Cabo Verde

Airports

6 total, 6 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 1 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air

5 major transport aircraft (4 owned, 1 leased)

Merchant marine

7 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 11,708 GRT/19,000 DWT

Ports

Mindelo and Praia

Telecommunications

interisland radio relay system, high-frequency radio to mainland Portugal and Guinea-Bissau; 1,740 telephones; stations--5 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV; 2 coaxial submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Branches

People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARP)--Army and Navy are separate components of FARP; Militia, Security Service

Defense expenditures

$15 million, 11% of GDP (1981)

Manpower availability

males 15-49, 70,771; 41,844 fit for military service

Agriculture

accounts for 16% of GDP; largely subsistence farming; bananas are the only export crop; other crops--corn, beans, sweet potatoes, coffee; growth potential of agricultural sector limited by poor soils and limited rainfall; annual food imports required; fish catch provides for both domestic consumption and small exports

Budget

revenues $98.3 million; expenditures $138.4 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1988 est.)

Currency

Cape Verdean escudo (plural--escudos); 1 Cape Verdean escudo (CVEsc) = 100 centavos

Economic aid

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY75-89), $88 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $590 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $12 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $36 million

Electricity

13,000 kW capacity; 15 million kWh produced, 40 kWh per capita (1990)

Exchange rates

Cape Verdean escudos (CVEsc) per US$1--64.10 (November 1990), 74.86 (December 1989), 72.01 (1988), 72.5 (1987), 76.56 (1986), 85.38 (1985)

Exports

$10.9 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities--fish, bananas, salt; partners--Portugal, Angola, Algeria, France, Italy

External debt

$150 million (December 1990 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$262 million, per capita $740; real growth rate 3.2% (1988 est.)

Imports

$107.8 million (c.i.f., 1989); commodities--petroleum, foodstuffs, consumer goods, industrial products; partners--Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, France, Brazil, FRG

Industrial production

growth rate 18% (1988 est.); accounts for 7% of GDP

Industry

fish processing, salt mining, clothing factories, ship repair, construction materials, food and beverage production

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

8.2% (1988 est.)

Overview

Cape Verde's low per capita GDP reflects a poor natural resource base, a 17-year drought, and a high birthrate. The economy is service oriented, with commerce, transport, and public services accounting for 65% of GDP during the period 1985-88. Although nearly 70% of the population lives in rural areas, agriculture's share of GDP is only 16%; the fishing sector accounts for 4%. About 90% of food must be imported. The fishing potential, mostly lobster and tuna, is not fully exploited. In 1988 fishing represented only 3.5% of GDP. Cape Verde annually runs a high trade deficit, financed by remittances from emigrants and foreign aid.

Unemployment rate

25% (1988)

Climate

temperate; warm, dry, summer precipitation very erratic

Coastline

965 km

Comparative area

slightly larger than Rhode Island

Environment

subject to prolonged droughts; harmattan wind can obscure visibility; volcanically and seismically active; deforestation; overgrazing

Land boundaries

none

Land use

arable land 9%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and pastures 6%; forest and woodland NEGL%; other 85%; includes irrigated 1%

Maritime claims

(measured from claimed archipelagic baselines); Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm; Territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

salt, basalt rock, pozzolana, limestone, kaolin, fish

Note

strategic location 500 km from African coast near major north-south sea routes; important communications station; important sea and air refueling site

Terrain

steep, rugged, rocky, volcanic

Total area

4,030 km2; land area: 4,030 km2

Administrative divisions

14 districts (concelhos, singular--concelho); Boa Vista, Brava, Fogo, Maio, Paul, Praia, Porto Novo, Ribeira Grande, Sal, Santa Catarina, Santa Cruz, Sao Nicolau, Sao Vicente, Tarrafal

Capital

Praia

Communists

no Communist party

Constitution

7 September 1980; amended 12 February 1981, NA December 1988, and 28 September 1990 (legalized opposition parties)

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Luis de Matos Monteiro da FONSECA; Chancery at 3415 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20007; telephone (202) 965-6820; there is a Cape Verdean Consulate General in Boston; US--Ambassador Francis T. (Terry) McNAMARA; Embassy at Rua Hojl Ya Yenna 81, Praia (mailing address is C. P. 201, Praia); telephone [238] 614-363 or 614-253

Executive branch

president, prime minister, deputy minister, secretaries of state, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Flag

two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and green with a vertical red band on the hoist side; in the upper portion of the red band is a black five-pointed star framed by two corn stalks and a yellow clam shell; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia; similar to the flag of Guinea-Bissau which is longer and has an unadorned black star centered in the red band

Independence

5 July 1975 (from Portugal)

Judicial branch

Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Supremo Tribunal de Justia) Chief of State--President Antonio Mascarenhas MONTEIRO (since 22 March 1991); Head of Government--Prime Minister Carlos VEIGA (since 13 January 1991) Movement for Democracy (MPD), Prime Minister Carlos VEIGA, founder and chairman; African Party for Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), Pedro Verona Rodrigues PIRES, chairman

Legislative branch

unicameral People's National Assembly (Assembleia Nacional Popular)

Long-form name

Republic of Cape Verde

Member of

ACP, AfDB, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOM (observer), ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WMO

National holiday

Independence Day, 5 July (1975)

Suffrage

universal at age 18 President--last held 17 February 1991 (next to be held February 1996); results--Antonio Mascarenhas MONTEIRO (MPD) received 72.6% of vote; People's National Assembly--last held 13 January 1991 (next to be held January 1996); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats--(79 total) MPD 56, PAICV 23; note--this multiparty Assembly election ended 15 years of single-party rule

Type

republic

Birth rate

48 births/1,000 population (1991)

Death rate

10 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

Ethnic divisions

Creole (mulatto) about 71%, African 28%, European 1%

Infant mortality rate

63 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

Labor force

102,000 (1985 est.); agriculture (mostly subsistence) 57%, services 29%, industry 14% (1981); 51% of population of working age (1985)

Language

Portuguese and Crioulo, a blend of Portuguese and West African words

Life expectancy at birth

60 years male, 63 years female (1991)

Literacy

66% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1989 est.)

Nationality

noun--Cape Verdean(s); adjective--Cape Verdean

Net migration rate

- 8 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

Organized labor

Trade Unions of Cape Verde Unity Center (UNTC-CS)

Population

386,501 (July 1991), growth rate 3.0% (1991)

Religion

Roman Catholicism fused with indigenous beliefs

Total fertility rate

6.6 children born/woman (1991)