Cape Verdeans

Cape Verdeans, also called Cabo Verdeans (Portuguese: cabo-verdiano), are a creole ethnic group native to Cape Verde, an island nation in West Africa consisting of an archipelago in the central Atlantic Ocean. Cape Verde is a nearly homogeneous creole society, which means that it is home to people of many different racial origins who share a common culture and heritage. Cabo Verdeans may consider themselves to be different races, though most do not, seeing themselves as Verdean (green, mixed, mulatto), but also share a national identity and are welcoming to African and European immigrants to their islands. Cape Verde is considered the Westernmost Caribbean island chain, culturally and racially and is integral to the history of the Caribbean and Americas, being the first island discovered and populated by the peoples who became North and South Americans - enslaved Africans and European settlers. The same racial mix can be found from Southern Brazil up through Northern Virginia and into the Amazon and Mississippi Delta in the Americas. Cape Verde is located off the coast of the African continent, but is culturally, racially and politically identical to Caribbean and South American countries. Cape Verde's diaspora in the Americas, to The United States, Aruba and to Brazil are all thoroughly integrated into the Afroamerican communities found there.

Cape Verdeans
Flag of Cape Verde
Total population
c. 500,000–850,000
Cape Verdean ancestry and citizenship worldwide
Regions with significant populations
 Cape Verde 491,875 (2010)[1]
 Portugal68,145–200,000[2] [3]
 United States33,119[4]–102,853[5]
 Senegal25,000 (1995)
 Netherlands21,218 (2011)[6]
 France21,000[7]
 Argentina15.000 (1995)[8]
 Spain10,000
 Italy10.000 (1999)[9]
 Mexico5,000
 Brazil4,500
 Canada4,000 (1999)[10]
 Germany3,500 (1995)[11]
 Cuba6,000
 Uruguay1,000
 Venezuela1,000
 Australia30
 Angola9,400[12]
 Mozambique6,843[12]
 São Tomé and Príncipe1,237[12]
Languages
Cape Verdean Creole, Portuguese
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholicism
Protestantism, Irreligion

Ethnic groups

The Cape Verde archipelago was uninhabited when the Portuguese landed there in 1456. Slaves and Arabs from adjacent West Africa were brought to the islands to work on Portuguese plantations. As a result, many Cape Verdeans, are of mixed ethnicity (mestiços in Portuguese). European ancestors also include Italian, and French. The last time Cape Verde counted racial origin was in the 1950 census.

Italian seamen who were granted land by the Portuguese Empire, were followed by Portuguese settlers, exiles, and Portuguese Jews (lançados) who were victims of the Inquisition. Many foreigners from other parts of the world settled in Cape Verde as their permanent country. Most of them were Dutch, French, British, Spanish, or the English, as well as Arabs and Jews (from Lebanon and Morocco).

Diaspora
Main article: Cape Verdean diaspora

Prior to independence in 1975, many thousands of people emigrated from drought-stricken Portuguese Cape Verde, formerly an overseas province of Portugal. Because these people arrived using their Portuguese passports, they were registered as Portuguese immigrants by the authorities. Today, more Cape Verdeans live abroad than in Cape Verde itself, with significant emigrant[13] Cape Verdean communities in Brazil and in the United States (102,000 of Cape Verdeans descent in the U.S., with a major concentration on the New England coast from Providence, Rhode Island, to New Bedford, Massachusetts).

In 2008, Portugal's National Statistics Institute estimated that there were 68,145 Cape Verdeans who legally resided in Portugal. This made up "15.7% of all foreign nationals living legally in the country."[2]

Languages

Cape Verde's official language is Portuguese. It is the language of instruction and government.

Cape Verdean Creole is used colloquially, and is the mother tongue of virtually all Cape Verdeans. Cape Verdean Creole or Kriolu is a dialect continuum of a Portuguese-based creole that came from Guiné Bissau. There is a substantial body of literature in Creole, especially in the Santiago Creole and the São Vicente Creole. Creole has been gaining prestige since the nation's independence from Portugal.

Religion
Main article: Religion in Cape Verde
A church in Santiago, Cape Verde

Religion in Cape Verde (2010)[14]

  Catholic Church (78.7%)
  Other Christian (10.4%)
  Other or Non Religious (10.9%)

More than 80% of the population of Cape Verde is nominally Roman Catholic, according to an informal poll taken by local churches.[15] About 5% of the population is Protestant.[16] The largest Protestant denomination is the Church of the Nazarene.[15]

Other religious groups include the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Assemblies of God, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, the New Apostolic Church, and various other Pentecostal and evangelical groups.[15] There are also small Baháʼí communities and a small Muslim community.[15] The number of atheists is estimated at less than 1 percent of the population.[15]

Culture
Main article: Culture of Cape Verde

The culture of Cape Verde reflects its mixed West African and Portuguese roots. It is well known for its diverse forms of music such as Morna, and a wide variety of dances: the soft dance Morna, the Funaná, the extreme sensuality of coladeira, and the Batuque dance. These are reflective of the diverse origins of Cape Verde's residents. The term "Criolo", or also "Kriolu"[17] is used to refer to residents as well as the culture of Cape Verde.

See also

References
  1. "Estado da população cabo-verdiana". Archived from the original on 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2015-01-12.
  2. A Semana. "Cape Verdeans make up 15.7% of all foreigners in Portugal." Retrieved January 20, 2008. Archived February 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1995 Cape Verdean Diaspora Population Estimates Archived 2009-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "PLACE OF BIRTH FOR THE FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES, Universe: Foreign-born population excluding population born at sea, 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  5. "American FactFinder - Results 2011". US Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  6. CBS 2010
  7. "Institute for Security Studies - Institut d'Études de Sécurité .:". iss.co.za. Archived from the original on 2008-02-29.
  8. University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth. "1995 Cape Verdean Diaspora Population Estimates." Retrieved on October 18, 2007. Archived August 29, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  9. OECD 2004
  10. Cape Verdean Diaspora Population Estimates, Caboverde Informatics Project, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, archived from the original on 2009-08-29, retrieved 2009-08-26
  11. 1995 Cape Verdean Diaspora Population EstimatesArchived 2009-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  12. "Cape Verde - International emigrant stock".
  13. Jorgen Carling, 2004, p.113-132
  14. (CABO VERDE). Retrieved 06-10-2012.
  15. International Religious Freedom Report 2007: Cape Verde. United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (September 14, 2007). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  16. Susanne Lipps: Kapverdische Inseln, p.47. Ostfilern 2009.
  17. Hurley-Glowa, Susan (2015). "Cape Verdeans in the Atlantic: the formation of Kriolu music and dance styles on ship and in port". African Music. 10 (1): 7–30. doi:10.21504/amj.v10i1.1224. Retrieved 23 March 2017.

Bibliography
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