Santo Antão

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For other uses, see Santo Antão (disambiguation).
Santo Antão
Elevation: 1,979 m (Topo de Coroa)
Latitude: 17.08 (17°05' N)
Longitude: 25.17 (25°10' W)
Length: 40 km
Width: 20 km
Population: 47,124
Location: Cape Verde Islands
Range:
Area: 779 km²
Type: Stratovolcano

Santo Antão (Portuguese for "Saint Anthony"), or Sontonton in the Crioulo of Santo Antão, is the westernmost and largest of the Barlavento islands of Cape Verde. The nearest main island is São Vicente to the southeast, separated by a channel named Canal de São Vicente. It is the westernmost large island in Cape Verde and the continent of Africa, and the second largest in Cape Verde. The island, entirely made up of volcanic material, was discovered in 1462 by Diogo Afonso, but was not given its current name until around the 1500s. First inhabited in 1548, it is divided into north and south by a mountain range long considered impenetrable but now crossed by a road. The island's main town is Ribeira Grande on the north coast, home to an airport, while its ferry port is Porto Novo on the south coast. A part of the island in the southeast receives arid climate, the northwest receives relatively normal precipitation. Its valleys are suffering heavy erosion. Many of its volcanoes are young especially its calderas. Its mountains composes of basalt. Other mountains includes Pico da Cruz.

Contents

[edit] Geography

The tallest mountain is Topo de Coroa reaching a height of 1,979 m. The second tallest is Pico da Cruz at 1,585 m.

[edit] History

In the 17th century, people from the nearby islands of Santiago and Fogo along with people from northern Portugal arrived in today's Vila da Ribeira Grande in the northern part of the island. Later, wine and coffee became the most important exports on the island which made up the island's history.

Santo Antão Island, Cabo Verde

[edit] Information

Fishing and paper production are the main industry on the island. The main source of agriculture are sugar cane, yams, cassava, bananas, mangoes, and grain, as well as fishing. The main product on the island is a kind of rum and is known as Grogue. Tourism is becoming one of the most dominant industry on the island. The island is the most touristic island in Cape Verde. The island is very pretty and people are very polite and are well-educated. Bathing and fishing are in the area of Tarrafal de Monte Trigo.

Since 1999, vulcanologists observed continuous rising of the water temperature of the sea in the area of Ponta do Sol which may create a risk of a new eruption in the area.

[edit] Language

Other than Portuguese (official language), the majority of the population speaks a distinctive Capeverdean Crioulo.

[edit] Municipalities

Historically the island formerly constitured a single municipality until 1990 (Old ISO 3166-2 code: CV-SA) when it broke up into the present-day three municipalities.

[edit] Streams

  • Ribeira do Passo, near Passo
  • Ribeira das Bras, near Ribeira das Bras

[edit] Persons

[edit] Peaks

  • Pau Seco (around 950 m)

[edit] Sporting teams

  • Sanjoanense - Serie A (football/soccer)
  • Solpontense - Serie A (football/soccer)

[edit] Other

  • Paul de Baixo

[edit] Parishes and settlements

[edit] External links


Islands of Cape Verde Flag of Cape Verde
Island Groups
Barlavento | Sotavento
Islands

Boa Vista | Brava | Fogo | Maio | Sal | Santa Luzia | Santiago | Santo Antão | São Nicolau | São Vicente
Islets
Branco | Ilhéu dos Passaros | Ilhéu do Rabo de Junco | Razo | Ilhéu de Sal-Rei | Ilhéu Secos (Ilhéu de Cima | Ilhéu Grande)
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