Cape Verde

The Cape Verde islands are an archipelago of 10 islands in the Atlantic Ocean. They were uninhabited before the arrival of Portuguese and Italian sailors in 1456 and were settled from 1462, becoming the first permanent European settlement in the tropics. They emerged as an important location in the transatlantic slave trade and became prosperous. This ended with the close of the slave trade in the early years of the 19th century, although they were still important for supplying ships, especially with fruit and fresh water. During the long period of Portuguese rule that ended in 1975 after the Portuguese Carnation Revolution of the previous year, a number of Cape Verdeans had settled in Portugal and also in Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau).

Poverty and economic problems ...