Island Characteristics - This island is very cosmopolitan and has a thriving cultural side to it. It has spawned some of the greatest artists of the Cape Verdean music scene. This has led to a bohemian type of community with many artists and musicians populating the island.

Mindelo, the islands capital, will not disappoint anyone in search of a hectic nightlife.

Carnival - The carnival in Mindelo is something to be seen. There is also an annual festival on the Islands during August called the festival of Baia das Gatas. This is a 3 day festival and is increasingly becoming a international music event.

Beaches - Baia das Gatas has the safest beach of Sao Vicente. There is a natural lagoon which forms a kind of natural swimming pool. The beach of Sao Pedro is also very beautiful. This beach attracts wind surfers as it has excellent conditions and is regarded as one of the best places in the world to practice speed wind surfing.

Tourist Activities - For windsurfing Sao Pedro beach attracts wind surfers as it has excellent conditions and is regarded as one of the best places in the world to practice speed wind surfing.

Music and Festivals - Sao Vicente is worth a visit for the music alone especially if you are lucky enough to be able to experience the carnival in February or music festival August.

Location - The islands lie south of the Canary Islands and 500kms from Senegal on Africa's West coast. The islands are divided into two groups according to the predominant North East winds. Islands of Barlavento: Santo Antao, Sao Vicente, Santa Luzia, Sao Nicolau, Sal and Boavista, Islands of Sotovento: Maio, Santiago, Fogo and Brava.

Climate - Dry tropical climate, the average temperature is 26°. Water temperature varies between 22° and 25°.

Passport and visa - British nationals require a visa to enter Cape Verde. This can be bought when you arrive at Cape Verde. Cape Verde is represented in the UK by the Honorary Consul Mr Joao Roberto. He can be contacted at 18-20 Stanley Street, Liverpool L1 6AF (tel: 0151 236 0206; fax 0251 255 1314; e-mail: joao.Roberto@capeverdeconsul.com or contact the Cape Verde Consulate in Rotterdam, Mathenesserlaan 326, Rotterdam 3021 HX; (tel: +31 10 477 8977; fax: +31 10 477 4553). For those travelling via Senegal there is a Cape Verde Embassy in Dakar. Specialist travel agents dealing with Cape Verde can also arrange visas.

Vaccinations requirements - We have had differing advice on vaccinations, some of which recommends no vaccinations and some which does recommend having some injections. As this information can change from time to time, we recommend that you take the advice of your local GP.

Medical Facilities - Many of the doctors, dentists, pharmacists and opticians working in Praia at the hospital or in the several private health clinics are either Cuban or have been trained there. The standard of training in the medical professions in Cuba is with a high international reputation. The private health clinics are always open to the paying public including tourists as are the dentists and pharmacies.

Money - The local currency is the Escudo Cape Verdiano. Exchange rate is fixed to the Euro at an equivalent of 110,265 Escudo per Euro. Visa and Mastercard are accepted at most hotels and for withdrawing cash at banks, as are Traveller's Cheques. Euro bank notes are also widely accepted at restaurants and hotels and petrol stations. Visa cards are due to be accepted by Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) by the end of 2005.

Phone / Broadband / Cable TV - Almost all UK and European mobile phone network service providers have established roaming agreements with Cape Verde Telecom the mobile service provider in Cape Verde. If you use Vodaphone, Orange or O2 you will be able to use your mobile phone in Cape Verde. Cape Verde Telecom also provide access to the Internet providing dial-up, ISDN and Broad Band connection. Cable TV is now being introduced including some English channels.

Local time - The local time is GMT -1.

Language - The official language is Portuguese and the local language Creole. French, English and Spanish are however spoken in the principal towns.

Religion - The main religion in the Cape Verde is Catholic.

Electricity - 220 volts; it is however advisable to have your own universal adapter.

Gastronomy - The local food offers a variety of exotic dishes strongly influenced by African and Creole cooking.

Area - 4,033 sq km; 1,557 sq miles

Population - 511,000 (2005 est): At least 700,000 Cape Verdeans live outside the country (especially in the US and Portugal).

People and languages - Cape Verdeans are a Luso-African mixture. Portuguese and Crioulo (a mixture of Portuguese and West African vocabulary), are both official languages.

Major political parties - African Party for Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV, the governing party); Movement for Democracy (MPD) Democratic Alliance for Change (ADM, a coalition of PCD, PTS, and UCID); Democratic Renovation Party (PRD); Party for Democratic Convergence (PCD).

Head of State - President Pedro Pires

Prime Minister - Jose Maria Neves

Membership of international groups/organisations - African Union (AU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), CPLP (Organisation of Portuguese Speaking Countries), African Countries with Portuguese as the Official Language (PALOP).

HISTORY - Cape Verde was colonised by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century. The Portuguese used Cape Verdeans as administrators throughout their African empire, and as labour on their shipping lines. During the nineteenth century Cape Verdeans used to crew American whalers in the Atlantic. Since this time, Cape Verdeans have had a strong tradition of emigrating to find work. Major droughts and famines have historically also propelled mass migrations from the islands. The country became independent in 1975, following the collapse of the Portuguese empire after the Carnation Revolution in Lisbon of 1974. The aspiration of the leader of the independence struggle, Amilcar Cabral, for an eventual political union between Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau was never to come to fruition however, and was abandoned in 1981 following the overthrow in Guinea Bissau of President Luis Cabral also a Cape Verdean.

Until 1981, the country was ruled by Aristide Pereira and by the party which bought independence, the PAIGC (Partido Africano da Independencia da Guine e Cabo Verde), which became the PAICV (the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde) in 1981. Pereira's rule was stable and benevolent, but did not allow for political pluralism. In 1990, under domestic and international pressure, he opened up the political system to multipartyism.

POLITICS - A new constitution was adopted in 1992 to formalise the new dispensation. It was subsequently amended in 1999. It provides for an elected President who is required to get two-thirds of the vote in the first round to win, or the majority of votes in a second-round runoff between the two top candidates. There is a 72-member National Assembly. Its members choose the Prime Minister to whom he is accountable. The President has the right to dissolve the National Assembly.

In the first multi-party legislative elections held in January 1991, the opposition MPD won 56 of the 72 seats and their candidate Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro comfortably defeated Pereira in the presidential elections held one month later. In December 1995, the MPD won its second landslide victory in the legislative elections. The incumbent President, Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro was re-elected unopposed in February 1996.

Following a divisive leadership battle in the MPD, the PAICV made a comeback in the January 2001 legislative elections, winning 40 seats. The MPD nevertheless won 30 seats, confirming Cape Verde's two party politics. In the Presidential elections of February the same year, Pedro Pires of the PAICV and Carlos Viega of the MPD came first and second. Pires won the second round, but only after the National Electoral Commission confirmed his victory by just 17 votes.

In legislative elections held on 22 January 2006, the ruling PAICV was re-elected with more than half the votes cast. Presidentials on 12 February 2006 resulted in the re-election of Pedro Pires on first round voting.

ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT

Basic Economic Facts:-

GDP: US$ Million 1,014.5 (2005)
Annual Growth: 6.6% (2005)
Inflation: 0.4% (2005)
Main economic sectors: agricultural production, including bananas, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, coffee, peanuts and fish. Secondary industries include fuel and textiles and the services sector includes tourism, shipping and transport.
Major Trading Partners: Portugal is by far the largest trading partner. Other trading partners include other EU countries and the US.
Exchange rate: The Cape Verde Escudo (CVE) is pegged to the Euro at CVE 110.27 = 1 Euro

Despite its poverty of resources, Cape Verde has enjoyed steady if low level development, mainly centred on services (including a developing shipping sector) and tourism. On the UNDP Human Development Index for 2004, it was ranked 105 out of 177 countries. More Cape Verdeans live outside the islands than in the country. The country therefore benefits from remittances from expatriate workers, which total an estimated 10% of the national economy. The majority of the active population is engaged in agriculture, but Cape Verde is arid and prone to droughts. As a result it suffers periodic food shortages, and has to receive food aid.

Cape Verde has an efficient and generally uncorrupt bureaucracy. The economy has been generally well managed. Relations with aid donors are good. The main aid donors are the EU and the World Bank. Aid funds are concentrated on poverty alleviation, and infrastructure, especially water provision. The government is currently pursuing a privatisation programme. The IMF predicts 7.7% real GDP growth for 2006.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Due to the history of the country and the large diaspora, Cape Verde has a wide ranging international outlook. The country benefits from close relations with Portugal, and is actively seeking closer relations with the EU as a whole. Its currency, the Escudo, is pegged to the Euro. The country also looks to the African continent, a relationship underpinned by the historic role of the PAIGC as a guerrilla movement fighting on African soil for the liberation of the archipelago. This was cemented in 1977 when Cape Verde joined the sub-regional organisation ECOWAS. Cape Verde is also a founding member of the Lusophone organisation the CPLP and seeks closer economic links with Brazil as a transit hub for trade with the EU.

BILATERAL RELATIONS WITH THE UK

Trade and Investment - The volume of trade between the United Kingdom and Cape Verde is small . British exports to Cape Verde in 2004 were worth £3.23 million, and Cape Verde's exports to the UK £1.41 million. British commercial interests in Cape Verde are handled by the British Embassy in Dakar, Senegal.

Bilateral Contacts - Relations are friendly but not substantial. A British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union visited Cape Verde in September 2001, followed by a visit to the UK by Cape Verde's National Assembly Speaker, Mr Aristides Lima, in November 2002. More recently a Parliamentary delegation from Cape Verde visited the UK in May 2003.

The British Embassy in Dakar, Senegal is responsible for the UK's relations with Cape Verde. There is no Cape Verdean Embassy in London, however there is an Honorary Consul, Mr Joao Roberto, based in Liverpool. The UK has an Honorary Consul, Mr Antonio Canuto, based in Mindelo, Sao Vicente. There are historic UK links with Mindelo which British ships used for bunkering until the 1950s. There is a very small Cape Verdean community in the UK, mainly the families of former seamen.