Cape Verde capital Praia
The Barlavento Islands (windward islands): Santo Antão, São Vicente, Santa Luzia, São Nicolau, Sal, Boa Vista; and
The Sotavento Islands (leeward): Maio, Santiago, Fogo, Brava.The largest island, both in size and population, is Santiago, which hosts the nation's capital, Praia, the principal urban agglomeration in the archipelago.Three of the Cape Verde islands, Sal, Boa Vista, and Maio, are fairly flat, sandy, and dry; the others are generally rockier with more vegetation.In some islands, like Santiago, the wetter climate of the interior and the eastern coast contrasts with the drier one on the south/southwest coast. Praia, on the southeast coast, is the largest city on the island and the largest city and capital of the country.
While most of Cape Verde receives little precipitation throughout the year, the northeastern slopes of high mountains see significant rainfall due to orographic lift, especially in areas far from the sea. In some such areas this precipitation is sufficient to support a rainforest habitat, albeit one significantly affected by the islands' human presence. These umbria areas are identified as cool and moist. Cape Verde lies in the Cape Verde Islands dry forests ecoregion.Western Hemisphere-bound hurricanes often have their early beginnings near the Cape Verde Islands. These are referred to as Cape Verde-type hurricanes. These hurricanes can become very intense as they cross warm Atlantic waters away from Cape Verde. The average hurricane season has about two Cape Verde-type hurricanes, which are usually the largest and most intense storms of the season because they often have plenty of warm open ocean over which to develop before encountering land. The five largest Atlantic tropical cyclones on record have been Cape Verde-type hurricanes. Most of the longest-lived tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin are Cape Verde hurricanes.As of 2015, the islands themselves have only been struck by hurricanes twice in recorded history (since 1851): once in 1892, and again in 2015 by Hurricane Fred, the easternmost hurricane ever to form in the Atlantic.
seat of government administrative center headquarters main city principal city