Santa Maria (

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 ** Port ...

for

Saint Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

) is a cityCabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2015

Instituto Nacional de Estatística Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Portuguese for "National Institute for Statistics") may refer to: * Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Cape Verde) - the national statistical agency of Cape Verde * Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Mozambique) ...

, p. 32-33 in the southern part of the island municipality of

Sal Sal, SAL, or S.A.L. may refer to: Personal name * Sal (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname Places * Sal, Cape Verde, an island and municipality * Sal, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Ca ...

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

. It is located on the south coast, about 16 km south of the

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 ...

, and 20 km south of the island capital

Espargos Espargos (Portuguese for "asparagus") is the capital and main commercial centre of the island and municipality of Sal, Cape Verde. The city

Cape Verde Sal Santa Maria square M Leitao

History

Santa Maria was founded in 1830 for the production of salt. Up to 30,000 tons of salt were shipped from Santa Maria each year. A pier was built in the area of

Ponta de Vera Cruz Ponta de Vera Cruz is a headland at the waterfront of the city Santa Maria in the south of Sal, Cape Verde. It is situated near the harbour of Santa Maria. There is a lighthouse on the headland, attached to a restaurant. See also * List of ligh ...

and a small rail track was built to carry the salt to the pier. Most of the product was exported to Brazil, which was halted in 1887 when Brazil imposed a high tax on imported salt to protect its own salt production. The town went into a deep decline, only to recover in 1920 when a Portuguese investor resumed salt production. This continued until 1984. In 1935, Santa Maria was elevated from a village to a town. In 1967, Belgian industrialists and engineers Georges Vynckier and

Marguerite Massart Marguerite Massart (1900–1979) was the first woman to graduate as an engineer in Belgium. She set up a successful foundry business in Ghent and later introduced a desalinisation project and early solar panels in the first hotel on Sal Island i ...

opened Cape Verde's first resort hotel named Morabeza. After 1986, tourism became an important industry on the island, and many resorts and hotels were built in the southern and southwestern coastal areas near Santa Maria. In 2017, 48.2% of the country's available beds were on the island of Sal. Sal SantaMaria

Historical population

Points of interest

*Praça Marcelo Leitão, the city's main square * Praia de Santa Maria, beach *

, lighthouse * Santa Maria Saltpans, a protected landscape

Climate

Santa Maria has an arid climate. The highest mean temperature is in September with 27°C and its lowest is in January with 22°C. Annual rainfall is very minimal at 76 mm, the wettest is 33 mm in September and the driest are 0 mm from the months of March to June. Its total average of rainy days is only three. Water temperature ranges from 23 in winter months to 26 in summer and fall months. Humidity ranges from 70% in January, 75% during the summer months and in October to 77% in September.

Notable people

* Miguel Dias, boxer, immigrated to the Netherlands and played for the Dutch team * Rodirlei José Ascensão Duarte (better known as Rody), footballer * Manuel Antonio Martins, founder of Santa Maria, colonial governor *

Ruben Sança Ruben Pascal Sança (born December 13, 1986) is a Cape Verdean long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon. He attended and ran for the University of Massachusetts Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is ...

, athlete

References

External links

{{Sal Cities in Cape Verde Populated coastal places in Cape Verde Geography of Sal, Cape Verde