Country · Africa
Cape Verde
Republic of Cabo Verde
Cape Verde is a country in Western Africa. About 544 000 people live there, in an area of 4 033 square kilometres. Its capital city is Praia.
Picture credit: Cayambe (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Cayambe (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Cayambe (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Xandu (Public domain) · Cayambe (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Cape Verde?
Cape Verde lies in Western Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 1 781 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 965 km long.
It has no land neighbours — every border it has is with the sea.
How big is Cape Verde?
Cape Verde covers 4 033 square kilometres.
Switzerland is about 10 times bigger.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 165th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 134.8 people on every square kilometre.
That is busier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Cape Verde?
About 544 000 people live in Cape Verde.
That is the 165th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Portuguese.
They pay with the Cape Verdean escudo (Esc).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 69 years.
The land of Cape Verde
Its coast runs for about 965 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 48 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Cape Verde different?
A dish the country is known for: Cachupa.
Websites from here often end in .cv.
Cape Verde and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Cape Verde.
It takes up less than a hundredth of one per cent of all the land in the world.
Within Africa the country ranks 50th of 54 by size, and 52nd by population.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, one lives wild in Cape Verde: Blue marlin. The highest mountain in the country is Pico do Fogo, at 2 829 metres.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
How big is Cape Verde compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 2 324 times as big as Cape Verde: 9 372 610 km² against 4 033 km².
- The United Kingdom is about 60 times as big as Cape Verde: 242 900 km² against 4 033 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Cape Verde?
The capital of Cape Verde is Praia. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Cape Verde?
About 544 000 people live in Cape Verde, which makes it the 165th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
How big is Cape Verde?
Cape Verde covers 4 033 square kilometres, making it the 165th largest country in the world. Switzerland is about 10 times bigger.
What is the highest mountain in Cape Verde?
The highest mountain in Cape Verde is Pico do Fogo, 2 829 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
Are there rivers in Cape Verde?
Cape Verde has no permanent river. The ground is porous, so rain sinks straight in or runs to the sea in channels that stay dry most of the year. The water comes from rain tanks, wells or desalination plants.
Which continent is Cape Verde in?
Cape Verde is in Africa, in the part called Western Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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