The Cape Verde Islands
Christopher Fyfe looks at how, in 1975 the Cape Verde Island gained their independence from the Portuguese after five hundred years of colonial administration that left them one of the poorest states in the world.
Three hundred and fifty miles out from the coast of Senegal, the Cape Verde islands rise suddenly from the sea like a range of scattered mountains. They lie within the west African climatic zone, but are swept by dry winds blowing steadily from the Sahara. So rainfall is irregular and there are long periods of drought. When no rain falls the vegetation on the steep mountain valleys is fed by underground water supplies. Meanwhile the harsh winds dry out the exposed topsoil, so that when rain does fall again much of it is washed into the sea.
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