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, for the large reserve of
Caretta turtles which hatch from July to September, and the music of
Cesaria Evora.
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 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
Manuel António Martins (1772 in Braga-1845) was a Portuguese businessman and colonial governor of Cape Verde and Portuguese Guinea from 1834 to 1835. Martins was said to be the richest man in the country and nicknamed the Napoleon of the Cape Ver ...
.
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, at 406 m elevation.[ The uninhabited islet ]Ilhéu Rabo de Junco
Ilhéu Rabo de Junco is an uninhabited islet near the west coast of Sal Island, Cape Verde. It lies about from the coast. It is long and wide, its shoreline is about long. It is the only islet near the island of Sal. Baía da Murdeira lies to ...
lies near the west coast of Sal. Saline marshes can be found in the '' Pedra de Lume'' 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 do Sal''. This municipality consists of one '' freguesia'' (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)[
* Pedra de Lume
* 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.[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 per capita as of 2015 is 495,827 escudos (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, 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
The Sal Regional Football Association (Portuguese: ''Associação Regional de Futebol do Sal'', abbreviation: ''ARFS'') is a football (soccer) association covering the island of Sal. It is headquartered in the city of Espargos, the island capital ...
and its main competitions are the Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
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, Académico do Aeroporto, 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 vegetable ...
, 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 agri ...
, England
Notable residents
* Maria Alice, singer
* Carlos Andrade, 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 Garcia Monteiro Évora (born 4 February 1978) is a Portuguese former basketball player who played as a center.
He played for Porto, from 1998/1999 to 2004/2005. After a season at Tenerife, he moved back to Portugal, playing for Ovarense, ...
(Elvis), footballer
* Ana Firmino
Ana Firmino (born 1953) is a Cape Verdean singer. She was born in 1953 on the island of Sal, but it was not until she was in her late 20s that she dedicated herself to a career in music. She has performed for many years in Cape Verde and Europe ...
, singer
* Hermínia da Cruz Fortes
Hermínia da Cruz Fortes, better known as Hermínia d'Antónia de Sal, (September 17, 1941—7 February 2010) was a Cape Verdean singer.
She was the cousin of Cesária Évora, and daughter of António da Rocha Évora and Antónia 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
Ildo Augusto dos Santos Lopes Fortes (born 13 December 1964) is a Cape Verdean clergyman and the second and current bishop of Mindelo.
Biography
He was born in the island of Sal in Cape Verde, at the time under Portuguese rule.
dos Santos Lope ...
, current bishop of Mindelo
* 4BGSal Islands, artist
* Nelson Marcos, soccer player
* Basílio Ramos
Basílio Mosso Ramos (born January 17, 1952) is a Cape Verdean politician who was the 5th president of the National Assembly of Cape Verde from 2011 to 2016.
He came to politics as a PAICV member.
He went to several European universities includ ...
, 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 in Volcanic crater ( Pedra de Lume)
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 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 in Sal, Cape Verde
File:Sal Island.jpg, Panorama taken at Palmeira harbour
See also
* Wildlife of Cape Verde
The wildlife of Cape Verde is spread over its archipelago of ten islands and three islets, which all have parks under their jurisdiction by decree promulgated by the Cape Verde government. Located off the west coast of Africa, the total land a ...
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