Santiago, Cape Verde

Santiago (Portuguese for “Saint James”), or Santiagu in Cape Verdean Creole, is the largest island of the Cape Verde archipelago. It is the most important agricultural centre and home to half the nation’s population. Praia, the capital of the country is in this island.

The Santiago island is part of the Macaronesia, a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean with similar ecosystems.

History
The island was discovered in around 1460 by António de Noli (or António da Noli), a 15th-century nobleman and navigator from Genoa that worked for Henry the Navigator of Portugal. De Noli founded in 1462 the old capital of the islands, Ribeira Grande, now known as Cidade Velha.

Population
 (last national census), there were 273,919 people living in the island, giving it a population density of  inhabitants/km².

The largest city of the island is Praia, its capital, with a population, in 2010, of 131,602.

Geography
Santiago is in the southern Sotavento group of islands, at about  to the west of the island of Maio and at about  to the east of the island of Fogo.

The Santiago island has an area of ; it is  long, north to south, and about  wide, east to west.

The island is mountainous, although slightly flatter in the southeast. There are two volcanic mountain ranges:

 Serra da Malagueta, in the northern part of the island.
 Serra do Pico de Antónia, in the southern part of the island, from the southeast to the northwest. Here is the highest point of the island, Pico de Antónia,  high.

There are two natural parks in the island to protect the plants and animals in the two mountain ranges:
 Parque Natural de Rui Vaz e Serra de Pico de Antónia
 Parque Natural de Serra da Malagueta

Climate
Praia, in the southeast coast, has a Tropical and Subtropical Desert climate (Köppen climate classification : Bwh).

The average temperature for the year in Praia is . The warmest month, on average, is August with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Praia is  8.3". The month with the most precipitation on average is August with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is March without any precipitation. There are an average of 49.0 days of precipitation, with the most precipitation occurring in September with 7.0 days and the least precipitation occurring in December with 2.0 days.

Administration
The Santiago island is divided in 9 municipalities (conselhos) and 10 parishes (freguesias).

+ Santiago island CGN-CVcodeCódigo Geográfico Nacional de Cabo Verde Conselho ISO 3166-2code Capital Area(km²) Population(2002) Density 71  Tarrafal  CV-TA  Tarrafal  120.82  18,565   72  Santa Catarina  CV-CA   Assomada  242.57  40,852   73  Santa Cruz  CV-CR   Pedra Badejo  112.21  26,609   74  Praia  CV-PR   Praia  102.55  131,602   75  São Domingos  CV-SD   São Domingos  147.54  13,808   76  São Miguel  CV-SM   Calheta de São Miguel  77.35  15,648   77  São Salvador do Mundo  CV-SS   Picos  26.48  8,677   78  São Lourenço dos Órgãos  CV-LO   João Teves  36.94  7,388   79  Ribeira Grande de Santiago  CV-RS   Cidade Velha  137.25  8,325  

Gallery

References

Category:Islands of Cape Verde