The Canal de São Vicente is a

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

separating the islands of Santo Antão and São Vicente,

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

. At its narrowest point, it is wide. The ferry route between the ports of

Porto Novo , , ; ; ; also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe) is the capital and second-largest city of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. In 1863, following British bombardment, Porto-Novo accepted French ...

on Santo Antão and

Mindelo Mindelo is a port cityCabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2 ...

on São Vicente crosses the canal. The channel begins in São Vicente's northwesternmost cape near

Monte Cara Monte Cara is a mountain in western part of the island of São Vicente, Cape Verde. Its elevation is 490 m.Ponta de João d'Évora Ponta may refer to: Ponta, Portuguese for "point" or promontory, is a part of many Portuguese and Brazilian toponyms: * Ponta, Texas * Ponta Grossa, a city in Brazil * Ponta Pelada Airport, an airport in Brazil * Ponta Porã International Airport, ...

in the northeast. The Canal de São Vicente is the habitat of some endemic species, including the

demosponge Demosponges or common sponges are sponges of the class Demospongiae (from + ), the most diverse group in the phylum Porifera which include greater than 90% of all extant sponges with nearly 8,800 species A species () is often de ...

Amphilectus strepsichelifer ''Amphilectus strepsichelifer'' is a species of demosponges found in the Atlantic waters around Cape Verde, western Africa. The species name is a combination of the Latin ''strepsis'' = twisted, and ''chelifer'' = bearing chelae, reflecting the t ...

'' and the cone snail ''

Conus fernandesi ''Conus fernandesi'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Conidae. It is endemic to the Cape Verde islands. Description The size of the shell varies between 18 mm and 27 mm. As all species within the ge ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Vicente Bodies of water of Cape Verde Geography of Santo Antão, Cape Verde Geography of São Vicente, Cape Verde Straits of the Atlantic Ocean