In this post, we’ll take a look at the regions of Cape Verde as well as some basic information about each, such as the area and main islands in this region.
Cape Verde is an African country in West Africa, in the central part of the Atlantic, off the coast of Senegal and Mauritania. It consists of ten islands and eight islets. The three largest is Santiago, Santo Antao, and Boa Vista. The capital Praia is on Santiago Island.
Cape Verde is an archipelago, and its islands are historically divided into two groups, or regions:
Barlavento (meaning literally Windward), including Santo Antão, São Vicente, Santa Luzia, São Nicolau, Sal and Boa Vista, in the northern side.
Read: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF CAPE VERDE
Sotavento (meaning literally Leeward), including Maio, Santiago, Fogo and Brava, in the southern side.
In addition to the historical regions, the islands can also be divided by geographical features, resulting in:
- A group of dry, very flat, and geologically old islands (Sal, Boa Vista and Maio), lying to the east and closer to the African coast (which makes them a target for sand from the Sahara Desert, resulting in long sandy beaches, typically used for beach tourism), and
- A group of rocky, volcanic, agricultural islands more to the west. Their orography is rougher because they’re geologically newer, and the westernmost islands (such as Santo Antão) tend to be the most mountainous.
Two Regions of Cape Verde
BARLAVENTO ISLANDS
Another name is the Windward Islands, a collection of islands located in the north of Cape Verde, Barlavento Islands. Barlavento Islands is divided into two sub-regions: the western islands and eastern islands. Santo Antão, São Vicente, São Nicolau, Santa Luzia, Branco and Raso are the islands in the western island sub-region. Sal and Boa Vista are the islands in the eastern island sub-region. The total area of the northern islands is 2,239 square kilometers. The land of Barlavento Islands is barren and the weather is usually hot.
SOTAVENTO ISLANDS
Another name is Leeward Islands which is a collection of islands located in the south of Sotavento Islands, Cape Verde.
There are four main islands in this region: Brava, Fogo and Santiago islands in the west of the region are the oldest living areas of Cape Verde.