| History of Cape Verde |
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| Colonial history |
| Independence struggle |
The archipelago of Cape Verde has been struck by a series of drought-related famines between the 1580s and the 1950s. During these periods of drought and famine, tens of thousands of inhabitants died from starvation and diseases.
The Cape Verde islands have a generally hot semi-arid climate, with rainfall mostly limited to the months August and September. The driest areas are the low eastern islands (Maio, Sal and Boa Vista), and the southwestern parts of the more mountainous islands. The higher and northeastern, windward parts receive more precipitation.
Agriculture strongly depends on the summer rains, which are highly variable; in years with less rain, crop failure was common. In addition, rains tend to come in a few large events in which most water runs off into the ocean, creating erosion rather than replenishing the water table. [1] : 68 The situation was further aggravated by unsuitable crop choice, overpopulation, overgrazing and inadequate response from the Portuguese colonial administration. [2] [3]
Portuguese colonial policy favored the establishment of morgados, large landed estates handed down to a single heir. This left much of Cavo Verde's population renting or sharecropping, with little incentive to improve their lands for better drought resistance. The colonial administration also promoted cash crops such as coffee, sugar, and cotton in irrigated lands rather than food crops. Corn was and is the primary grain grown. It requires far more rain than Cabo Verde usually receives, but the cultural norms established during Portuguese rule prioritized this familiar crop over more ecologically appropriate and drought-resistant millet and sorghum varieties common in West Africa. [1] : 81–2
The following famines have been recorded:
Two of Cape Verde's worst-ever famines occurred in 1941-43 and 1947-48, killing an estimated 45,000 people. [3] The hardest hit were the islands of São Nicolau and Fogo, where resp. 28% and 31% of the population was killed. [4] In 1946-48, Santiago lost 65% of its population. [4] Several thousands of islanders emigrated, for instance accepting contract labour on the cocoa plantations of Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe. [2] Between 1900 and 1970, about 80,000 Cape Verdeans were shipped to São Tomé and Príncipe. [3] The Estado Novo government of Portugal showed little interest in its African colony, and failed to take measures to improve access to fresh water, or supply food aid. [2]
Fome 47 ("Famine of 47"), one of the best known songs by Cape Verdean musician Codé di Dona, relates the drought, famine and emigration to São Tomé in 1947. [5] The third and final part of the novel Chiquinho by Baltasar Lopes da Silva is focused on the calamity of drought, a major problem in Cape Verde, which results in famine and many deaths. [6]
The recorded history of Cape Verde begins with the Portuguese discovery of the island in 1458. Possible early references to Cape Verde date back at least 2,000 years.
Cape Verde is known internationally for morna, a form of folk music usually sung in the Cape Verdean Creole, accompanied by clarinet, violin, guitar and cavaquinho. Funaná, Coladeira, Batuque and Cabo love are other musical forms.
Boa Vista, also written as Boavista, is a desert-like island that belongs to the Cape Verde Islands. At 631.1 km2 (243.7 sq mi), it is the third largest island of the Cape Verde archipelago.
Baltasar Lopes da Silva was a writer, poet and linguist from Cape Verde, who wrote in both Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole. With Manuel Lopes and Jorge Barbosa, he was the founder of Claridade. In 1947 he published Chiquinho, considered the greatest Cape Verdean novel and O dialecto crioulo de Cabo Verde which describes different dialects of creoles of Cape Verde. He sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Osvaldo Alcântara.
Claridade was a literary review inaugurated in 1936 in the city of Mindelo on the island of São Vicente, Cape Verde. It was part of a movement of cultural, social, and political emancipations of the Cape Verdean society. The founding contributors were Manuel Lopes, Baltasar Lopes da Silva, who used the poetic pseudonym of Osvaldo Alcântara, and Jorge Barbosa, born in the Islands of São Nicolau, Santiago and São Vicente, respectively. The magazine followed the steps of the Portuguese neorealist writers, and contributed to the building of "Cape Verdeanity", an autonomous cultural identity for the archipelago.
The Cape Verdean Football Federation is the governing body of football in Cape Verde. It was founded in 1982, affiliated to FIFA in 1986 and to CAF in 2000. It organizes the national football league and the national team.
Football is the most popular sport in Cape Verde. The league is divided into eleven divisions, of which seven of them are singles and two islands, Santiago and Santo Antão has two zones since 2000. The football association is a federation which is known as the Cape Verdean Football Federation, it became affiliated with CAF in 1986 and later with FIFA in 2001.
Chiquinho is a Capeverdean novel written by Baltasar Lopes da Silva in 1936 and published in 1947. The story is named after the nickname of the island of São Nicolau in which the characters originated. The probability of the literary work is the most common in Cape Verde, it marked the beginning of the typical literature in Cape Verde along with local themes in Creole culture. Along with Claridade, Baltazar Lopes participated with Manuel Lopes and Jorge Barbosa with founded members of the review and the name was the movement in the main activists of the same.
Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an archipelago and island country of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about 4,033 square kilometres (1,557 sq mi). These islands lie between 600 and 850 kilometres west of Cap-Vert, the westernmost point of continental Africa. The Cape Verde islands form part of the Macaronesia ecoregion, along with the Azores, the Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Savage Isles.
Cabo Verde Express is a Cape Verdean regional airline headquartered in Espargos and based at Amílcar Cabral International Airport operating domestic scheduled and charter services.
Cape Verde was a colony of the Portuguese Empire from the initial settlement of the Cape Verde Islands in 1462 until the independence of Cape Verde in 1975.
The Cape Verdean Athletics Federation is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Cape Verde.
In the 2011–12 season of competitive football (soccer) in Cape Verde:
In the 2010–11 season of competitive football (soccer) in Cape Verde: No Cape Verdean Cup took place that year.
The Cape Verdean Basketball Federation is the basketball association in Cape Verde. It is located in the capital city of Praia at Gimnodesportivo Vava Duarte in the neighborhood of Chã das Areias. The volleyball and the athletics federation are also housed there. Its current president is Kitana Cabral.
1910s – 1920s – 1930s – 1940s – 1950s – 1960s – 1970s – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s
Colá is a musical genre of Cape Verdean music
The 2009 Cape Verdean Cup season was the 3rd competition of the regional football cup in Cape Verde. The season started on 20 July and finished with the cup final on 2 August. The cup competition was organized by the Cape Verdean Football Federation. Group A matches took place at Estádio Adérito Sena in Mindelo, São Vicente and Group B matches took place at Estádio Marcelo Leitão in Espargos. The final stage containing two semifinal matches and a final were played at Estádio da Várzea. Boavista Praia won their first of two cup title.
The 2012 Cape Verdean Cup season was the 5th competition of the regional football cup in Cape Verde. The season started on 11 August and finished with the cup final on 24 August. The cup competition was organized by the Cape Verdean Football Federation. Maio's Onze Unidos won their only title.