238 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
238 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
CAPE VERDE
|
||
GEOGRAPHY
|
||
Total area: 4,030 km2; land area: 4,030 km2
|
||
|
||
Comparative area: slightly larger than Rhode Island
|
||
|
||
Land boundaries: none
|
||
|
||
Coastline: 965 km
|
||
|
||
Maritime claims: (measured from claimed archipelagic baselines);
|
||
|
||
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
|
||
|
||
Territorial sea: 12 nm
|
||
|
||
Climate: temperate; warm, dry, summer precipitation very erratic
|
||
|
||
Terrain: steep, rugged, rocky, volcanic
|
||
Natural resources: salt, basalt rock, pozzolana, limestone, kaolin,
|
||
fish
|
||
|
||
Land use: arable land 9%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
|
||
pastures 6%; forest and woodland NEGL%; other 85%; includes irrigated
|
||
1%
|
||
|
||
Environment: subject to prolonged droughts; harmattan wind can
|
||
obscure visibility; volcanically and seismically active; deforestation;
|
||
overgrazing
|
||
|
||
Note: strategic location 500 km from African coast near major
|
||
north-south sea routes; important communications station; important sea
|
||
and air refueling site
|
||
|
||
PEOPLE
|
||
Population: 386,501 (July 1991), growth rate 3.0% (1991)
|
||
|
||
Birth rate: 48 births/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Net migration rate: - 8 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
|
||
|
||
Infant mortality rate: 63 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
|
||
|
||
Life expectancy at birth: 60 years male, 63 years female (1991)
|
||
|
||
Total fertility rate: 6.6 children born/woman (1991)
|
||
|
||
Nationality: noun--Cape Verdean(s); adjective--Cape Verdean
|
||
|
||
Ethnic divisions: Creole (mulatto) about 71%, African 28%, European
|
||
1%
|
||
|
||
Religion: Roman Catholicism fused with indigenous beliefs
|
||
|
||
Language: Portuguese and Crioulo, a blend of Portuguese and West
|
||
African words
|
||
|
||
Literacy: 66% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can
|
||
read and write (1989 est.)
|
||
|
||
Labor force: 102,000 (1985 est.); agriculture (mostly subsistence)
|
||
57%, services 29%, industry 14% (1981); 51% of population of working age
|
||
(1985)
|
||
|
||
Organized labor: Trade Unions of Cape Verde Unity Center (UNTC-CS)
|
||
|
||
GOVERNMENT
|
||
Long-form name: Republic of Cape Verde
|
||
|
||
Type: republic
|
||
|
||
Capital: Praia
|
||
|
||
Administrative divisions: 14 districts (concelhos,
|
||
singular--concelho); Boa Vista, Brava, Fogo, Maio, Paul, Praia, Porto
|
||
Novo, Ribeira Grande, Sal, Santa Catarina, Santa Cruz, Sao Nicolau,
|
||
Sao Vicente, Tarrafal
|
||
|
||
Independence: 5 July 1975 (from Portugal)
|
||
|
||
Constitution: 7 September 1980; amended 12 February 1981,
|
||
NA December 1988, and 28 September 1990 (legalized opposition parties)
|
||
|
||
National holiday: Independence Day, 5 July (1975)
|
||
|
||
Executive branch: president, prime minister, deputy minister,
|
||
secretaries of state, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
|
||
|
||
Legislative branch: unicameral People's National Assembly
|
||
(Assembleia Nacional Popular)
|
||
|
||
Judicial branch: Supreme Tribunal of Justice (Supremo Tribunal de
|
||
Justia)
|
||
|
||
Leaders:
|
||
|
||
Chief of State--President Antonio Mascarenhas MONTEIRO (since
|
||
22 March 1991);
|
||
|
||
Head of Government--Prime Minister Carlos VEIGA (since
|
||
13 January 1991)
|
||
|
||
Political parties and leaders:
|
||
Movement for Democracy (MPD), Prime Minister Carlos VEIGA, founder and
|
||
chairman;
|
||
African Party for Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), Pedro
|
||
Verona Rodrigues PIRES, chairman
|
||
|
||
Suffrage: universal at age 18
|
||
|
||
Elections:
|
||
|
||
President--last held 17 February 1991 (next to be held
|
||
February 1996);
|
||
results--Antonio Mascarenhas MONTEIRO (MPD) received 72.6% of vote;
|
||
|
||
People's National Assembly--last held 13 January 1991 (next
|
||
to be held January 1996);
|
||
results--percent of vote by party NA;
|
||
seats--(79 total) MPD 56, PAICV 23; note--this multiparty Assembly
|
||
election ended 15 years of single-party rule
|
||
|
||
Communists: no Communist party
|
||
|
||
Member of: ACP, AfDB, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA,
|
||
IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOM (observer), ITU, LORCS,
|
||
NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WMO
|
||
|
||
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Luis de Matos Monteiro da
|
||
FONSECA; Chancery at 3415 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20007;
|
||
telephone (202) 965-6820; there is a Cape Verdean Consulate General in
|
||
Boston;
|
||
|
||
US--Ambassador Francis T. (Terry) McNAMARA; Embassy at Rua Hojl Ya
|
||
Yenna 81, Praia (mailing address is C. P. 201, Praia); telephone
|
||
238 614-363 or 614-253
|
||
Flag: two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and green with
|
||
a vertical red band on the hoist side; in the upper portion of the red
|
||
band is a black five-pointed star framed by two corn stalks and a
|
||
yellow clam shell; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia;
|
||
similar to the flag of Guinea-Bissau which is longer and has an
|
||
unadorned black star centered in the red band
|
||
|
||
ECONOMY
|
||
Overview: Cape Verde's low per capita GDP reflects a poor natural
|
||
resource base, a 17-year drought, and a high birthrate. The economy is
|
||
service oriented, with commerce, transport, and public services
|
||
accounting for 65% of GDP during the period 1985-88. Although nearly
|
||
70% of the population lives in rural areas, agriculture's share of GDP is
|
||
only 16%; the fishing sector accounts for 4%. About 90% of food must be
|
||
imported. The fishing potential, mostly lobster and tuna, is not fully
|
||
exploited. In 1988 fishing represented only 3.5% of GDP. Cape Verde
|
||
annually runs a high trade deficit, financed by remittances from
|
||
emigrants and foreign aid.
|
||
|
||
GDP: $262 million, per capita $740; real growth rate 3.2%
|
||
(1988 est.)
|
||
|
||
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8.2% (1988 est.)
|
||
|
||
Unemployment rate: 25% (1988)
|
||
|
||
Budget: revenues $98.3 million; expenditures $138.4
|
||
million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1988 est.)
|
||
|
||
Exports: $10.9 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);
|
||
|
||
commodities--fish, bananas, salt;
|
||
|
||
partners--Portugal, Angola, Algeria, France, Italy
|
||
|
||
Imports: $107.8 million (c.i.f., 1989);
|
||
|
||
commodities--petroleum, foodstuffs, consumer goods, industrial
|
||
products;
|
||
|
||
partners--Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, France, Brazil, FRG
|
||
|
||
External debt: $150 million (December 1990 est.)
|
||
|
||
Industrial production: growth rate 18% (1988 est.); accounts for
|
||
7% of GDP
|
||
|
||
Electricity: 13,000 kW capacity; 15 million kWh produced,
|
||
40 kWh per capita (1990)
|
||
|
||
Industry: fish processing, salt mining, clothing factories, ship
|
||
repair, construction materials, food and beverage production
|
||
|
||
Agriculture: accounts for 16% of GDP; largely subsistence farming;
|
||
bananas are the only export crop; other crops--corn, beans, sweet
|
||
potatoes, coffee; growth potential of agricultural sector limited by
|
||
poor soils and limited rainfall; annual food imports required; fish catch
|
||
provides for both domestic consumption and small exports
|
||
|
||
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY75-89), $88
|
||
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
|
||
(1970-88), $590 million; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $12 million;
|
||
Communist countries (1970-88), $36 million
|
||
|
||
Currency: Cape Verdean escudo (plural--escudos); 1 Cape Verdean
|
||
escudo (CVEsc) = 100 centavos
|
||
|
||
Exchange rates: Cape Verdean escudos (CVEsc) per
|
||
US$1--64.10 (November 1990), 74.86 (December 1989), 72.01 (1988), 72.5
|
||
(1987), 76.56 (1986), 85.38 (1985)
|
||
|
||
Fiscal year: calendar year
|
||
|
||
COMMUNICATIONS
|
||
Ports: Mindelo and Praia
|
||
|
||
Merchant marine: 7 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 11,708
|
||
GRT/19,000 DWT
|
||
|
||
Civil air: 5 major transport aircraft (4 owned, 1 leased)
|
||
|
||
Airports: 6 total, 6 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways;
|
||
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 1 with
|
||
runways 1,220-2,439 m
|
||
|
||
Telecommunications: interisland radio relay system, high-frequency
|
||
radio to mainland Portugal and Guinea-Bissau; 1,740 telephones;
|
||
stations--5 AM, 1 FM, 1 TV; 2 coaxial submarine cables; 1 Atlantic Ocean
|
||
INTELSAT earth station
|
||
|
||
DEFENSE FORCES
|
||
Branches: People's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARP)--Army and
|
||
Navy are separate components of FARP; Militia, Security Service
|
||
|
||
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 70,771; 41,844 fit for military
|
||
service
|
||
|
||
Defense expenditures: $15 million, 11% of GDP (1981)
|
||
|
||
|