Cape Verde
Cape Verde is an archipelago in the Atlantic, situated approx. 500 km off the west coast of Africa and is an independent republic. The name means “Green Cape”.
The then uninhabited islands were discovered by the Portuguese during the great voyages of discovery in the mid-15th century and was later used as a hub for the Portuguese slave trade. Cape Verde became independent in 1975 after the Carnation Revolution in Portugal, 25 April 1974. Cape Verde’s largest city is the capital Praia, located on the island of São Tiago, who is also the Cape Verde’s most populous island.
The Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator committed the Venetian captain and explorer Alvise Cadamosto to explore the Atlantic coast of Africa. On Cadamostos second campaign in 1456 he discovered several of the Cape Verde islands.
Since Cadamosto and his men arrived at the Cape Verde islands were uninhabited, and on behalf of the Portuguese crown, he made claim to the islands. In the ensuing decade explored captains Diogo Dias and António Noli rest of the islands on behalf of Henry the Navigator.
When you see the islands today, it is difficult to understand why they were so green (Portuguese: verde) and lush, the Portuguese are six years later (in 1462) would come back to the island of São Tiago (Santiago) for scars founding the city of Ribeira Grande (now Cidade Velha). Ribeira Grande was the first permanent European settlement in the tropics.
Slave Trade
Because of its location off the west coast of Africa, which were strategic in relation to the trade route between Africa, Europe and the New World, Cape Verde became an important port and hub for the slave trade.
Archipelago’s economic growth as a result of the slave trade attracted pirates, including Sir Francis Drake of England. Drake plundered Riberia Grande (now Cidade Velha) in 1582 and the 1585th After a French attack in 1712 lost Riberia Grande its importance relative to Praia, which became the capital in 1770.
Cayman Islands & Canada
