Cape Verde

Basic Data

Cape Verde is an archipelago of small, volcanic islands off the coast of western Africa in the North Atlantic Ocean. Colonized by the Portugese in the fifteenth century, the islands won their independence from Portugal in 1975. The population of Cape Verde is approximately 400,000, and the literacy rate is about 71 percent. Portugese is the official language, but most citizens speak Creole or Crioulo, which mixes Creole Portugese with West African words. A President acts as the chief of state, and a Prime Minister heads the government. The legislative body is the popularly elected National Assembly. Cape Verde is a largely poor country, and government launched programs in the 1990s and early twenty-first century to develop the private sector and attract foreign investment. Most of the current economy is service-related, including commerce, transportation and public services.

When the new President took office in 2001, some agencies that monitor world press freedoms reported allegations of governmental interference with the media. The new authorities shut down the country's only daily newspaper, the Horizonte, citing a need to develop new information policies. The country does have other publications, however. A Semana is a weekly newspaper. Opiniao, Noticias, and Agaviva are monthly periodicals. Novo Jornal Cabo Verde is a government publication that appears twice weekly, and Terra Nova is issued monthly by the Catholic Church. All publications are printed in Portugese.

Cape Verde has 11 FM radio stations but no AM stations. There are approximately 73,000 radios on the island. There is one television station broadcasting to approximately 2,000. Cabonet is the country's only Internet service provider.