Maio is the easternmost of the Sotavento islands of

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 ...

. Maio is located south of the island of Boa Vista and east of

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. Administratively, the island forms one ''

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): Maio.

History

The island was discovered in 1460. It was first settled at the end of the 16th century, when the land was used to raise livestock, especially goats. Salt was first exploited in the 17th century which caused the population to grow. The English exported salt to Europe from Porto Inglês, hence the name of that city.História
Municipio do Maio The inconclusive Battle of Maio was fought between British and French

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

squadrons off the island's southern coast on 23 January 1814 in the last stages of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. Due to persisting drought many inhabitants emigrated from Maio in the 20th century.

Geography

The island has an area of 274.5 km².2010 Census Summary
/ref> It is 24.1 km long and 16.3 km wide.Cabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2015
Instituto Nacional de Estatística The tallest mountain on the island (436 m) is near the east coast, in a mountain range named Monte Penoso. Terras Salgadas is a salty plain in the far north. The northernmost point on the island is Ponta Cais. 20% of the island area (54.5 km²) is forested and 28% of the island area (76.0 km²) is a protected area.Estatísticas do Ambiente - 2016
Instituto Nacional de Estatística, p. 24-25 Bays includes Baía do Galeão and Baía da Santana to the north and in the southeast is a lagoon named Lagoa Cimidor. The uninhabited islet Ilhéu Laje Branca lies near its north coast. The island's main town is Porto Inglês, near which its

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

, Maio Airport lies. Selezione 001

Municipality

Administratively, the island of Maio 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 ...

do Maio''. This municipality consists of one ''

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 Portuguese over ...

'' (civil parish), ''Nossa Senhora da Luz'', which also covers the whole island. The ''freguesia'' is subdivided into the following settlements: *

Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island about 1.25 miles offshore from San Francisco in San Francisco Bay, California, near the Golden Gate Strait. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fo ...

* Barreiro (town) * Calheta (town) * Cascabulho * Figueira * Morro * Morrinho * Pedro Vaz * Pilão Cão * Porto Inglês (city) * Praia Gonçalo * Ribeira Dom João *

Santo António Santo António (Portuguese for Saint Anthony), also known as Santo António do Príncipe, is the main settlement of the island of Príncipe in São Tomé and Príncipe. It lies on the north east coast. It is the capital of the Autonomous Region ...

Politics

Since 2004, 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

Population

In the 1830s, the population was estimated at 2,500. Most people in Maio are Roman Catholic.

Economy

The island prospered around

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

collecting in its early days of colonialism, with a little

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

. There are two types of agriculture practiced in Maio, rain fed and irrigated. During the raining season products as corn, beans, pumpkins and melons are being cultivated. Products that farmers cultivate year round are sweet potato, cassava, papaya, fig, coconut and tamarind. Goats, cows, pigs, chickens and donkeys are common on the island. Few people own a horse. Scarcity of water is the biggest problem for the locals. Fishery is important and abundant available. Tuna, sailfish and different coral fishes such as the coral hind are caught. The economy is heavily supported by migrants who send money to their family on the island.

Sports

Football is by far the most popular sport, but basketball and futsal along with water sports as surfing, diving and swimming are becoming more popular.

Notable people

* Maria Helena da Costa Dias, Cape Verdean born Portuguese writer and translator * Edy Tavares, basketball player *

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...

, jazz pianist, composer, and arranger * Joana Rosa, politician. Minister of Justice of Cape Verde (2021- )

References

External links

Official website

maiocapeverde.com
{{Authority control Municipalities of Cape Verde Islands of Cape Verde