Cape Verde (2002) | World (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 17 districts (concelhos, singular - concelho); Boa Vista, Brava, Calheta, Maio, Mosteiros, Paul, Praia, Porto Novo, Ribeira Grande, Sal, Santa Catarina, Santa Cruz, Sao Domingos, Sao Nicolau, Sao Filipe, Sao Vicente, Tarrafal | 267 nations, dependent areas, other, and miscellaneous entries |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 41.9% (male 86,466; female 84,918)
15-64 years: 51.5% (male 100,684; female 109,841) 65 years and over: 6.6% (male 10,363; female 16,488) (2002 est.) |
0-14 years:
29.6% (male 933,647,850; female 886,681,514) 15-64 years: 63.4% (male 1,975,418,386; female 1,931,021,694) 65 years and over: 7% (male 188,760,223; female 241,449,691) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | bananas, corn, beans, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, coffee, peanuts; fish | - |
Airports | 9
note: 3 airports are reported to be nonoperational (2001) |
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Airports - with paved runways | total: 6 3
over 3,047 m: 1 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2002) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 3 (2002) |
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Area | total: 4,033 sq km
land: 4,033 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total:
510.072 million sq km land: 148.94 million sq km water: 361.132 million sq km note: 70.8% of the world's surface is water, 29.2% is land |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Rhode Island | land area about 16 times the size of the US |
Background | The uninhabited islands were discovered and colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th century; they subsequently became a trading center for African slaves and later an important coaling and resupply stop for whaling and transatlantic shipping. Most Cape Verdeans have both African and Portuguese antecedents. Independence was achieved in 1975. | Globally, the 20th century was marked by: (a) two devastating world wars; (b) the Great Depression of the 1930s; (c) the end of vast colonial empires; (d) rapid advances in science and technology, from the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (US) to the landing on the moon; (e) the Cold War between the Western alliance and the Warsaw Pact nations; (f) a sharp rise in living standards in North America, Europe, and Japan; (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the drop in biological diversity, and air pollution; (h) the onset of the AIDS epidemic; and (i) the ultimate emergence of the US as the only world superpower. The planet's population continues to explode: from 1 billion in 1820, to 2 billion in 1930, 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1988, and 6 billion in 2000. For the 21st century, the continued exponential growth in science and technology raises both hopes (e.g., advances in medicine) and fears (e.g., development of even more lethal weapons of war). |
Birth rate | 27.81 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 21.37 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $112 million
expenditures: $198 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000) |
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Capital | Praia | - |
Climate | temperate; warm, dry summer; precipitation meager and very erratic | two large areas of polar climates separated by two rather narrow temperate zones from a wide equatorial band of tropical to subtropical climates |
Coastline | 965 km | 356,000 km |
Constitution | new constitution came into force 25 September 1992; underwent a major revision on 23 November 1995, substantially increasing the powers of the president, and a further revision in 1999, to create the position of national ombudsman (Provedor de Justica) | - |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Cape Verde
conventional short form: Cape Verde local long form: Republica de Cabo Verde local short form: Cabo Verde |
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Currency | Cape Verdean escudo (CVE) | - |
Death rate | 7.01 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) | 8.93 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $301 million (2000) | $2 trillion for less developed countries (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Donald C. JOHNSON
embassy: Rua Abilio m. Macedo 81, Praia mailing address: C. P. 201, Praia telephone: [238] 61 56 16, 61 56 17 FAX: [238] 61 13 55 |
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Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Jose BRITO
chancery: 3415 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007 telephone: [1] (202) 965-6820 FAX: [1] (202) 965-1207 consulate(s) general: Boston |
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Disputes - international | none | - |
Economic aid - recipient | $136 million (1999) | traditional worldwide foreign aid $50 billion (1997 est.) |
Economy - overview | Cape Verde suffers from a poor natural resource base, including serious water shortages exacerbated by cycles of long-term drought. The economy is service-oriented, with commerce, transport, and public services accounting for 70% of GDP. Although nearly 70% of the population lives in rural areas, the share of agriculture in GDP in 2001 was only 11%, of which fishing accounts for 1.5%. About 82% of food must be imported. The fishing potential, mostly lobster and tuna, is not fully exploited. Cape Verde annually runs a high trade deficit, financed by foreign aid and remittances from emigrants; remittances supplement GDP by more than 20%. Economic reforms, launched by the new democratic government in 1991, are aimed at developing the private sector and attracting foreign investment to diversify the economy. Prospects for 2002 depend heavily on the maintenance of aid flows, remittances, and the momentum of the government's development program. | Growth in global output (gross world product, GWP) rose to 4.8% in 2000 from 3.5% in 1999, despite continued low growth in Japan, severe financial difficulties in other East Asian countries, and widespread dislocations in several transition economies. The US economy continued its remarkable sustained prosperity, growing at 5% in 2000, although growth slowed in fourth quarter 2000; the US accounted for 23% of GWP. The EU economies grew at 3.3% and produced 20% of GWP. China, the second largest economy in the world, continued its strong growth and accounted for 10% of GWP. Japan grew at only 1.3% in 2000; its share in GWP is 7%. As usual, the 15 successor nations of the USSR and the other old Warsaw Pact nations experienced widely different rates of growth. The developing nations also varied in their growth results, with many countries facing population increases that eat up gains in output. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, and in Canada. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of 80 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems and priorities, the industrialized countries devote insufficient resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. Continued financial difficulties in East Asia, Russia, and many African nations, as well as the slowdown in US economic growth, cast a shadow over short-term global economic prospects; GWP probably will grow at 3-4% in 2001. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses serious economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations. (For specific economic developments in each country of the world in 2000, see the individual country entries.) |
Electricity - consumption | 38.13 million kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - production | 41 million kWh (2000) | - |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2000) |
fossil fuel:
NA% hydro: NA% nuclear: NA% other: NA% |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mt. Fogo 2,829 m (a volcano on Fogo Island) |
lowest point:
Bentley Subglacial Trench -2,540 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.) |
Environment - current issues | soil erosion; demand for wood used as fuel has resulted in deforestation; desertification; environmental damage has threatened several species of birds and reptiles; illegal beach sand extraction; overfishing | large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
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Ethnic groups | Creole (mulatto) 71%, African 28%, European 1% | - |
Exchange rates | Cape Verdean escudos per US dollar - 123.556 (January 2002), 115.877 (2000), 102.700 (1999), 98.158 (1998), 93.177 (1997) | - |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Pedro PIRES (since 22 March 2001)
head of government: Prime Minister Jose Maria Pereira NEVES (since 1 February 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 11 and 25 February 2001 (next to be held NA February 2006); prime minister nominated by the National Assembly and appointed by the president election results: Pedro PIRES elected president; percent of vote - Pedro PIRES (PAICV) 49.43%, Carlos VIEGA (MPD) 49.42%; note - the election was won by only twelve votes |
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Exports | $27.3 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | fuel, shoes, garments, fish, hides | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Exports - partners | Portugal 45%, UK 20%, Germany 20%, Guinea-Bissau 5% (1999) | in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries |
Fiscal year | calendar year | - |
Flag description | three horizontal bands of light blue (top, double width), white (with a horizontal red stripe in the middle third), and light blue; a circle of 10 yellow five-pointed stars is centered on the hoist end of the red stripe and extends into the upper and lower blue bands | - |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $600 million (2001 est.) | GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power parity - $43.6 trillion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 11%
industry: 17% services: 72% (2001) |
agriculture:
4% industry: 32% services: 64% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $1,500 (2001 est.) | purchasing power parity - $7,200 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3% (2001 est.) | 4.8% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 16 00 N, 24 00 W | - |
Geography - note | strategic location 500 km from west coast of Africa near major north-south sea routes; important communications station; important sea and air refueling site | - |
Highways | total: 1,100 km
paved: 858 km unpaved: 242 km (1996) |
total:
NA km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | used as a transshipment point for illicit drugs moving from Latin America and Asia destined for Western Europe; the lack of a well-developed financial system limits the country's utility as a money-laundering center | - |
Imports | $218 million f.o.b. (2001 est.) | $6 trillion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs, industrial products, transport equipment, fuels | the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services |
Imports - partners | Portugal 52%, Germany 7%, France 4%, UK 3% (1999) | in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries |
Independence | 5 July 1975 (from Portugal) | - |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 6% (2000 est.) |
Industries | food and beverages, fish processing, shoes and garments, salt mining, ship repair | dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces; the accelerated development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems |
Infant mortality rate | 51.86 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.) | 52.61 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3% (2001) | all countries 25%; developed countries 1% to 3% typically; developing countries 5% to 60% typically (2000 est.)
note: national inflation rates vary widely in individual cases, from stable prices in Japan to hyperinflation in a number of Third World countries |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IOM (observer), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO (observer) | - |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2002) | 10,350 (2000 est.) |
Irrigated land | 30 sq km (1998 est.) | 2,481,250 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Tribunal of Justice or Supremo Tribunal de Justia | - |
Labor force | NA | NA |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agricultue NA%, industry NA%, services NA% |
Land boundaries | 0 km | the land boundaries in the world total 251,480.24 km (not counting shared boundaries twice) |
Land use | arable land: 9.68%
permanent crops: 0.5% other: 89.82% (1998 est.) |
arable land:
10% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 26% forests and woodland: 32% other: 31% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Portuguese, Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words) | - |
Legal system | derived from the legal system of Portugal | all members of the UN plus Switzerland are parties to the statute that established the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or World Court |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Assembleia Nacional (72 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 14 January 2001 (next to be held NA December 2005) election results: percent of vote by party - PAICV 47.3%, MPD 39.8%, ADM 6%, other 6.9%; seats by party - PAICV 40, MPD 30, ADM 2 |
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Life expectancy at birth | total population: 69.52 years
male: 66.23 years female: 72.91 years (2002 est.) |
total population:
63.79 years male: 62.15 years female: 65.51 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 71.6% male: 81.4% female: 63.8% (1995 est.) |
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Location | Western Africa, group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Senegal | - |
Map references | Political Map of the World | World, Time Zones |
Maritime claims | measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
contiguous zone: 24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
contiguous zone:
24 NM claimed by most, but can vary continental shelf: 200-m depth claimed by most or to depth of exploitation; others claim 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive fishing zone: 200 NM claimed by most, but can vary exclusive economic zone: 200 NM claimed by most, but can vary territorial sea: 12 NM claimed by most, but can vary note: boundary situations with neighboring states prevent many countries from extending their fishing or economic zones to a full 200 NM; 43 nations and other areas that are landlocked include Afghanistan, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Holy See (Vatican City), Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malawi, Mali, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Niger, Paraguay, Rwanda, San Marino, Slovakia, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, West Bank, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
Merchant marine | total: 4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 5,395 GRT/6,614 DWT
ships by type: cargo 3, chemical tanker 1 note: includes a foreign-owned ship registered here as a flag of convenience: United Kingdom 1 (2002 est.) |
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Military branches | Army, Coast Guard | - |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $9.3 million (FY01) | aggregate real expenditure on arms worldwide in 1999 remained at approximately the 1998 level, about three-quarters of a trillion dollars (1999 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.6% (FY01) | roughly 2% of gross world product (1999 est.) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49: 92,486 (2002 est.) | - |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49: 52,215 (2002 est.) | - |
National holiday | Independence Day, 5 July (1975) | - |
Nationality | noun: Cape Verdean(s)
adjective: Cape Verdean |
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Natural hazards | prolonged droughts; seasonal harmattan wind produces obscuring dust; volcanically and seismically active | large areas subject to severe weather (tropical cyclones), natural disasters (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) |
Natural resources | salt, basalt rock, limestone, kaolin, fish | the rapid using up of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address |
Net migration rate | -12.26 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) | - |
Political parties and leaders | African Party for Independence of Cape Verde or PAICV [Jose Maria Pereira NEVES, chairman]; Democratic Alliance for Change or ADM [Dr. Eurico MONTEIRO] (a coalition of PCD, PTS, and UCID); Democratic Christian Party or PDC [Manuel RODRIGUES, chairman]; Democratic Renovation Party or PRD [Jacinto SANTOS, president]; Movement for Democracy or MPD [Agostinho LOPES, president]; Party for Democratic Convergence or PCD [Dr. Eurico MONTEIRO, president]; Party of Work and Solidarity or PTS [Anibal MEDINA, president]; Social Democratic Party or PSD [Joao ALEM, president] | - |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | - |
Population | 408,760 (July 2002 est.) | 6,157,400,560 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 30% (2000) | - |
Population growth rate | 0.85% (2002 est.) | 1.25% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Mindelo, Praia, Tarrafal | Chiba, Houston, Kawasaki, Kobe, Marseille, Mina' al Ahmadi (Kuwait), New Orleans, New York, Rotterdam, Yokohama |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 0, FM 15 (and 17 repeaters), shortwave 0 (2002) | AM NA, FM NA, shortwave NA |
Radios | 100,000 (2002 est.) | NA |
Railways | 0 km | total:
1,201,337 km includes about 190,000 to 195,000 km of electrified routes of which 147,760 km are in Europe, 24,509 km in the Far East, 11,050 km in Africa, 4,223 km in South America, and 4,160 km in North America; note - fastest speed in daily service is 300 km/hr attained by France's Societe Nationale des Chemins-de-Fer Francais (SNCF) Le Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) - Atlantique line broad gauge: 251,153 km standard gauge: 710,754 km narrow gauge: 239,430 km |
Religions | Roman Catholic (infused with indigenous beliefs); Protestant (mostly Church of the Nazarene) | - |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.63 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2002 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | - |
Telephone system | general assessment: effective system, being improved
domestic: interisland microwave radio relay system with both analog and digital exchanges; work is in progress on a submarine fiber-optic cable system which is scheduled for completion in 2003 international: 2 coaxial submarine cables; HF radiotelephone to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment:
NA domestic: NA international: NA |
Telephones - main lines in use | 60,935 (2002) | NA |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 28,119 (2002) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (and 7 repeaters) (2002) | NA |
Terrain | steep, rugged, rocky, volcanic | the greatest ocean depth is the Mariana Trench at 10,924 m in the Pacific Ocean |
Total fertility rate | 3.91 children born/woman (2002 est.) | 2.73 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 21% (2000 est.) | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2000 est.) |
Waterways | none | - |