History

This archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean was the site of the first European-founded city in the tropics: in 1462, the Portuguese established Ribeira Grande on Santiago island. The island region experienced great prosperity thanks to the slave trade in the 1500s and later served as an important stop on various trade routes. From Portuguese colony to province of Portugal (1951), Cape Verde did not achieve independence until 1975. The first multiparty elections were held in 1991, with the new government enacting significant reforms approved by the voters, who kept the Movement for Democracy party in power in the 1995 elections.

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