Mindelo

Mindelo

View from Gut
Coordinates: 16°53′10″N 24°59′17″W / 16.886°N 24.988°W / 16.886; -24.988Coordinates: 16°53′10″N 24°59′17″W / 16.886°N 24.988°W / 16.886; -24.988
Country Cape Verde
Island São Vicente
Municipality São Vicente
Civil parish Nossa Senhora da Luz
Population (2010)[1]
 • Total 69,904

Mindelo (Cape Verdean Creole: Mindel’) is a port city in the northern part of the island of São Vicente in Cape Verde. Mindelo is also the seat of the parish of Nossa Senhora da Luz, and this island's municipality. The city is home to 93% of the entire island's population. The town is known for its colourful and animated carnival celebrations, with roots in Portuguese traditions.

History

Downtown Mindelo seen from 'Gud'

A settlement at Mindelo was founded in 1795 by the Portuguese. It became a coal deposit for ships of the British East India Company in 1838, followed by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company in 1850. The town grew to 1,400 inhabitants in the 1850s. In 1884 a submarine communications cable was laid between Europe, Africa, India and North America, making Mindelo an important communications centre for the British Empire.

The shift from coal to oil as fuel for ships after 1900 caused the decline of Mindelo. Unemployment and poverty struck the island, even worsened by famines and the economical crisis of the 1930s. Many inhabitants emigrated. With independence, the city gained more prominence and has seen steady growth.

Mindelo was the cultural capital of the Portuguese-speaking world from November 2002 until November 2003.[2] Mindelo is also considered the cultural capital of Cape Verde.

Geography

Harbor of Mindelo

Mindelo is situated at the Porto Grande Bay, a large natural harbour. The town is surrounded by low mountains: the Monte Cara and the Morro Branco headland to the west, and the Monte Verde to the east. The town is crossed by the river Ribeira de Julião.

The Cesária Évora Airport lies 9 km (6 mi) southwest of Mindelo, near the village São Pedro. Ferries for Santo Antão leave from the port. The main streets of Mindelo are Rua Lisboa and Avenida Marginal. Many colonial buildings have been preserved in the city centre.

Climate

Mindelo city enjoys very rare mild and a dry tropical climate (classified as BWh according to Köppen's and Geiger's systematization), much akin to Santa Cruz de Tenerife or Las Palmas on the Canary Islands with only difference of being somewhat warmer during winter months. The average annual temperature in Mindelo is 23.2 °C (74 °F) which is exactly two degrees more than in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. City is very dry with only 98 mm (4 in) every year. These rare climate conditions are due to its position far off the west African coast and because Cape Verde are in the middle of cold Canary Current.

Climate data for Mindelo
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 29.2
(84.6)		 29.5
(85.1)		 30.3
(86.5)		 29.5
(85.1)		 31.5
(88.7)		 30.5
(86.9)		 33.6
(92.5)		 31.8
(89.2)		 32.7
(90.9)		 31.5
(88.7)		 31.0
(87.8)		 30.0
(86)		 33.6
(92.5)
Average high °C (°F) 23.4
(74.1)		 23.3
(73.9)		 23.6
(74.5)		 24.0
(75.2)		 24.6
(76.3)		 25.4
(77.7)		 26.6
(79.9)		 27.8
(82)		 28.4
(83.1)		 27.9
(82.2)		 26.6
(79.9)		 24.6
(76.3)		 25.5
(77.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 21.4
(70.5)		 21.4
(70.5)		 21.6
(70.9)		 22.1
(71.8)		 22.7
(72.9)		 23.6
(74.5)		 24.6
(76.3)		 25.8
(78.4)		 26.4
(79.5)		 26.0
(78.8)		 24.8
(76.6)		 23.0
(73.4)		 23.6
(74.5)
Average low °C (°F) 19.3
(66.7)		 19.4
(66.9)		 19.6
(67.3)		 20.2
(68.4)		 20.8
(69.4)		 21.7
(71.1)		 22.6
(72.7)		 23.7
(74.7)		 24.5
(76.1)		 24.1
(75.4)		 23.1
(73.6)		 21.3
(70.3)		 21.7
(71.1)
Record low °C (°F) 16.5
(61.7)		 13.5
(56.3)		 15.6
(60.1)		 15.0
(59)		 15.0
(59)		 18.0
(64.4)		 17.5
(63.5)		 14.5
(58.1)		 19.0
(66.2)		 18.5
(65.3)		 19.0
(66.2)		 17.0
(62.6)		 13.5
(56.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 3
(0.12)		 5
(0.2)		 1
(0.04)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 3
(0.12)		 20
(0.79)		 39
(1.54)		 29
(1.14)		 18
(0.71)		 9
(0.35)		 127
(5)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 5 2 2 2 18
Average relative humidity (%) 70 70 68 69 72 74 75 76 77 74 72 69 72
Mean monthly sunshine hours 229.4 237.3 275.9 291.0 306.9 276.0 248.0 226.3 225.0 238.7 225.0 201.5 2,981
Mean daily sunshine hours 7.4 8.4 8.9 9.7 9.9 9.2 8.0 7.3 7.5 7.7 7.5 6.5 8.2
Source: Deutscher Wetterdienst[3]

Economy

Its economy consists mainly of business, fishing, shipping, boating and more commonly tourism which developed more recently. Mindelo has several hotels, restaurants and tourist agencies.

Sites of interest

Porto Grande
Palácio do Governador

Demography

According to 2010 data, Mindelo has a population of 70,468 inhabitants (50,000 in the mid-1990s) and is the second largest city in Cape Verde after Praia.

Population of the city of Mindelo (1990–2010)[4]
1990 2000 2010
47109 62497 70468

Sporting teams

Notable people

Twin towns - Sister cities

Mindelo is twinned with:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "2010 Census results". Instituto Nacional de Estatística Cabo Verde (in Portuguese). 17 March 2014.
  2. ↑ Capital Lusófona 2003 (in Portuguese)
  3. ↑ "Klimatafel von Mindelo / Sao Vicente / Kapverden (Rep. Kap Verde)" (PDF). Baseline climate means (1961-1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  4. ↑ Source: City Population, citing the Instituto Nacional de Estatísticas Archived 18 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine..
  5. ↑ List of Portuguese twin-towns - page 383 Archived 25 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
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