Santo Antão
Encyclopedia
Santo Antão or Sontonton in Cape Verdean Creole, is the westernmost and largest of the Barlavento islands of Cape Verde
. The nearest main island is São Vicente
to the southeast, separated by a channel named Canal de São Vicente
. It is the westernmost large island in Cape Verde and the continent of Africa, and the second largest in Cape Verde.
material. The tallest mountain is Topo de Coroa
, reaching a height of 1,979 m. The second tallest is Pico da Cruz
at 1,585 m. The island is divided into north and south by a mountain range long considered impenetrable but now crossed by a road. The island’s main town is Ponta do Sol
on the north coast, home to the Agostinho Neto Airport
, while its ferry port is Porto Novo
on the south coast. A part of the island in the southeast has an arid
climate, while the northwest receives relatively normal precipitation. Its valleys are suffering heavy erosion.
. Many of its volcanoes are young, especially its caldera
s. Since 1999, vulcanologists have observed continuous rising of the water temperature of the sea in the area of Ponta do Sol
which may indicate the risk of a new eruption in the area.
and Fogo
along with people from northern Portugal
arrived in today's Vila da Ribeira Grande in the northern part of the island. Later, wine
and coffee
became the most important exports on the island.
, cassava
, banana
s, mango
es, and grain
. The main product on the island is a kind of rum
known as grogue.
The exportation of many of the island's agriculture products to other islands has been prohibited for nearly two decades because of the millipede (Spinotarsus caboverdus
) blight
, but the government has announced it is going to lift the quarantine
.
infrastructures.
The island was a single municipality until 1990 (Old ISO 3166-2 code:
(official language), the majority of the population speaks Cape Verdean Creole.
Cape Verde
The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...
. The nearest main island is São Vicente
São Vicente, Cape Verde
São Vicente , also Son Visent or Son Sent in Cape Verdean Creole, is one of the Barlavento islands of Cape Verde. It is located between the islands of Santo Antão and Santa Luzia, with the Canal de São Vicente separating it from Santo Antão.- Geography :The island is roughly rectangular in shape...
to the southeast, separated by a channel named Canal de São Vicente
Canal de São Vicente
The Canal de São Vicente is a channel separating the islands of Santo Antão and São Vicente. Its length is around 10 to 20 km and the width is approximately 15 km. The second closest distance with another island, the first being with Santa Luzia...
. It is the westernmost large island in Cape Verde and the continent of Africa, and the second largest in Cape Verde.
Geography
The island is entirely made up of volcanicVolcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
material. The tallest mountain is Topo de Coroa
Topo de Coroa
Topo de Coroa is Santo Antão's tallest and Cape Verde's second tallest mountain. It is in the western portion of the island. Its height is 1,979 m. The mountain is entirely of volcanic origin and is the most westerly mountain of Africa. The mountain area contains several valleys, and its ranges...
, reaching a height of 1,979 m. The second tallest is Pico da Cruz
Pico da Cruz
Pico da Cruz is a volcanic mountain in the eastern part of the island of Santo Antão. The mountain is accessed with a road linking with the island capital of Porto Novo.-Nearest places:* Paul, north...
at 1,585 m. The island is divided into north and south by a mountain range long considered impenetrable but now crossed by a road. The island’s main town is Ponta do Sol
Ponta do Sol, Cape Verde
Ponta do Sol is a small fishing settlement situated in the northern part of the island municipality of Santo Antão, Cape Verde. The city is the 12th largest in Cape Verde and is the seat of Ribeira Grande municipality...
on the north coast, home to the Agostinho Neto Airport
Agostinho Neto Airport
The Agostinho Neto is an airport in Cape Verde located next to the town of Ponta do Sol, Cape Verde on the northern tip of the island of Santo Antão. The airport was named after Agostinho Neto, an Angolan politician....
, while its ferry port is Porto Novo
Porto Novo, Cape Verde
Porto Novo is the westernmost municipality in Cape Verde and all of Africa but not the mainland. It is a town and a municipality in the island of Santo Antão of Barlavento. It covers two-thirds of the island and is home to one-third of the population...
on the south coast. A part of the island in the southeast has an arid
Arid
A region is said to be arid when it is characterized by a severe lack of available water, to the extent of hindering or even preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life...
climate, while the northwest receives relatively normal precipitation. Its valleys are suffering heavy erosion.
Water bodies
Bathing beaches and fishing areas are found in near Tarrafal de Monte Trigo.Mountains and volcanoes
The island is considered one of the most mountainous of Cape Verde. Its mountains are composed of basaltBasalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
. Many of its volcanoes are young, especially its caldera
Caldera
A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...
s. Since 1999, vulcanologists have observed continuous rising of the water temperature of the sea in the area of Ponta do Sol
Ponta do Sol, Cape Verde
Ponta do Sol is a small fishing settlement situated in the northern part of the island municipality of Santo Antão, Cape Verde. The city is the 12th largest in Cape Verde and is the seat of Ribeira Grande municipality...
which may indicate the risk of a new eruption in the area.
History
The island was discovered in 1462 by Diogo Afonso, but was not given its current name until around the 16th century. First inhabited in 1548, in the 17th century, people from the other islands of SantiagoSantiago, Cape Verde
Santiago , or Santiagu in Cape Verdean Creole, is the largest island of Cape Verde, its most important agricultural centre and home to half the nation’s population. At the time of Darwin's voyage it was called St. Jago....
and Fogo
Fogo, Cape Verde
Fogo is an island in the Sotavento group of Cape Verde. It is the most prominent of the group, rising to nearly 3,000 m above sea level at Pico do Fogo.-Geography:...
along with people from northern Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
arrived in today's Vila da Ribeira Grande in the northern part of the island. Later, wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
and coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
became the most important exports on the island.
Agriculture
The island's agriculture products include sugar cane, yamsYam (vegetable)
Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...
, cassava
Cassava
Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
, banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
s, mango
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
es, and grain
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
. The main product on the island is a kind of rum
Rum
Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...
known as grogue.
The exportation of many of the island's agriculture products to other islands has been prohibited for nearly two decades because of the millipede (Spinotarsus caboverdus
Spinotarsus caboverdus
Spinotarsus caboverdus, commonly known as "mil-pés" is a species of millipede that is found primarily in Santo Antão island of Cape Verde, where a blight of these animals has made the government issue a prohibition on the exportation of many of the island's products to the other islands.- Further...
) blight
Blight
Blight refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. It is simply a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral organs. Accordingly, many diseases that primarily exhibit this...
, but the government has announced it is going to lift the quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
.
Tourism
Tourism is becoming one of the most dominant industries on the island. There has been some investment in Rural tourismRural tourism
Rural tourism focuses on participating in a rural lifestyle. It can be a variant of ecotourism. Any village can be a tourist attraction, and many villagers are very hospitable. Agriculture is becoming highly mechanized and therefore requires less manual labor...
infrastructures.
Administrative divisions
The island is divided in three municipalities:- PaulPaul, Cape VerdePaul is a municipality in the island of Santo Antão of the Barlavento group in Cape Verde. Together with Ribeira Grande, it covers one-third of the island and home to two-thirds of the population....
CV-PA - Porto Novo
CV-PN - Ribeira Grande
CV-RG
The island was a single municipality until 1990 (Old ISO 3166-2 code:
CV-SA) when it broke up into the three present-day municipalities.Parishes and settlements
- Alto Mira
- Chã das Furnas
- Coculi
- Corvo
- Cruzinha
- Curral da Russa
- EitoEitoEITO can also mean the European Information Technology ObservatoryEITO can also mean the European Information Technology ObservatoryEITO can also mean the European Information Technology Observatory...
- Eito de Baixo
- Espongeiro
- FontainhasFontainhasFor the island of Brava's tallest point, see Monte FontainhasFor the island of Brava's tallest point, see Monte FontainhasFor the island of Brava's tallest point, see Monte Fontainhas...
- FormiguinhasFormiguinhasFormiguinhas is a village in the northern part of the island of Santo Antão...
- Janela
- Lomba dos Pombas
- Lomba de Santo
- Lourenço
- Monte TrigoMonte TrigoMonte Trigo is the entire Africa's westernmost community and settlement in the island of Santo Antão located in the western portion in Cape Verde....
- Nossa Senhora do Livramento - parish
- Nossa Senhora do Rosário - parish
- PaulPaul, Cape VerdePaul is a municipality in the island of Santo Antão of the Barlavento group in Cape Verde. Together with Ribeira Grande, it covers one-third of the island and home to two-thirds of the population....
(PA-oo), incorrectly Paúl - PassoPassôPassô is a Portuguese hamlet located in the parish of Terroso, Póvoa de Varzim....
- Pombas
- Ponta do SolPonta do Sol, Cape VerdePonta do Sol is a small fishing settlement situated in the northern part of the island municipality of Santo Antão, Cape Verde. The city is the 12th largest in Cape Verde and is the seat of Ribeira Grande municipality...
- Porto NovoPorto Novo, Cape VerdePorto Novo is the westernmost municipality in Cape Verde and all of Africa but not the mainland. It is a town and a municipality in the island of Santo Antão of Barlavento. It covers two-thirds of the island and is home to one-third of the population...
(pop: 14,731) - Ribeira da Cruz
- Ribeira das Bras
- Ribeira GrandeRibeira Grande, Cape VerdeRibeira Grande is a municipality on the island of Santo Antão of the Barlavento group in Cape Verde. It covers one-third of the island and is home to two-thirds of the population....
- Santo António das Pombas - parish
- Santo Crucifixo - parish
- São João Baptista - parish
- São Pedro Apóstolo - parish
- Sinagoga
- Tarrafal de Monte Trigo
Language
Other than PortuguesePortuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
(official language), the majority of the population speaks Cape Verdean Creole.
- Estóra de Tipêde i Tilôbe ("Ti Pedro and Ti Lobo" traditional story) by Luís Romano de Madeira Melo
Persons
- Jorge Ferreira ChavesJorge Ferreira ChavesJorge Ferreira Chaves, was a Portuguese architect.Some authors may refer to him as "Jorge Chaves" or simply "Chaves"....
(1920–1982), portuguese architect - Domingos Lima Costa, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist - Gabriel Costa (Nho Kzick), violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist (f. 2005) - Gabriel MarianoGabriel MarianoJosé Gabriel Lopes da Silva, also known as Gabriel Mariano, was a Cape Verdean poet and an essayist.He studied at São Joaquim and graduated as director in Lisbon...
, essayist, novelist and poet - Luís Romano de Madeira MeloLuís Romano de Madeira MeloLuís Romano de Madeira Melo was a bilingual poet, novelist, and folklorist who has written in Portuguese and the Capeverdean Crioulo of Santo Antão....
, composer - Manuel de NovasManuel de NovasManuel d' Novas was a Cape Verdean poet and composer.Born Manuel Jesus Lopes on the island of Santo Antão, he became one of the most important poets and composers of Cape Verde. His music is known all over the world, through performers like Cesária Évora. He lived in Mindelo on the island of São...
, songwriter - Roberto Duarte da Silva (1837–1889), chemist
- Antoninho TravadinhaAntoninho TravadinhaAntónio Vicente Lopes, better known as Antoninho Travadinha was one of the major autodidactic musicians of Cape Verde originated from the island of Santo Antão....
, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist
Sporting teams
- Sanjoanense - Serie A (football/soccer)
- Solpontense - Serie A (football/soccer)
- Rosariense
- Povoação
External links
- University of Massachusetts - information and images from Santo Antão
- caboverde.com