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Overseas Province of Cape VerdeProvíncia Ultramarina de Cabo Verde
1462–1975
Flag (1910–1975) Coat of arms (1951–1975)
Anthem: "Hymno Patriótico" (1808–26) Patriotic Anthem "Hino da Carta" (1826–1910) Hymn of the Charter "A Portuguesa" (1910–75) The Portuguese
Status	Colony; Overseas province of the Portuguese Empire
Capital	Praia
Common languages	Portuguese
Head of state
• 1462–1481 (first)	Afonso V
• 1974–1975 (last)	F. da Costa Gomes
Governor
• 1588–1591 (first)	D. Lôbo da Gama
• 1974–1975 (last)	V. Almeida d'Eça
Historical era	Imperialism
• Established	1462
• Independence	5 July 1975
Currency	Cape Verdean real (until 1914) Cape Verdean escudo (from 1914)
ISO 3166 code	CV
Preceded by Succeeded by Uninhabited Cape Verde Cape Verde
Today part of	Cape Verde

Part of a series on the
History of Cape Verde
Colonial history
Portuguese Cape Verde Portuguese Empire Immigration to the USA Atlantic slave trade Famine in Cape Verde
Independence struggle
African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde Portuguese Colonial War
v t e

Cape Verde was a colony of the Portuguese Empire from the initial settlement of the Cape Verde Islands in 1462 until the independence of Cape Verde in 1975.

History

15th century

The islands of Cape Verde were discovered in 1444 by Prince Henry the Navigator (Son of King John I) and Antonio Noli, in the service of Henry's relative King Afonso V. The southeastern islands, including the largest island Santiago, were discovered in 1460 by António de Noli and Diogo Gomes. The remaining northwestern islands São Nicolau, São Vicente and Santo Antão were discovered in 1461 or 1462 by Diogo Afonso. There is no evidence of human settlement on Cape Verde prior to the arrival of the Portuguese.

In 1462, the Portuguese founded the town of Ribeira Grande (now Cidade Velha) on the south coast of Santiago. The settlement became a key port of call for Portuguese colonisation in both Africa and South America. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was a centre of maritime trade of points among Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, Brazil in South America, and the Caribbean. Due to its proximity to the African coast, it was an essential platform for the Atlantic trade of enslaved Africans. Other early Portuguese settlements were São Filipe on the island of Fogo (between 1470 and 1490), Praia on Santiago (before 1516), Ribeira Grande on Santo Antão (mid 16th century), and Ribeira Brava on São Nicolau (1653).

Between 1492 and 1497, Manuel I of Portugal exiled thousands of conversos, Jews forced to accept baptism and conversion to Christianity but considered suspect, to São Tomé, Príncipe, and Cape Verde. They were allowed to engage in trade.

Free-lance traders were referred to as lançados, who were often, but not always, of Jewish origin. Most married or had unions with African women, creating close trade ties with their families and clans.

16th—19th centuries

The riches of Ribeira Grande and conflicts between Portugal and rival colonial powers France and Britain attracted pirate attacks, including those by Francis Drake (1585) and Jacques Cassard (1712). Despite the construction of Forte Real de São Filipe in 1587-93, Ribeira Grande remained vulnerable and went into decline. The capital was moved to Praia in 1770.

The eruption of the volcano Pico do Fogo in 1680 covered much of the island of Fogo in ash, which forced many inhabitants to flee to the nearby island of Brava. From the end of the 18th century, whaling ships from North America started hunting whales around the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands. They used the harbours of Brava to stock up on supplies and drinking water. They hired men from Brava as sailors, and several of these settled around the Massachusetts whaling port of New Bedford.

The exploitation of salt on the island of Sal took a rise from around 1800. The port city of Mindelo grew rapidly after 1838, when a coal depot was established to supply ships on Atlantic routes. In the course of the 19th century, the Plateau of Praia was completely redeveloped with streets according to a grid plan, lined with grand colonial buildings and mansions. Slavery was abolished in Cape Verde in 1876.

20th century

From the beginning of the 20th century the port of Mindelo lost its importance for transatlantic navigation. Causes for this were the shift from coal to oil as fuel for ships, the rise of competing ports like Dakar and the Canary Islands and the lack of investment in port infrastructure. Due to its generally dry climate, Cape Verde has been struck by a series of drought-related famines between the 1580s and the 1950s. Two of Cape Verde's worst-ever famines occurred in 1941–43 and 1947–48, killing an estimated 45,000 people. Several thousands of islanders emigrated, for instance accepting contract labour on the cocoa plantations of Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe.

In the lead-up to and during the Portuguese Colonial War, those planning and fighting in the armed conflict in Portuguese Guinea often linked the goal of liberation of Guinea-Bissau to the goal of liberation in Cape Verde. For instance, in 1956, Amílcar and Luís Cabral founded the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC). However, there was no armed conflict in Cape Verde, and ultimately independence for Cape Verde resulted from negotiation with Portugal after the April 1974 Carnation Revolution. In August 1974, an agreement was signed in Algiers between the Portuguese government and the PAIGC, recognising the independence of Guinea-Bissau and the right to independence of Cape Verde. On 5 July 1975, at Praia, Portugal's Prime Minister Vasco Gonçalves turned over power to National Assembly President Abílio Duarte, and Cape Verde became independent.

Cape Verde Islanders had higher educational levels and were often appointed to low-level administrative posts in Portuguese territories. Thereby they acquired a reputation of loyalty to Lisbon.

See also

• History of Cape Verde
• List of colonial governors of Cape Verde
• Arquivo Histórico Ultramarino (archives in Lisbon documenting Portuguese Empire, including Cape Verde)

References

1. ^ Valor simbólico do centro histórico da Praia, Lourenço Conceição Gomes, Universidade Portucalense, 2008
2. "Cidade Velha, Historic Centre of Ribeira Grande - UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Retrieved 14 November 2018.
3. Centre historique de São Filipe, UNESCO
4. Inventário dos recursos turísticos do município de Ribeira Brava de São Nicolau, Direcção Geral do Turismo, p. 16
5. Reuven Faingold (2013). "Judeus ibéricos deportados a São Tomé entre 1492-1497". Morashá: História Judaica Moderna (79).
6. Richard Lobban. "Jews in Cape Verde and on the Guinea Coast". Archived from the original on 25 August 2012.
7. ^ Centre historique de Praia, UNESCO
8. S. F. Jenkins; et al. (20 March 2017). "Damage from lava flows: insights from the 2014–2015 eruption of Fogo, Cape Verde". Journal of Applied Volcanology. 6. doi:10.1186/s13617-017-0057-6. hdl:10356/85772.
9. Ray Almeida. "A History of Ilha do Sal". Archived from the original on 6 February 2016.
10. ^ Génese e desenvolvimento da cidade do Mindelo: a preservação de uma identidade, Fred Yanick Fonseca Delgado, 2016, p. 76-80
11. Lumumba H. Shabaka (2015). "Ending Slavery in Cabo Verde: Between Manumission and Emancipation, 1856-1876". Journal of Cape Verdean Studies. 2 (1): 109–132.
12. Brooks, George E. (2006). "Cabo Verde: Gulag of the South Atlantic: Racism, Fishing Prohibitions, and Famines". History in Africa. 33: 101–135. doi:10.1353/hia.2006.0008. hdl:2022/3269. S2CID 162287310.
13. Keese, Alexander (2012). "Managing the Prospect of Famine. Cape Verdean Officials, Subsistence Emergencies, and the Change of Elite Attitudes During Portugal's Late Colonial Phase, 1939-1961" (PDF). Itinerario. XXXVI (1): 49–69. doi:10.1017/S0165115312000368. S2CID 59064950.
14. António Costa Pinto, "The transition to democracy and Portugal's decolonization", in Stewart Lloyd-Jones and António Costa Pinto (eds., 2003). The Last Empire: Thirty Years of Portuguese Decolonization (Intellect Books, ISBN 978-1-84150-109-3) pp. 22–24.
15. Acordo entre o governo Português e o Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, Centro de Documentação 25 de Abril
16. Alexander Keese, "The role of Cape Verdeans in war mobilization and war prevention in Portugal's African empire, 1955-1965." International journal of African historical studies 40.3 (2007): 497-511 online.

14°55′N 23°31′W / 14.92°N 23.51°W / 14.92; -23.51

v t e Portuguese Empire
North Africa 15th century 1415–1640 Ceuta 1458–1550 Alcácer Ceguer (El Qsar es Seghir) 1471–1550 Arzila (Asilah) 1471–1662 Tangier 1485–1550 Mazagan (El Jadida) 1487–16th century Ouadane 1488–1541 Safim (Safi) 1489 Graciosa 16th century 1505–1541 Santa Cruz do Cabo de Gué (Agadir) 1506–1525 Mogador (Essaouira) 1506–1525 Aguz (Souira Guedima) 1506–1769 Mazagan (El Jadida) 1513–1541 Azamor (Azemmour) 1515–1541 São João da Mamora (Mehdya) 1577–1589 Arzila (Asilah)
Sub-Saharan Africa 15th century 1455–1633 Arguim 1462–1975 Cape Verde 1470–1975 São Tomé 1471–1975 Príncipe 1474–1778 Annobón 1478–1778 Fernando Poo (Bioko) 1482–1637 Elmina (São Jorge da Mina) 1482–1642 Portuguese Gold Coast 1498–1540 Mascarene Islands 16th century 1500–1630 Malindi 1501–1975 Portuguese Mozambique 1502–1659 Saint Helena 1503–1698 Zanzibar 1505–1512 Quíloa (Kilwa) 1506–1511 Socotra 1508–1547 Madagascar 1557–1578 Accra 1575–1975 Portuguese Angola 1588–1974 Cacheu 1593–1698 Mombassa (Mombasa) 17th century 1645–1888 Ziguinchor 1680–1961 São João Baptista de Ajudá, Benin 1687–1974 Bissau 18th century 1728–1729 Mombassa (Mombasa) 1753–1975 Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe 19th century 1879–1974 Portuguese Guinea 1885–1974 Portuguese Congo Part of São Tomé and Príncipe from 1753. Or 1600. A factory (Anosy Region) and small temporary coastal bases. Part of Portuguese Guinea from 1879. Part of Portuguese Angola from the 1920s.
Middle East 16th century 1506–1615 Gamru (Bandar Abbas) 1507–1643 Sohar 1515–1622 Hormuz (Ormus) 1515–1648 Quriyat 1515–? Qalhat 1515–1650 Muscat 1515?–? Barka 1515–1633? Julfar (Ras al-Khaimah) 1521–1602 Bahrain (Muharraq • Manama) 1521–1529? Qatif 1521?–1551? Tarut Island 1550–1551 Qatif 1588–1648 Matrah 17th century 1620–? Khor Fakkan 1621?–? As Sib 1621–1622 Qeshm 1623–? Khasab 1623–? Libedia 1624–? Kalba 1624–? Madha 1624–1648 Dibba Al-Hisn 1624?–? Bandar-e Kong
South Asia 15th century 1498–1545 Laccadive Islands (Lakshadweep) 16th century Portuguese India  • 1500–1663 Cochim (Kochi)  • 1501–1663 Cannanore (Kannur)  • 1502–1658  1659–1661 Quilon (Coulão / Kollam)  • 1502–1661 Pallipuram (Cochin de Cima)  • 1507–1657 Negapatam (Nagapatnam)  • 1510–1961 Goa  • 1512–1525  1750 Calicut (Kozhikode)  • 1518–1619 Portuguese Paliacate outpost (Pulicat)  • 1521–1740 Chaul   (Portuguese India)  • 1523–1662 Mylapore  • 1528–1666 Chittagong (Porto Grande De Bengala)  • 1531–1571 Chaul  • 1531–1571 Chalé  • 1534–1601 Salsette Island  • 1534–1661 Bombay (Mumbai)  • 1535 Ponnani  • 1535–1739 Baçaím (Vasai-Virar)  • 1536–1662 Cranganore (Kodungallur)  • 1540–1612 Surat  • 1548–1658 Tuticorin (Thoothukudi)  • 1559–1961 Daman and Diu  • 1568–1659 Mangalore   (Portuguese India)  • 1579–1632 Hugli  • 1598–1610 Masulipatnam (Machilipatnam) 1518–1521 Maldives 1518–1658 Portuguese Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 1558–1573 Maldives 17th century Portuguese India  • 1687–1749 Mylapore 18th century Portuguese India  • 1779–1954 Dadra and Nagar Haveli
East Asia and Oceania 16th century 1511–1641 Portuguese Malacca 1512–1621 Maluku  • 1522–1575  Ternate  • 1576–1605  Ambon  • 1578–1650  Tidore 1512–1665 Makassar 1515–1859 Larantuka 1557–1999 Macau 1580–1586 Nagasaki 17th century 1642–1975 Portuguese Timor (East Timor) 19th century Portuguese Macau  • 1864–1999 Coloane  • 1851–1999 Taipa  • 1890–1999 Ilha Verde 20th century Portuguese Macau  • 1938–1941 Lapa and Montanha (Hengqin) 1975 is the year of East Timor's Declaration of Independence and subsequent invasion by Indonesia. In 2002, East Timor's independence was fully recognized.
North America and North Atlantic 15th century 1420 Madeira 1432 Azores 16th century 1500–1579? Terra Nova (Newfoundland) 1500–1579? Labrador 1516–1579? Nova Scotia
South America and Caribbean 16th century 1500–1822 Brazil  • 1534–1549  Captaincy Colonies of Brazil  • 1549–1572  Brazil  • 1572–1578  Bahia  • 1572–1578  Rio de Janeiro  • 1578–1607  Brazil  • 1621–1815  Brazil 1536–1620 Barbados 17th century 1621–1751 Maranhão 1680–1777 Nova Colónia do Sacramento 18th century 1751–1772 Grão-Pará and Maranhão 1772–1775 Grão-Pará and Rio Negro 1772–1775 Maranhão and Piauí 19th century 1808–1822 Cisplatina (Uruguay) 1809–1817 Portuguese Guiana (Amapá) 1822 Upper Peru (Bolivia)
Armorial of Portuguese colonies Evolution of the Portuguese Empire Portuguese colonial architecture Portuguese colonization of the Americas Portuguese Empire in the Indonesian Archipelago Portuguese India Theory of the Portuguese discovery of Australia

• Portuguese Cape Verde
• Former Portuguese colonies
• Former colonies in Africa
• Portuguese colonisation in Africa
• States and territories established in 1462
• States and territories disestablished in 1975
• Populated places established in the 1460s
• 15th-century establishments in Africa
• 1975 disestablishments in Africa