Cape Verde

temperate; warm, dry summer; precipitation meager and erratic

steep, rugged, rocky, volcanic

Western Africa, group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Senegal

965 km

35 sq km (2012)

Africa

prolonged droughts; seasonal harmattan wind produces obscuring dust; volcanically and seismically active volcanism: Fogo (2,829 m), which last erupted in 1995, is Cabo Verde's only active volcano

strategic location 500 km from west coast of Africa near major north-south sea routes; one of four North Atlantic archipelagos that make up Macaronesia; the others are Azores (Portugal), Canary Islands (Spain), and Madeira (Portugal)

salt, basalt rock, limestone, kaolin, fish, clay, gypsum

slightly larger than Rhode Island

16 00 N, 24 00 W

among the nine inhabited islands, population distribution is variable; islands in the east are very dry and are only sparsely settled; the more southerly islands receive more precipitation and support larger populations; approximately half of the population lives on Sao Tiago Island, which is the location of the capital of Praia; Mindelo, on the northern island of Sao Vicente, also has a large urban population, as shown in this population distribution map