São Vicente, Cape Verde ::: Project ETERNITY

For other uses, see São Vicente (disambiguation)

São Vicente is one of the islands of the Cape Verde archipelago, which is discussed here. São Vicente is also a city in Brazil. It is separated with the São Vicente Channel in the northwest. The airport is in the southwest/

The island is roughly rectangular in shape with a surface area of ca. 227 sq.km. From east to west it measures 24 km and from north to south no more than 16 km. The terrain includes mountains in the west, the southwest, the south, the esat-central and the north. The area is flat in the northcentral, the central part, the eastern part south of Calhau and the northern part in the Baia das Gatas area. The urban area of Mindelo is in teh northern part. Much of the island are deforested.

Although volcanic in origin, the island is quite flat. Its highest point is Monte Verde (Portuguese for green mountain) located in the northeast-central part with an altitude of 774 metres. Although a great amount of erosion has taken place, some craters still remain -- in particular near the bay of Mindelo. The other mountain include Monte Cara.

Communities

History

Discovered on Saint Vincent's Day (January 22) in 1462, the island remained practically uninhabited until the middle of the 19th century. It was only in 1838, when a coal deposit was established in Porto Grande to supply ships on Atlantic routes, that the population started to grow rapidly. Due to the lack of rain and consequent lack of natural resources, the economy of São Vicente is based mainly on commerce and services.