May 22, 1960) is a Cape Verdean singer, musician, composer and producer. Biography Mirri Lobo was born Emilio Rito de Sousa Lobo in the village of Pedra de Lume in the island of Sal to Emílio de Sousa Lobo and Cacilda Brito d ...

, musician * Ildo Augusto Dos Santos Lopes Fortes, current bishop of Mindelo * 4BGSal Islands, artist * Nelson Marcos, soccer player * Basílio Ramos, politician * Héldon Ramos (Héldon), footballer *

Ruben Sança Ruben Pascal Sança (born December 13, 1986) is a Cape Verdean long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon. He attended and ran for the University of Massachusetts Lowell, after which he began training under Gary Gardner as a member of th ...

, athlete *

Dona Tututa Epifânia de Freitas Silva Ramos Évora, better known as Dona Tututa or Tututa Évora (January 6, 1919 – January 26, 2014) was a Cape Verdean composer and a pianist. She is considered one of Cape Verde's legendary figure, she was the author o ...

, composer and pianist

Gallery

File:2014 Cape Verde. Sal. Hund Vid Färgad Dörr.jpg, A sleeping

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

File:2014 Cape Verde. Sal. Saltkratern (2).JPEG,

Salt evaporation pond A salt evaporation pond is a shallow artificial salt pan designed to extract salts from sea water or other brines. The Salt pans are shallow and large of size because it will be easier for sunlight to travel and reach the sea water. Natural sal ...

Volcanic crater A volcanic crater is an approximately circular depression in the ground caused by Volcano, volcanic activity. It is typically a bowl-shaped feature containing one or more vents. During Types of volcanic eruptions, volcanic eruptions, molten magm ...

(

) File:2014 Cape Verde. Sal. Fina Hus.jpg, Buildings in Santa Maria File:Cape Verde Sal Santa Maria shop.jpg, A souvenir shop in Santa Maria File:2014 Cape Verde. Sal. Gata.jpg, The Mainstreet in Santa Maria, Cabo Verde File:2014 Cape Verde. Sal. Stadsöversyn.JPG, Cityview over

Espargos Espargos (Portuguese for "asparagus") is the capital and main commercial centre of the island and municipality of Sal, Cape Verde. The city

File:2014 Cape Verde. Sal. Kyrka.jpg,

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in Santa Maria File:2014 Cape Verde. Sal. Saltkratern (1).JPEG, Machinery in Volcanic crater, Pedra de Lume File:Lighthouse Sal.jpg,

Ponta do Sinó Ponta do Sinó is the southernmost point of the island of Sal in Cape Verde.lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

File:2014 Cape Verde. Sal. Baywatch.JPG, Lifeguard Tower File:2014 Cape Verde. Sal. Strand.jpg, Santa Maria Beach in the evening File:2014 Cap Verde. Sal. Blue Eye.JPG, Cave "Blue Eye" File:Sal Cape Verde Santa Maria house.jpg, Stores in Santa Maria File:Cape Verde Sal kitesurfing.jpg,

Kiteboarding Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wak ...

in Sal, Cape Verde File:Sal Island.jpg, Panorama taken at Palmeira harbour

References

External links

Official website of the Municipality of Sal

{{Authority control Islands of Cape Verde Municipalities of Cape Verde 1930s establishments in Cape Verde

History

Geography

Climate

Municipality

Politics

Demographics

Economy

Infrastructure

Sports

Twin towns - Sister cities

Notable residents

Gallery

See also

References

External links