Cape Verde is an independent island republic which lies in the Atlantic Sea off the bulge of Africa and forms part of the Atlantic Ocean islands region of Africa .
The capital city is Cidade de Praia. Other major towns are Mindelo and Sao Filipe and the port of Porto Novo.
The official language is Portuguese but Crioulo is the everyday language. The local currency is the Cape Verde Escudo. (US$ / CV Esc - current exchange
rate).
The international time zone for Cape Verde is GMT -2 and the international dialling code is +238. Air Portugal and South African Airways and other regional airlines are the principal airlines that fly to Ilha do Sal, the international airport of Cape Verde. All nationals except those of West African countries require visas in order to visit Cape Verde.
The state of health, the current immunisation status, location and the local disease lead to the risk of contraction of cholera, hepatitis A, malaria, tuberculosis, and typhoid fever in Cape Verde. An individual risk assessment is recommended prior to arrival in the country. Medical and other insurance should also be taken care of before departure.
Better-than-expected economic growth is being driven by exports of manufactured goods, tourism, and transportation services. Exports (including tourism receipts) remain limited at about 27% of GDP, while imports represent about 60% of GDP (2002). GDP in 2002 stood at US$0.62 billion, GDP growth 4%. Agriculture counts for 11% of GDP, industry 17% and services 71% (2002).
The current government was elected in early 2001 and has focused on reducing internal and external imbalances, restoring order to public finances, regularising domestic and external arrears, maintaining a tight monetary policy to rebuild international reserves, and implementing structural reforms to achieve a high rate of economic growth. Some of these reforms included the approval of the central bank law, establishing the independence of the Bank of Cape Verde, two large loss-making public enterprises were liquidated and new custom tariffs were introduced. The inflation rates as of 2002 was 1.7% and FDI in 2002 stood at US$700 000.
Economic reforms on the part of the government aim to develop the private sector, attract foreign investment and diversify the economy. However, the country is dependent on aid flows.
The Cape Verde oil and mining industries are key sectors in the economy of the country. Electricity is provided by the parastatal utility Electra.
The fishing industry is growing and contributes to a large portion of the country's exports. However, Cape Verde has fishing potential yet to be fully exploited.
The agricultural sector has been severely affected by drought, erosion and antiquated farming methods. Only a small portion of the land is arable and the Sal, Maio and Bua Vista islands can only sustain cattle herding.
Cape Verde is rated 103rd on the Human Development Index (2003). The country has poor natural resources and experiences severe water shortages. Most of the population of 0.46 million (2002) lives in the rural parts of the country and most of the food requirements are imported.
