The entire archipelago includes
10 larger islands, of which 9 are inhibited, and
5 smaller islands that are uninhibited. Based
on the north-eastern trade winds, the islands
are subdivided into "barlavento" –
islands above the wind – and "sotavento"
– islands under the wind.
The barlavento islands include:
Sal, Santo Antão, São Vicente, São
Nicolau and Boavista (inhabited) as well as Santa
Luzia, Branco and Raso (uninhabited).
The sotavento islands include: Maio, Santiago,
Brava and Fogo (inhabited). Seen geographically,
the Cape Verde Islands area part of the African
continent.
Together with the Azores, Madeira and the Canary
Islands they build a collective known as Macaronesia,
which means "Fortunate Islands". |
