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Praia (, Portuguese for "beach") is the capital and largest city 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 ...
.Cape Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2015
Instituto Nacional de Estatística
Located on the southern coast of Santiago island within the
Sotavento Islands Cape Verde (formally, the Republic of Cabo Verde) is a group of arid Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic islands which are home to distinct communities of plants, birds, and reptiles. Location and description The Cape Verde Islands are located in the mid ...
group, the city is the seat of the Praia Municipality. Praia is the political, economic and cultural center of Cape Verde.


History

The island of Santiago was discovered by António da Noli in 1460.Valor simbólico do centro histórico da Praia
Lourenço Conceição Gomes, Universidade Portucalense, 2008
The first settlement on the island was Ribeira Grande (
Cidade Velha Cidade Velha (, Portuguese for "old city", also: ''Santiago de Cabo Verde'') is a cityharbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...
. The ports of Santiago were important ports of call for ships sailing between Portugal and the Portuguese colonies in Africa and South America. Between the end of the 16th century and the end of the 18th century, both Ribeira Grande and Praia suffered many pirate attacks, including those by
Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
(
1585 Events January–March * January 21 – Robert Nutter, Thomas Worthington, and 18 other Roman Catholic priests are "perpetually banished" from England by order of Queen Elizabeth, placed on the ship ''Mary Martin of Colchester'' ...
) 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 f ...
(
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 ...
). Due to its strategic position on a plateau it had better protection against pirate attacks, which gave it a large advantage over the older city of Ribeira Grande (
Cidade Velha Cidade Velha (, Portuguese for "old city", also: ''Santiago de Cabo Verde'') is a citybattle of Porto Praya The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle that took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781 between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under Pierre André de Suffren. Both squadr ...
took place at
Praia Harbour Praia Harbor (, ) 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 shorter quays, a qu ...
on 16 April 1781, as Portugal was neutral, it involved Great Britain and France and ended in a tactical draw and French strategic victory. Praia was the first stop of
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 â€“ 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
's voyage with in 1832. In the course of the 19th century, the ''
Plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
'' was completely redeveloped with streets according to a
grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...
, lined with grand colonial buildings and mansions. Praia officially became a city (''cidade'') in 1858, which secured its status as the capital of Cape Verde, concentrating political, religious and economic roles. In the early 1920s, the population was around 21,000. As in other parts of the archipelago, resistance against Portuguese rule rose in the 1950s. There was no open independence war like in
Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...
; after the 1974
Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...
in Portugal and the resulting end of the
Portuguese Colonial War The Portuguese Colonial War (), also known in Portugal as the Overseas War () or in the Portuguese Empire, former colonies as the War of Liberation (), and also known as the Angolan War of Independence, Angolan, Guinea-Bissau War of Independence ...
, Cape Verde declared independence in July 1975. After independence, Praia underwent a demographic boom, receiving migrating movements from all the islands. As a result, 56% of the entire population of Cape Verde resides in Santiago; and 29% in the Municipality of Praia alone. Its estimated population has reached 151,436 (2015). On 28 June 1985, Praia became member of UCCLA, the Union of Luso – Afro-Americo-Asiatic Capital Cities, an international organization.


Geography

Geographically, Praia may be described as a set of
plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
s and their surrounding
valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
s. These plateaus generally have the name ''achada'' (Achada de Santo António, Achada de São Filipe, Achada Eugénio Lima, Achada Grande, Achadinha, etc. — ''achada'' being a Portuguese word to designate a volcanic plateau), but the central one is called
Plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...
. The urban settlement is made mostly on top of these plateaus and along the valleys. The islet of Santa Maria is in front of the beach bearing the same name. For a long time, only the ''Plateau'' was considered to be the city, the other neighbourhoods being relegated to the condition of peripheral suburbs, in spite of always having a close relationship with the ''Plateau'' (people movements, goods and services exchanges, etc.). This is why only the ''Plateau'' previously had relatively well-developed urbanization with its own infra-structures. The remaining neighbourhoods developed in a more organic, chaotic way. Only after independence did the ''Plateau'' merge with the other neighbourhoods to constitute what is now considered the City of Praia. The whole city was, at the time, equipped with adequate infrastructure. Urbanization begun immediately after independence and sought to expand north.


Climate

Praia has a
desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: BWh) with a short
wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...
and a lengthy, very pronounced
dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...
. In fact, outside of the months of August, September and October, little precipitation falls on Praia. The city on average sees about of rain per year. Since the coldest month is far above its temperature patterns resembles a
tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of or higher in the coolest month, featuring hot te ...
, but lacks enough precipitation to be classified as such. Despite the fact that it has an arid climate, Praia seldom gets very hot or very cold, due to its oceanside location on Santiago Island. Temperatures are warm and constant with an average high temperature of and an average low temperature of .


Demographics

According to the national statistics office, the city's population was estimated 159,050 as of July 2017. As of the mid-19th century, the population was estimated at 1,500 to 2,000. When Edmund Roberts visited in 1832, he noted a population of black people in Praia totaling about "nineteen twentieths" of the population.


Education

The city of Praia is home to the first primary school in the archipelago, originally known as the ''Escola Central'' (today known as the ''Escola Grande''). For much time it was the only primary school in Praia. At the beginning of the 1960s, other primary schools began to be built in neighbourhoods around the Plateau and in other localities on the island. Praia was also the first site in Cape Verde with a secondary education institution with the creation of the ''Liceu Nacional'' in 1861. However, the Portuguese authorities were not interested in implementing secondary education in Cape Verde and the school failed as a result; secondary education became, afterwards, the role of the ''Seminário de Ribeira Brava'' on the island of São Nicolau, and later of the lyceum in Mindelo. In 1960, Praia again had secondary education, first with a facility on 12 September Plaza and later in its own building. With the expansion of education in Cape Verde in the 1990s, buildings dedicated to education were constructed in Cape Verde, and Praia in 2016 had 12 secondary education schools. International schools: *
École Internationale Les Alizés École Internationale Les Alizés is a French international school in Praia, Cape Verde located at Avenida ONU in the neighbourhood of Achada Santo António.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 (subdivis ...
, ''Instituto Superior de Ciencias Juridícas e Sociais'', ''Instituto Superior de Ciencias Económicas e Empresariais'',
Jean Piaget University of Cape Verde The Jean Piaget University of Cape 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 established on 7 May 2001, and now has about 2,00 ...
, and
University of Cape Verde The University of Cape Verde (, abbreviated "Uni-CV") is the only public university of Cape Verde. The main campus is in Palmarejo, Cape Verde, Palmarejo, Praia, but there are also institutes in Mindelo, Assomada and São Jorge dos Órgãos. It ha ...
. Praia is also home to the
National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...
and the
National Archives Building The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, is the headquarters of the United States National Archives and Records Administration. It is located north of the National Mall at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue (Washington, D.C.), Penn ...
or the ANCV.


Economy

The principal economic activities of Praia belong to the tertiary sector. Beyond activities related to administration and governance (local and national), there are extensive commerce, services (health care, education, tourism, restaurants and hotels, public functions, etc.), and other activities of a liberal character. Being the nation's capital as well as the economic hub, Praia is one of the most economically viable cities in the Cape Verde archipelago. About one third (1/3) of the city's population lives below the poverty line today (2014). The gross metropolitan product for the city is about 39% of the country's GDP, translating into US$4764 income per capita.


Transport

The city is served by
Nelson Mandela International Airport Nelson Mandela International Airport , also known as Praia International Airport, is an international airport of Santiago, Cape Verde, Santiago Island in Cape Verde. It was opened in October 2005, replacing the old Francisco Mendes Internationa ...
and
Cabo Verde Airlines Cabo Verde Airlines, formerly named ''TACV'', is an international airline based in Cape Verde. It connects three continents with non-stop flights from their hub at Amílcar Cabral International Airport on Sal Island. History TACV Cabo Verde A ...
, both having headquarters in Praia. It has the nation's second most used port,
Praia Harbor Praia Harbor (, ) 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 shorter quays, a q ...
, with a ferry terminal linking to other islands, direct ferry routes are Maio, Fogo and São Vicente. The port is managed by the national port authority ENAPOR. The port was reconstructed and expanded in 2014. Praia has a dual carriageway
ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...
, the ''Circular da Praia'' (EN1-ST06), which is connected with the main national roads to the north (
EN1-ST01 EN1-ST01 is a first class national road on the island of Santiago, Cape Verde. It runs from the capital Praia in the south to Tarrafal in the north, through the mountainous interior of the island.EN1-ST05) of the island. The main roads inside the city are ''Avenida Grão Ducado de Luxemburgo'' (from the centre to the west),
Avenida Amílcar Cabral Avenida Amílcar Cabral is an avenue in the Plateau, the historic centre of Praia, Santiago island, Cape Verde.Avenida Cidade de Lisboa Avenida Cidade de Lisboa is an avenue west of the center of Praia, Santiago island, Cape Verde. It runs along the neighbourhoods of Várzea, Achadinha and Chã de Areia. It is one of the major arterial roads of the city. The street is named for ...
.


Public transport

Public transport within the city of Praia is provided by the company SolAtlântico. There are 12 city bus lines. Intercity
share taxi A share taxi, shared taxi, taxibus, or jitney or dollar van in the US, or marshrutka in former Soviet countries, is a mode of transport which falls between a taxicab and a bus. Share taxis are a form of paratransit. They are vehicles for hire and ...
s for other cities on the island of Santiago depart from the Sucupira terminal in the city centre, which was opened in May 2018. 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.


Culture

There is the ''Museu Etnográfico'' (Ethnographic Museum), which was founded in 1997. Some of the oldest buildings in Praia are Jaime Mota Barracks ( Quartel Jaime Mota) dating from 1826. Since 2016, the historic centre of Praia is on the tentative list of
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
s. Landmarks in the colonial city center include Albuquerque Square (named after the colonial governor of the mid 19th century,
Caetano Alexandre de Almeida e Albuquerque Caetano Alexandre de Almeida e Albuquerque (15 April 1824 – 8 September 1916) was a Portuguese colonial administrator and a military officer. He was governor general of Cape Verde from 29 March 1869 until 26 February 1876, succeeding José G ...
), the old city hall built in the 1920s, the
Presidential Palace A presidential palace is the official residence of the president in some countries. Some presidential palaces were once the official residences to monarchs in former monarchies that were preserved during those states' transition into republics. ...
, which was constructed in the end of the 19th century to house the Portuguese governor and the ''
Monumento de Diogo Gomes The Monumento de Diogo Gomes is a statue at the south end of the Plateau, the historic centre of Praia, on the island of Santiago, Cape Verde.navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...
who discovered the island of Santiago in 1460.


Places of worship

Among the
places of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is so ...
, they are predominantly Christian churches and temples:
Roman Catholic Diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
(
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
),
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded durin ...
,
Church of the Nazarene The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism during the late 19th century. The denomination has its headquarters in Lenexa, Kansas. and it ...
,
Universal Church of the Kingdom of God The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG; ; , IURD) is an international Evangelical Neo-charismatic movement, Neo-charismatic Christian denomination with its headquarters at the Temple of Solomon (UCKG), Temple of Solomon in São Paulo, B ...
,
Assemblies of God The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...
.


Sports

Praia is home to several sports teams with the most popular football (soccer) clubs include Sporting, Boavista, Travadores, Académica, Vitória and Desportivo; others include ADESBA, based in Craveiro Lopes;
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
, based in Achadinha de Baixo; Tchadense, based out of Achada Santo Antônio; Delta, and Eugênio Lima, based in that neighbourhood. Basketball clubs include ABC Praia, Bairro and Travadores. Volleyball clubs include Desportivo da Praia. All are part of the Santiago League South Zone. Many clubs play at
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, Praia, Várzea and on Avenida Cidade de Lisboa on its east side. It is currently used mostly for football ( ...
.


Notable people

* Caló, footballer * Arménio Vieira, writer *
Dário Furtado Dário Osvaldo Dias Furtado (born 14 January 1979 in Praia), known simply as Dário, is a retired Cape Verdean footballer who played for Sporting Clube da Praia mainly as a left defender. He is currently manager of Sporting Praia's U-15 team. ...
, footballer * Gardénia Benrós, singer *
Gelson Fernandes Gelson da Conceição Tavares Fernandes (born 2 September 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Born in Cape Verde, he represented the Switzerland national team. He is most well known for scoring the w ...
, footballer *
Ivan Almeida Ivan Almeida (born 10 May 1989) is a Cape Verdean professional basketball player for Kriol Star of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Standing at 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), he usually plays as small forward. He also plays for the Cape Verde men's ...
, basketball player * Mito Elias, artist *
Nando Maria Neves Fernando "Nando" Maria Neves (born 9 June 1978) is a retired Cape Verdean football defender who played for the Cape Verde national football team. Biography Neves played with Batuque of Mindelo in its youth team. He appeared in the Portuguese ...
, footballer * Ronny Souto, footballer *
Tania Fernandes Anderson Tania Fernandes Anderson (born January 4, 1979) is a Cape Verdean-born American felon, former politician, and non-profit executive who has served a member of the Boston City Council for the 7th district since 2022. She has tendered her resignation ...
,
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 ...
an-born American politician and member of the
Boston City Council The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is made up of 13 members: 9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year ...
*
Vadú Vadú, nickname of Osvaldo Furtado, (January 31, 1977 – January 12, 2010) was a Cape Verdean singer and musician. He defined himself as a real "Badiu" or ironically as a "civilized Black". He was a nephew of the brothers of Zezé and Zeca ...
, singer * Yara dos Santos, writer * Roberto Lopes, footballer


International relations

Praia is twinned with: *
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, United States * Faro, Portugal *
Figueira da Foz Figueira da Foz (), officially Figueira da Foz City (), often called simply Figueira for short, is a city and a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. Practically at the midpoint of the Iberian Peninsula's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coa ...
, Portugal *
Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...
, Portugal * Gondomar, Portugal *
Jinan Jinan is the capital of the province of Shandong in East China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of ...
, China *
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, Portugal *
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
, China *
Ponta Delgada Ponta Delgada (; ) is the largest municipality (''concelho'') and executive capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. As of 2021, it has 67,2 ...
, Portugal *
Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
, United States


See also

*
Battle of Porto Praya The Battle of Porto Praya was a naval battle that took place during the American Revolutionary War on 16 April 1781 between a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone and a French squadron under Pierre André de Suffren. Both squadr ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control Capitals in Africa Cities in Cape Verde Municipal seats in Cape Verde Populated coastal places in Cape Verde Populated places established in the 16th century