Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by a governor-general Prime minister: Danny Philip
President: Jorge Carlos Fonseca
Population
584,578
523,568
Life Expectancy
74.420 years
71.000 years
Capital City
Praia
Largest city
Honiara (population: 56,298)
Praia (population: 113,364)
Human Development Index
0.591
0.705
GDP per capita
$4,000 US
Literacy Rate
%
76.6%
Corruption Perception Index
2.9
5.1
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0%
18.1%
Wealthiest Citizens
Unemployment Rate
21.000%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
parliamentary democracy
republic
Independence date
5 July 1975 (from Portugal)
Religions
Church of Melanesia 32.8%, Roman Catholic 19%, South Seas Evangelical 17%, Seventh-Day Adventist 11.2%, United Church 10.3%, Christian Fellowship Church 2.4%, other Christian 4.4%, other 2.4%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.2% (1999 census)
Roman Catholic (infused with indigenous beliefs), Protestant (mostly Church of the Nazarene)
Languages
Melanesian pidgin in much of the country is lingua franca; English (official; but spoken by only 1%-2% of the population); 120 indigenous languages
Portuguese, Crioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African words)
Exports
fuel, shoes, garments, fish, hides
External Debt
$657,700,000 US
Exchange Rate
Cape Verdean escudos (CVE) per US dollar - 73.84 (2008 est.), 81.235 (2007), 87.946 (2006), 88.67 (2005), 88.808 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
0.500%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
Location
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of Papua New Guinea
Western Africa, group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Senegal
Area
28,896 km sq
4,033 km sq
Coastline
5,313 km
965 km
Climate
tropical monsoon; few extremes of temperature and weather
temperate; warm, dry summer; precipitation meager and very erratic
