MARXIST: Cape verde- People and Culture

The status to which Cape Verde was raised was due to the identity of its people and culture. The Cape verdeans are a mix of african and European cultures, which havebeen influenced by its weather and environment in which they live through the centuries.

more than half a million of cape verdean live abroad- between 1820 and 1920 around 40,000 cape Verdeans emigrated to america(many as crew0,to escape from famine and drought. today there are more than 4,00,000 cape Verdeans living in the United States (Sp. in New England),

The origins of the Cape Verdeans are linked to maritimetrade and slavery - a mixture of black africans - descendents of slaves and trades who came from the west coast-and white european-mostly descendentsof Italianmeerchants and portuguesesettlers and colonists. Cape Verdeans range from the very dark-skinned to the very fair- on Fogo, there is evena community of farmers who trace their ancestors to a French Duke.

Tourism :

Cape Verde has few natural resources an suffers from scanty rainfall and limited fresh water. Only 4 of the 10 main islands (Santiago, Santo Antao, fogo, and Brava) normally support agricultural production, and ovetr 90 % of all food consumed in cape Verde is imported . Mineral resources include salt, pozzolana ( a volcanic rock used in cement production), and limestone.

The economy of Cape verde is service oriented, with commerce,trnsport, and public services accounting for more than 70 5 of GDP . Although nearly 70 % 0f the ppopulation lives in rural areas, agriculture and fishing contribute only 9 % of GDP. Expatriate cape Verdeans contribute an amount estimated at about 20 % of GDP to the domestic economy through remittances. From 1994 to 2000 $407 million in foreign investments were made or planned , of which 58 % were in tourism, 17 % in industry, 4 5 in infrustructure, and 21 % in fisheries and services.

Tourism to Cape Verde has been increasing over the last decade, with considerable numbers of tourists from Italy and France. with the intrduction of direct flights from the UK in Nov. 2006, the number of british visiting the islands is likely to increase significantly.the key attractions of cape Verde are its proximity to Europe , as it can be reached in less than 6 hrs. from the UK -and year round sunshine

Moreover, as it is in a development stage lower prices, in relation to Spain and Portugal, also

attract the tourists.