Cape Verderava Cape Verderava
Cape Verde Dorfrava 2 Cape Verde Dorfrava 2
Nova Sintrarava Cape Verde Nova Sintrarava Cape Verde
Faja Daguarava Cape Verde Islands 2 Faja Daguarava Cape Verde Islands 2
Cape Verdeaio Beach Cape Verdeaio Beach
Maio Cape Verde Fischer Maio Cape Verde Fischer
Tarrafal Sao Nicolau 2 Tarrafal Sao Nicolau 2
Sao Nicolau Cape Verde Islands Sao Nicolau Cape Verde Islands2
Sao Nicolau Landscape 2 Sao Nicolau Landscape 2
Cape Verde Islands Sao Nicolau Cape Verde Islands Sao Nicolau
Cape Verde Fogo Pico 2 Cape Verde Fogo Pico 2
Cape Verde View Onrava Cape Verde View Onrava
Steep Coast Fogo Cape Verde Steep Coast Fogo Cape Verde
Sao Filipe Fogo Sao Filipe Fogo
Sao Filipe Fogo Cape Verde Sao Filipe Fogo Cape Verde
Pico Fogo Cape Verde 1 Pico Fogo Cape Verde
Lavab Beach Island Fogo 2 Lavab Beach Island Fogo 2
Fogo Caldeira Fogo Caldeira
Coast Fogo Cape Verde Islands Coast Fogo Cape Verde Islands
Fogo Funku Pico Fogo Funku Pico
Santo Antao Cape Verde 1 Santo Antao Cape Verde
Santao Antao Fishermen Cape Verde 2 Santao Antao Fishermen Cape Verde 2
Cape Verde Santo Antao Paul Cape Verde Santo Antao Paul2
Paul Santo Antao2 Paul Santo Antao2
Tarrafal Santo Antao4 Tarrafal Santo Antao4
Mountains Santo Antao 2 Mountains Santo Antao 2 1
Mountains Santo Antao2 Mountains Santo Antao2 1
Sport Fishing Sao Vicente Cape Verde Sport Fishing Sao Vicente Cape Verde
Sao Vicente Sao Pedro Sao Vicente Sao Pedro
Baia Das Gatas 3 Baia Das Gatas 3
Norteaia 2 Norteaia 2
B Beach Tarrafal Island Santiago B Beach Tarrafal Island Santiago
Serraalagueta Santiago Cape Verde Serraalagueta Santiago Cape Verde2
Praia Santiago Cape Verde Islands Praia Santiago Cape Verde Islands
Island Boavista Chaves Beach Island Boavista Chaves Beach
Chaves Beach Island Boa Vista Chaves Beach Island Boa Vista
Dunes Cape Verde Islandsoavista 1 Dunes Cape Verde Islandsoavista
Islandoavista Desert Oase 2 Islandoavista Desert Oase 2
Dunesoa Vista Cape Verde Sonnenuntergang 2 Dunesoa Vista Cape Verde Sonnenuntergang 2
Wreckoa Vista Wreckoa Vista
B Beachoa Vista Cape Verde Islands B Beachoa Vista Cape Verde Islands
B Beach Djeu Cape Verde 2 B Beach Djeu Cape Verde 2
B Beach Onoa Vista 2 B Beach Onoa Vista 2
B Beach Palmsoa Vista B Beach Palmsoa Vista
Saluracona Cape Verde 2 Saluracona Cape Verde 2
Cape Verde Windsurfer 2 Cape Verde Windsurfer 2
Cape Verde Surfer 2 Cape Verde Surfer 2
Cape Verde Sal Santaria Beachoot 2 Cape Verde Sal Santaria Beachoot 2
Cape Verde Sal Espargos 2 Cape Verde Sal Espargos 2
Salines Sal Cape Verde Salines Sal Cape Verde
Salines Cape Verde Salines Cape Verde
Sal Beach Areal View Sal Beach Areal View
Areal View Santaaria Sal Areal View Santaaria Salobile
Buracona Sal Cape Verde Buracona Sal Cape Verde
B Beach Santaaria Island Sal B Beach Santaaria Sal Island 1
Street Santaaria Cape Verde Street Santaaria Cape Verde
Santaaria Sal Beach 2 Santaaria Sal Beach 2
Insal Sal Santaaria Hotels Beach Island Sal Santaaria Hotels Beach2
Tamarinde Cape Verde Tamarinde Cape Verde
B Beach Welle Cape Verde B Beach Welle Cape Verde
Sonnenuntergang Cape Verde Islands Sonnenuntergang Cape Verde Islands
Sonnenuntergang Cape Verde 2 Sonnenuntergang Cape Verde 2
Cape Verde Yacht Cape Verde Yacht
Cape Verde Beach Cape Verde Beach
Cape Verde Beach Schirme Cape Verde Beach Schirme
Cape Verde Steinformationen Cape Verde Steinformationen
Gesteinsformationen Cape Verde Gesteinsformationen Cape Verde
Fischerboote Cape Verde 2 Fischerboote Cape Verde 2
Duenen Sand Cape Verde Duenen Sand Cape Verde
Abendstimmung Beach Cape Verde Islands Abendstimmung Beach Cape Verde Islands
Arial View Santaaria Sal Arial View Santaaria Salobile
Monte Cara2 Monte Cara2

Population

Origin of the population, structure of the family, position of women and numbers

Cape Verde has about 450,000 inhabitants today. 236,000 of these live on the main island of Santiago. The fact that the people of Cape Verde have become such a mixture of many different ethnic groups can be explained by the history of the country. The colonial government had repeatedly attempted to prevent the formation of a mixed population in the past. Yet, there were always influential major land owners, public officials and even high-ranking Catholic priests who co-habited with female slaves and evidently resisted these efforts. They ensured the creation of a Creole culture. The Jesuits also displayed a strong commitment to the idea of equality over the years by operating schools that were equally accessible for free people and slaves, whites and dark-skinned people. They also allowed slaves to participate in the masses.
The genetic mixture resulting from centuries of migration can still be clearly seen in the appearance of some individuals: It is not unusual to encounter dark-skinned people with blond hair and blue eyes or children with fair skin and jet black hair. Racist discrimination is unknown to the people of Cape Verde.

Family as a microcosm

Capeverde Children
Cape Verdean children

A special characteristic of Cape Verde is the model of the common-law relationships for the various stages of life, which has been practiced for a number of centuries. Women and men have always had children from multiple relationships. Some special forms of men and women living together have developed on the islands: The most frequent form is living together under one roof without a marriage certificate in the união de facto, which is equated to marriage by law after three years. Many women have a relationship with the pai de visita, which means: visiting father. In this type of relationship, women who are sometimes still very young or mothers still live with their parents or alone and their partner visits them regularly and even spends the night. This visiting relationship is highly accepted. A special form of the visiting relationship is the tio relationship in which the man is usually many years older than his partner. Even if some people think that this is quite close to prostitution, it is still a very common and even socially respected lifestyle. A man may even live in a união de facto and also be a pai de visita somewhere else. However, there are no classic polygamous forms of relationships under one roof. People also tend to marry late in Cape Verde and spend a relatively long time with their parents, which is certainly also due to difficult economic conditions.

Social position of women

Capeverdean Women Work
Cape Verdean woman at work

Both men and women, no matter whether they come from poor or rich families, are accustomed to having regular employment. The equality of men and women is also embedded in the constitution.

Here are some additional figures:

  • 44% of the Cape Verde inhabitants are less than 15 years old. The average age was 17.7 years in 2000. This is because a large number of children and older people died during the last famine and the generation of the 1940s decided to emigrate.
  • A household in Cape Verde has an average of 4 children; rich families have two and poorer families generally have more children. It is not unusual for children to change their place of residence within the extended families. On the one hand, this shows that economic difficulties occur time and again; on the other hand, it is evidence of a strong social structure within the families.
  • 54% of the adults are single, 24% live in a união de facto, 16% are married and 3% are divorced.
  • The life expectancy is currently at 65.8 years for men and 71.6 years for women.
  • 54% of Cape Verdeans now live in cities.
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