Cape Verde

Kept under Portuguese colonial rule from the 1460s until 1975 without interruption, the volcanic islands and associated islets forming the archipelago of Cape Verde (Portuguese: Cabo Verde) constituted the earliest and longest standing European colony in sub-Saharan Africa. The archipelago, located in the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles west of Senegal, had been uninhabited prior to colonization and was never involved in large-scale warfare throughout its history. This entry explores Cape Verde’s role in conflict and wars from the early 1500s, through the time of piracy in the 19th century to its struggle for independence in the 20th century.