Santa Cruz is a ''
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) 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 ...
. It is situated in the eastern part of the island 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 ...
. Its seat is the city
. Its population was 26,617 at the 2010 census, and its area is 112.2 km
2.
[2010 Census Summary]
/ref>
Economy
Its economy is based in agriculture, in which rural population produces agricultural commodities for export to larger markets in and Fogo. Small market centers exist in São Lourenço dos Órgãos and , which act primary as commodity exchanges where subsistence farmers exchange goods as available with merchants who transport and sell goods in larger markets. The primary agricultural productions include fodder
Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food ...
(usually in the form of maize
Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...
stalks), banana
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...
s, papaya
The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus '' Carica'' of the family Caricaceae, and also the name of its fruit. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within ...
s and coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
s. Prior to 1981 the area also produced a substantial percentage of the island's maize
Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...
, but the arrival of large-scale international food aid
Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. The primary objective of humanitarian ...
, while vastly improving the region’s food security, made producing foodstuffs unprofitable. Maize
Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...
and legumes
Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consu ...
are still the region's primary agricultural product, though 97% is consumed by the families that produce it. The mixture of nitrogen fixing
Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular dinitrogen () is converted into ammonia (). It occurs both biologically and abiologically in chemical industries. Biological nitrogen fixation or ''diazotrophy'' is catalyzed by en ...
and nitrogen consuming crops reduces the need for chemical fertilizers, allowing small farmers to remain solvent despite little cash income.
The dry-season economy is directed primarily by agricultural cooperatives, which assign stonemasonry, carpentry and other construction tasks through contracts awarded by the local governments. The president of the cooperative acts as a de facto village headman in areas where there are no government representative.
The soil in the region is very fertile (being especially rich in iron
Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
and potash
Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form. ), though water is scarce in all parts of the municipality.
Subdivisions
The 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), Santiago Maior. The ''freguesia'' is subdivided into the following settlements:
* Achada Belbel (pop: 767)
* Achada Fazenda (pop: 2,592)
* Achada Igreja (pop: 142)
* Achada Lage (pop: 686)
* Achada Ponta (pop: 403)
* Boaventura (pop: 424)
* Boca Larga (pop: 186)
* Cancelo (pop: 2,042)
* Chã da Silva (pop: 1,152)
* Librão (pop: 297)
* Matinho (pop: 737)
* Monte Negro (pop: 562)
* (pop: 9,859, city)[Cabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2015]
Instituto Nacional de Estatística, p. 32-33
* Porto Madeira (pop: 400)
* Rebelo (pop: 153)
* Renque Purga (pop: 904)
* Ribeira Seca (pop: 720)
* Ribeirão Almaço (pop: 158)
* Ribeirão Boi (pop: 388)
* Rocha Lama (pop: 724)
* Saltos Abaixo (pop: 535)
* Santa Cruz (pop: 2,019)
* São Cristovão (pop: 442)
* Serelho (pop: 293)
History
The municipality was created in 1971, when two parishes of the older Municipality of Praia were separated to become the Municipality of Santa Cruz. In 2005, a southern parish of the municipality was split off to become the Municipality of São Lourenço dos Órgãos.
Demography
Politics
At the federal level, it belongs to the constituency of Santiago North. Since 2004, the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) 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
Notable people
* Elida Almeida, singer
* Nilson António, footballer
* Djaniny, footballer
* Lito, footballer and manager
* Tino Santos, footballer
* Daniel Varela de Pina, boxer
Sister city
The municipality of Santa Cruz is twinned with:
* Alandroal[
* ]Candiolo
Candiolo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It ...
Storia e Gemellaggi
Candiolo
* Lagoa[
* ]Sines
Sines () is a town and a municipality in Portugal. The municipality, divided into two parishes, has around 14,214 inhabitants (2021) in an area of . Sines holds an important oil refinery and several petrochemical industries. It is also a popular ...
[
]
References
External links
Câmara Municipal de Santa CruzANMCV (Associação Nacional dos Municípios Cabo-Verdianos - National Association of the Capeverdean Municipalities)
{{Authority control
Municipalities of Cape Verde
Geography of Santiago, Cape Verde
1971 establishments in Cape Verde