Growth, life expectancy and tutti quanti
The latest figures from the 2022 census give us a total population of 498,063, concentrated mainly in urban areas. More than half the population lives in Santiago, including 130,000 in the capital, followed by Mindelo on the island of São Vicente. Santa Luzia remains uninhabited.
The ethnic composition of the population is as follows: around 70% of Cape Verdeans are of mixed race, 29% are African and 1% are white. The latter have never been very numerous, accounting for no more than 3% at independence. There are almost as many women as men (50.2%), although in some places it's the women who leave, for reasons of family reunification. The lack of men, as well as intermittent returns and long absences, are two of the reasons why marriage, and family units traditionally made up of father, mother and children, are unusual. Men may have children by several women, and are often not married to any of them; the reverse is also true. Responsibility for the upbringing of children invariably lies with the women, who may be dependent on remittances sent from abroad by the various fathers.
Population growth is 2.4% and the government has campaigned to bring it down through birth control, including abortion. The Catholic Church has obviously fought back. Life expectancy is 70 for men and 75 for women. Around 80% of the population is literate, and this figure reaches an excellent 90% among young people. Around 28% of the population is under 14, and 7% over 65, with an average age of 24.
A unique kriola culture
Settlement of the islands began with the arrival of the first settlers, followed by the slaves taken by the Portuguese from the African coast, particularly Guinea-Bissau, to work on the plantations or be exported to Brazil. The settlement of Cape Verde was never the primary reason for the Portuguese, due to the poor soils. Few white Lusitanian families settled there, due to the harsh climate, ungrateful soil and deadly diseases such as fevers. As a result, the country witnessed the ex nihilo formation of a people made up of soldiers, notables, sailors, merchants, common law prisoners, prostitutes and slaves. Between 1802 and 1882, some 2,500 convicts were deported to the archipelago. The black population also included free men who worked alongside the merchants, hired as intermediaries. Others came from the Mandingue, Peul and Bambara peoples of Guinea and Senegal. In the 18th century, the descendants of the colonists, abandoned by Lisbon, gave up the slave trade and assigned the slaves to work the land. In many cases, mixed-race children were the fruit of a union between a Portuguese man and his slave. Over the centuries, their population increased. Slaves, obliged to convert, had to adopt their master's name, creating large, blended families. The port of Mindelo received sailors from all over the world, and the mix became even more diverse with the arrival of English, Indians from Goa, French and Chinese. Today, the morphological mix is astonishing. Depending on the island, differences can be seen in skin color, a phenomenon explained by the types of populations that have trodden their soil. On Brava and Fogo, for example, locals are lighter-skinned than elsewhere, as there were fewer slaves present.
In the 19th century, the Count de Montrond, a French adventurer, arrived in Fogo to escape the authorities. Legend has it that he fathered no fewer than 200 children. Many of his descendants still bear his name. In Santiago, the black population dominates, as many of the slaves who fled to the mountains and plantation workers intermarried and thus avoided miscegenation. In Santo Antão, the population is particularly mixed, due to numerous migratory flows.
When leaving is part of life
Emigration began in the 18th century, with the passage of American whalers through the archipelago's ports. Many Cape Verdeans, fleeing famine and drought, boarded ships bound for the United States, where they eventually settled, notably in towns such as New Bedford. An initial wave from Brava became a flood over time, until quotas were introduced in the 1920s.
The subject of emigration is so dear to the hearts of Cape Verdeans that the country recently decided to dedicate a museum to it. The archipelago's survival depends to a large extent on this phenomenon, given that there are more Cape Verdeans scattered around the world, in search of a better life, than in their own country: a diaspora estimated at around 800,000 individuals for a population of around 500,000 on the islands. The majority of these emigrated to the United States, notably Massachusetts and Rhode Island, while Portugal, the Netherlands and France are the European countries with the highest density of Cape Verdeans.
Emigrant women play a fundamental role in the economy of their country of origin, providing invaluable financial support and investing in real estate and business (small businesses, shops, etc.), thus accounting for 11% of GDP. And let's not forget expatriates' return trips home, during vacations or votive feasts, which bring in a great deal of foreign currency for the state and stimulate the local economy. The diaspora has always helped others back home to cope with hardship, and even to survive, and today takes on a dimension of solidarity. It was during times of crisis that the use of "canisters" emerged, large containers in which the community sent useful and varied products to their loved ones, a practice still in use today. At the end of their working lives, some of them return to their homeland to spend their retirement, and continue to represent an example of success for the younger generations, who are always keen to leave. The museum project will aim to preserve and enhance the archipelago's cultural identity, safeguarding the entire historical process of its emigration, in a way doing justice to the history of the Cape Verdean people.
