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General Information Area: 4033 sq km (1557 sq miles). Population: 434,812 (2000). Population Density: 107.8 per sq km. Capital: Cidade de Praia. Population: 94,757 (2000). GEOGRAPHY: Cape Verde is situated in the Atlantic Ocean, 600km (450 miles) west-northwest of Senegal, and comprises ten volcanic islands and five islets, in two groups: Barlavento (Windwards) and Sotavento (Leewards). In the former group are the islands of São Vicente, Santo Antão, São Nicolau, Santa Luzia, Sal and Boa Vista, along with the smaller islands of Branco and Raso; the Sotavento group comprises the islands of Santiago, Maio, Fogo and Brava, along with the smaller islands of Rei and Rombo. Most have mountain peaks; the highest being Pico do Cano, an active volcano, which is on Fogo. The islands are generally rocky and eroded, and have never been able to support more than subsistence agriculture (maize, bananas, sugar cane and coffee are the main crops); low rainfall over the last ten years has crippled food production and forced the islands to depend on international aid. Government: Republic. Gained independence from Portugal in 1975. Head of State: President Pedro Pires since 2001. Head of Government: Prime Minister José Maria Neves since 2001. Language: The official language is Portuguese. Creole is spoken by most of the inhabitants. Some English, French and Spanish are spoken. Religion: Almost entirely Roman Catholic with a Protestant minority. Time: GMT - 1. Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50Hz. Communications:   Telephone IDD is possible to main cities. Country code: 238. Improvements to rural areas are in progress and the islands have around 22,900 telephones. Mobile telephone GSM 900 network operated by cvtelecom (website: www.cvtelecom.cv). Fax Services are available at post offices and major hotels. Internet Major hotels offer laptop connections. Public access is available at the offices of cvtelecom. Privately run business centres in the main towns offer e-mail, Internet and fax facilities. Post Postal facilities can be slow with deliveries to Europe normally taking over a week. Press Newspapers are in Portuguese. There are no daily newspapers. Fragata, a quarterly publication produced by the national airline, TACV, contains topical features and travel information. BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change. BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice): MHz 17.83 15.40 11.77 7.160 Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov): MHz 15.58 11.98 6.035 0.909 From www.columbusguides.com, Copyright © 2004 Highbury Columbus Travel Publishing Terms and Conditions apply.