Santiago (

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

for “ Saint James”) is the largest island of

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

, its most important

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

centre and home to half the nation's population. Part of the

Sotavento Islands The Sotavento Islands (Portuguese: ''Ilhas de Sotavento'', literally, the ''Leeward Islands'') is the southern island group of the Cape Verde archipelago.Maio ( to the east) and Fogo ( to the west). It was the first of the islands to be settled: the town of Ribeira Grande (now

Cidade Velha Cidade Velha (Portuguese for "old city", also: ''Santiago de Cabo Verde'') is a city UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

) was founded in 1462. Santiago is home to the nation's

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

Praia Praia (, Portuguese language, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.

History

The eastern side of the nearby island of Fogo collapsed into the ocean 73,000 years ago, creating a tsunami 170 meters high which struck Santiago. In 1460,

António de Noli Antonio de Noli (born 1415 or possibly 1419) was a 15th-century Genoese nobleman and navigator, and the first governor of the earliest European overseas colony in Subsaharan Africa. He discovered some of the Cape Verde islands on behalf of Henry ...

became the first to visit the island. Da Noli settled at ''Ribeira Grande'' (now

Cidade Velha Cidade Velha (Portuguese for "old city", also: ''Santiago de Cabo Verde'') is a cityValor simbólico do centro histórico da Praia
Lourenço Conceição Gomes, Universidade Portucalense, 2008, p. 97 Transcontinental slavery made Cidade Velha the second richest city in the Portuguese realm. The wealth of Ribeira Grande and conflicts between Portugal and rival colonial powers France and Britain attracted pirate attacks, including those by

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 (t ...

( 1585) and

Jacques Cassard Jacques Cassard (30 September 1679 – 1740) was a French naval officer and privateer. Biography Born on 30 September 1679 to a family of merchants of Nantes, Cassard began a career as a sailor at age 14 on the merchantmen owned by his fa ...

(

1712 In the Swedish calendar it began as a leap year starting on Monday and remained so until Thursday, February 29. By adding a second leap day (Friday, February 30) Sweden reverted to the Julian calendar and the rest of the year (from Saturday, M ...

). Ribeira Grande went into decline, and the capital was moved to

Praia Praia (, Portuguese language, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.

in 1770.Centre historique de Praia
UNESCO Cessation in the slave trade in the 19th century resulted in an economic crisis, and the growing port of

Mindelo Mindelo is a port cityCabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook ...

on São Vicente replaced Praia as the most important port. With few natural resources and inadequate sustainable investment from the Portuguese, the citizens grew increasingly discontented with the colonial masters, who nevertheless refused to provide the local authorities with more autonomy. The island's native population was disadvantaged by the Portuguese colonial system and supported

Amílcar Cabral Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral (; – ) was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer, pan-Africanist, intellectual, poet, theoretician, revolutionary, political organizer, nationalist and diplomat. He was one of Africa's forem ...

and the

African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde ( pt, Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, PAIGC) is a political party in Guinea-Bissau. Originally formed to peacefully campaign for independence from ...

and the independence of 1975.

Geography

Santiago is the largest island of Cape Verde, with an area of . It is 54.9 km long and 28.8 km wide.Cabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2015
Instituto Nacional de Estatística The island is mountainous, although slightly flatter in the southeast. The interior and the east coast are seasonally, and somewhat sporadically, hot tropical in climate and forested, whereas the south and southwest occupy the central uplands' arid

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is carrie ...

. The tallest summit is

Pico de Antónia Pico de Antónia is a mountain located in the central part of the island of Santiago in Cape Verde. At , it is the highest point of the island. The mountain is part of the protected area ''Parque Natural da Serra do Pico de Antónia''.

, elevation , barely west of

Picos Picos is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the states of Brazil, state of Piauí in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of Brazil. Picos is the state's third-largest city, located in the south-central region of Piauí and is ...

, in the centre of the island. The second is

Serra Malagueta Serra Malagueta is a mountain range located in the northern part of the island of Santiago, Cape Verde. At 1064 m elevation, it is highest point of northern Santiago. The mountain range is protected as the Serra Malagueta Natural Park (''Parque N ...

between

Assomada Assomada is a cityCabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2015

and Tarrafal in the north. Other mountain ranges include Órgãos in the municipality of

São Lourenço dos Órgãos SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...

and Monte das Vacas near Praia. Santiago's west coast is rugged, especially at Baía do Inferno, and less populated than the east and south coasts. The most important rivers are Ribeira Seca,

Ribeira Grande de Santiago Ribeira Grande de Santiago is a ''concelho'' (municipality) of Cape Verde. It is situated in the southwestern part of the island of Santiago. Its seat is the city Cidade Velha. Its population was 8,325 at the 2010 census, and its area is 137.3&nbs ...

, Ribeira Principal and

Ribeira da Trindade Ribeira da Trindade is a stream in the southern part of the island of Santiago in Cape Verde. It is the most important river of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde. Its basin area is .Ponta Temerosa and the northernmost, Ponta Moreia. The Cape Verde islands are very naturally degraded. Due to their proximity to the Sahara, most are dry, but on those with high mountains and farther away from the continent, by orography (relief precipitation), the humidity is much higher, giving small upland rainforest habitats, but strongly affected by human presence. Northeastern slopes of high mountains receive heavy rain several times most years. Much of the altitude is sufficient for a mild climate and subject-to-seasonal-drought but typically moist soil. Some islands, as on Santiago, have vegetation-clad (

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

s) where the dense

moisture Moisture is the presence of a liquid, especially water, often in trace amounts. Small amounts of water may be found, for example, in the air (humidity), in foods, and in some commercial products. Moisture also refers to the amount of water vapo ...

condenses and soaks the plants, and soil.

Administrative divisions

Since 2005, the island of Santiago is divided into nine

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Praia Praia (, Portuguese language, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.

, Santa Catarina, Santa Cruz, São Domingos,

, São Miguel, São Salvador do Mundo and Tarrafal. Before the creation of the municipality of Santa Catarina in 1834, the island was one municipality. Since then, seven more municipalities were created as shown below.Evolução histórica do Concelho de Santa Catarina (1834 – 1912)
Ana Zenaida Gomes, 2005, p. 19, 29Picos: a terra e a gente
Emanuel de Jesus Monteiro Vaz Fernandes, ISE, 2005, p. 27-29

Population

Praia Praia (, Portuguese language, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde.

, located in the southeast coast, is the largest city on the island, and also the largest city and capital of the country. Other towns on the island include Cidade Velha, west of Praia, Cape Verde's first capital;

Assomada Assomada is a cityCabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2015

, in the centre of the island; Tarrafal in the north; Pedra Badejo and

Calheta de São Miguel Calheta de São Miguel is a cityCabo Verde, Statistical Ye ...

along the east coast. In the 1830s, Santiago's population was estimated at 30,000. Santiago has always been the most populous island in Cape Verde. The island population has doubled since the independence of Cape Verde in 1975. The population of the island was 294,135 in 2015; the population density was 297/km².

Transport

Air

Santiago is served by the

Nelson Mandela International Airport Nelson Mandela International Airport , also known as Praia International Airport, is the airport of Santiago Island in Cape Verde. It was opened in October 2005, replacing the old Francisco Mendes International Airport. It is located about 3&nbs ...

, near Praia. It is the second busiest airport in Cape Verde, after

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 ...

on Sal, with 662,356 passengers in 2017.

Water

The main port of Santiago is

Praia Harbor Praia Harbor ( pt, Porto da Praia) is the port of the city of Praia in the southern part of the island of Santiago, Cape Verde. It is situated in a natural bay of the Atlantic Ocean. Since the latest modernization in 2014, it has 2 long quays, 3 sh ...

, in Praia. It is the second busiest port in Cape Verde, after

Porto Grande Bay Porto Grande Bay ( pt, Baía do Porto Grande), also Mindelo Bay, is a bay on the north coast of the island of São Vicente, Cape Verde. The main city of São Vicente, Mindelo, is situated at the bay. The Porto Grande Bay is a natural harbour. It ...

on São Vicente, with 817,845 metric tonnes of cargo and 85,518 passengers handled in 2017.Statistics Port Praia

ENAPOR ENAPOR (''Empresa Nacional de Administração dos Portos'', Portuguese for "National Company for Port Administration") is the Cape Verdean port authority. Its purpose is the administration, management and economic exploitation of the ports, termin ...

, December 2017 There are ferry connections from Praia Harbor to the islands of

Brava Brava or La Brava may refer to: Geography *Brava, Cape Verde, a volcanic island *Brava, Costa Rica, an island of Costa Rica (Isla Brava) *Costa Brava, a coastal area Mediterranean of northeast Spain * Barawa, a town in Somalia commonly known as ' ...

, Fogo, São Nicolau, São Vicente, Maio, Boa Vista and Sal. There are several small fishing ports along the coast, including Tarrafal, Cidade Velha, Pedra Badejo and

Calheta de São Miguel Calheta de São Miguel is a cityCabo Verde, Statistical Ye ...

Road

Santiago has of national roads, of which first class roads. In addition, there are several municipal and local roads. The first class national roads are: Public transport within the city of Praia is provided by the city buses of the company SolAtlântico. Intercity public transport is provided by

share taxi Share may refer to: * Share, to make joint use of a resource (such as food, money, or space); see Sharing * Share (finance), a stock or other financial security (such as a mutual fund) * Share, Kwara, a town and LGA in Kwara State, Nigeria Share m ...

s and minibuses. In 2015 a project called EcobusCV started running a fleet of dual fuel waste vegetable oil / diesel minibuses between Praia and Assomada. However, services were suspended in November 2016.

Economy

The main industries are agriculture, tourism, fishing and others, alongside some manufacturing. Main agricultural products are

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

and

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

es. potatoes

Education

Several institutes of higher education are active on Santiago:

University of Cape Verde The University of Cape Verde ( pt, Universidade de Cabo Verde, abbreviated "Uni-CVV") is the only public university of Cape Verde. The main campus is in Palmarejo, Praia, but there are also institutes in Mindelo, Assomada and São Jorge dos Órg ...

(Praia, Assomada and São Jorge),

Jean Piaget University of Cape Verde The Jean Piaget University of Cape Verde ( pt, Universidade Jean Piaget de Cabo Verde) is a private university in Cape Verde. The university is named after the famous Swiss child psychologist and philosopher Jean Piaget. The university was establi ...

(Praia),

Universidade de Santiago The Universidade de Santiago (abbreviation: US) is a private Cape Verdean university. The main campus is in Assomada (subdivision Bolanha), located in the middle of the Island of Santiago. There are two satellite campuses, one in Praia (subdivi ...

(Assomada, Praia and Tarrafal), Instituto Superior de Ciências Económicas e Empresariais (Praia), Instituto Superior de Ciências Jurídicas e Sociais (Praia) and Universidade Lusofona de Cabo Verde (Praia). The

Liceu Domingos Ramos Liceu Domingos Ramos is a public secondary school in the northern part of the city centre (Plateau) of Praia, Cape Verde. , it has 2,300 students, 63 classes and 110 teachers. It was established as ''Liceu Adriano Moreira'' in 1960. In 1975, at the ...

is a public secondary school in Praia. The

National Library of Cape Verde The National Library of Cape Verde ( pt, Instituto da Biblioteca Nacional e do Livro) is located in Praia, Cape Verde. The library was established in 1999. The library maintains the National Bibliography, contains the country's historical archi ...

is also located in Praia.

Nature

Santiago has the most diverse flora and fauna of all Cape Verde: it has 1,915 identified land species, of which 289 are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

.Estatísticas do Ambiente - 2016
Instituto Nacional de Estatística, p. 23-25 It is also the most forested island of Cape Verde: 38% of its area is forest. The only protected areas of the island are the Natural Parks of Serra do Pico de Antónia and

,Resolução nº 36/2016
Estratégia e Plano Nacional de Negócios das Áreas Protegidas covering 3.68% of the island. Endangered endemic species of flora and fauna on Santiago include the plants '' Campanula bravensis'', '' Campylanthus glaber'', ''

Conyza feae ''Conyza feae'' is a species of flowering plant that belongs to the family Asteraceae. The species is endemic to Cape Verde.Oromí, Martín, Zurita & Cabrera, 2005 : Lista preliminar de especies silvestres de Cabo Verde: Hongos, Plantas y Animal ...

'', ''

Conyza pannosa ''Conyza pannosa'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. The species is endemic to Cape Verde.Oromí, Martín, Zurita & Cabrera, 2005 : Lista preliminar de especies silvestres de Cabo Verde: Hongos, Plantas y Animales Terrest ...

'', '' Diplotaxis varia'', '' Echium hypertropicum'', ''

Limonium lobinii ''Limonium lobinii'' is a species of flowering plants of the family Plumbaginaceae. The species is endemic to Cape Verde.Oromí, Martín, Zurita & Cabrera, 2005 : Lista preliminar de especies silvestres de Cabo Verde: Hongos, Plantas y Animales ...

'', '' Micromeria forbesii'', '' Sonchus daltonii'' and ''

Umbilicus schmidtii ''Umbilicus schmidtii'' is a flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae. The species is endemic to Cape Verde.Oromí, Martín, Zurita & Cabrera, 2005 : Lista preliminar de especies silvestres de Cabo Verde: Hongos, Plantas y Animales Terrestres. ...

'', and the animals '' Chioninia vaillantii'' and ''

Tarentola rudis ''Tarentola rudis'' is a species of geckos in the family Phyllodactylidae. The species is endemic to Cape Verde, where it occurs in the southern part of the island of Santiago and on the Ilhéu de Santa Maria. The species was described as a vari ...

''.IUCN Red List Search
/ref>

Sports

Several sports are practised on Santiago, including football (soccer), basketball, volleyball, track and field, futsal and athletics. There are two football associations on the island: Santiago North and

Santiago South 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 ...

, each with its own competitions. Santiago possesses the most major sports complexes in the country, they include

Estádio da Várzea Estádio da Várzea is a multi-purpose stadium in Praia, Cape Verde just west of the city center's plateau in the subdivision of Várzea and on Avenida Cidade de Lisboa on its east side. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stad ...

in Praia, Cumbém in Assomada, Mangue in Tarrafal, one in Pedra Badejo and Estádio da Calheta in Calheta de São Miguel.

Notable residents

* Elida Almeida, singer *

André Álvares de Almada André Álvares de Almada ( fl. 16th and 17th centuries) was a Cape Verdean writer, trader and explorer of mestiço (mixed) descent. He was one of the first recorded Cape Verdean writers in Cape Verdean history, in 1598, he was knighted as a Knigh ...

, writer, trader and explorer *

Orlanda Amarílis Orlanda Amarílis Lopes Rodrigues Fernandes Ferreira, known as Orlanda Amarílis (8 October 1924 – 1 February 2014) was a Cape Verdean writer. She is considered to be a noteworthy writer of fiction whose main literary themes include perspectiv ...

, writer * Lúcio Antunes, coach *

Babanco Elvis Manuel Monteiro Macedo (born 27 July 1985), known as Babanco, is a Cape Verdean professional Association football, footballer who plays for Portuguese club U.D. Leiria as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Portugal, making exactly ...

, footballer * Jorge Barbosa, writer *

Gardénia Benrós Gardénia Benrós is a Cape Verdean singer. Biography Gardénia Benrós was born in the city of Praia, to parents from Brava Island, the island of flowers. She became part of the Tropical Power project in 1983 after she immigrated to Rhode ...

, singer *

Cao Cao or CAO may refer to: Mythology *Cao (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology Companies or organizations * Air China Cargo, ICAO airline designator CAO *CA Oradea, Romanian football club *CA Osasuna, Spanish football club *Canadian Assoc ...

, footballer * Codé di Dona, writer *

Djaniny Jorge Djaniny Tavares Semedo (born 21 March 1991), known as Djaniny, is a Cape Verdean professional footballer who plays for Turkish club Trabzonspor as a forward. Club career União Leiria Born in Santa Cruz, Djaniny arrived in Portugal at t ...

, footballer (soccer) player * Abílio Duarte, politician *

Mito Elias Fernando Hamilton Barbosa Elias, also known as Mito or Mito Elias (born 9 August 1965) is a Cape Verdean artist, visual artist and a poet. Biography Mito Elias was born in Praia, Santiago, Cape Verde. He studied art at Centro de Arte & Comunica� ...

, painter * Gilyto, singer *

António Mascarenhas Monteiro António Manuel Mascarenhas Gomes Monteiro (; 16 February 1944 – 16 September 2016) was the first democratically elected President of Cape Verde from 22 March 1991 to 22 March 2001. Early life and education Born in Ribeira da Barca in 1944 ...

, former President *

José Maria Neves José Maria Pereira Neves (; born 28 March 1960) is a Cape Verdean politician who is currently the president of Cape Verde, having previously served as the Prime Minister of Cape Verde from 2001 to 2016. He is a member of the African Party for th ...

, present Prime Minister *

Orlando Pantera Orlando Monteiro Barreto (1 November 1967, in São Lourenço dos Órgãos – 1 March 2001, in Praia, Santiago), better known as Orlando Pantera was a Cape Verdean singer and composer. Three of its songs were recorded in the album ''Porton d'nôs ...

, musician *

António Pedro António Pedro da Costa (9 December 1909, in Portuguese Cape Verde, Santiago, Praia – 17 August 1966, in Caminha, Moledo, Portugal) was a Portuguese painter, potter, journalist and writer. Biography He was born to a prominent colonial family f ...

, Portuguese writer * Piguita, footballer *

Ivone Ramos Ivone Aida Lopes Fernandes Ramos (September 7, 1926 – March 3, 2018) was a Cape Verdean writer. Biography She was born to Armando Napoleão Rodrigues Fernandes and Alice Lopes da Silva Fernandes. She belonged to a family of great literary fi ...

, writer * Tomé Varela da Silva, writer, poet and philosopher *

Ronny Souto Walder Alves Souto Amado, known as Ronny (born 7 December 1978) is a Cape Verdean footballer who plays professionally in for CS Fola Esch. He previously played in Cape Verde for SC Praia and in Luxembourg for CS Oberkorn and F91 Dudelange. Inter ...

(Ronny), footballer *

Tcheka Tcheka (Manuel Lopes Andrade; born in Ribeira da Barca, Santiago, Cape Verde, on July 20, 1973) is a Cape Verdean singer, songwriter and guitarist, who is well known for his work in transposing the traditional genre batuque to the electro-acous ...

, singer * Manuel Veiga, writer, linguist *

Arménio Vieira Arménio Adroaldo Vieira e Silva (; born January 29, 1941) is a Cape Verdean writer, poet and journalist. He began his activity during the 1960s, collaborated in SELÓ, Boletim de Cabo Verde, Vértice (Coimbra) review, Raízes, Ponto & Vírgula ...

, writer

References

External links

{{Authority control Islands of Cape Verde

History

Geography

Administrative divisions

Population

Transport

Air

Water

Road

Economy

Education

Nature

Sports

Notable residents

See also

References

External links