维德角(Cape Verde)
正式名称维德角共和国（Republic of Cape Verde）
大西洋中部岛屿共和国，距离塞内加尔西岸约620公里。由十个大岛和五个小岛组成。面积4,033平方公里。人口约446,000（2001）。首都︰普拉亚。人口有2/3以上为克里奥尔人（黑白混血种），其余为欧洲人和非洲黑人。语言：葡萄牙语（官方语）。宗教：天主教（国教）、新教。货币︰维德角埃斯库多（C.V.Esc.）。向风各岛多山，地形崎岖，由於受到侵蚀形成许多深沟；背风各岛地势平坦，多为平原和低地。两岛均由火山运动构成。福古岛的一座活火山，於1951年喷发，全国最高峰（2,829公尺）也位於该岛。其他大岛屿包括圣安唐岛、圣文森特岛和圣尼古拉岛。维德角经济为开发中的混合型经济，主要以农业为主。旅游业发达。政府形式是共和国，一院制。国家元首是总统，政府首脑为总理。
1456～1460年间葡萄牙人初探各岛时，未发现人烟。1460年戈麦斯发现马尤岛、圣地牙哥岛并命名。1462年第一批殖民者登上圣地牙哥岛，建立起大里贝拉市。随着贩卖奴隶的盛行，该市的重要地位与日俱增。该市的财富常遭海盗袭击，1712年该市被废弃。19世纪因贩奴贸易衰微，由葡萄牙人控制的各岛每况愈下。由於该岛地处欧洲、南美和南非之间的商船航线要冲後渐有起色。1951年葡萄牙将此殖民地改为一个海外省。许多岛民提出立即独立。1975年终於获准独立。曾一度与几内亚－比索政治联合，1981年维德角和几内亚－比索分离。
English version：
Cape Verde
Island republic, central Atlantic Ocean. Lying 385 mi (620 km) off the western coast of Senegal, it consists of 10 islands and five islets. Area: 1,557 sq mi (4,033 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 394,000. Capital: Praia. More than two-thirds of its population is Creole (mulatto); the remainder are European and black African. Languages: Portuguese (official), Crioulo (a Portuguese dialect). Religions: Roman Catholicism (official), Protestantism. Currency: Cape Verde escudo. The mountainous windward islands are craggy and furrowed by erosion; the flat leeward islands are largely plains and lowlands. The islands are volcanic in origin. Fogo Island has an active volcano that erupted in 1951; it is also the location of the highest peak, which rises 9,281 ft (2,829 m). The largest of the other islands are Santo Ant?o, S?o Vincente, and S?o Nicolau. Cape Verde has a developing mixed economy based largely on agriculture, though tourism has been promoted. It is a republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president and its head of government, the prime minister. When visited by the Portuguese 1456-60, the islands were uninhabited. In 1460 Diogo Gomes sighted and named Maio and S?o Tiago, and in 1462 the first settlers landed on S?o Tiago, founding the city of Ribeira Grande. The city's importance grew with the development of the slave trade, and its wealth attracted pirates so often that it was abandoned after 1712. The prosperity of the Portuguese-controlled islands vanished with the decline of the slave trade in the 19th century, but later improved because of their position on the great trade routes between Europe, South America, and South Africa. In 1951 the colony became an overseas province of Portugal. Many islanders preferred outright independence, and it was finally granted in 1975. Once associated politically with Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde split from it in 1981.