Profile

General information

Area: 4 033 km2 Population: 390 000 (1990) Population density: 97 per km2

Population growth rate: 2.8 % (forecast for the period 19922000)

Capital: Praia (pop. 75 000)

Other main town: Mindelo (pop. 65 000)

Languages: Portuguese, Creole

Currency: Cape Verde Escudo (CVE). In May 1996,1 ECU was worth CVE 104 ($1 = CVE 83 approx.)

Politics

Government: Mixed presidential/parliamentary system. The President is not the head of the executive but he represents the country and is guarantor of national unity and the Constitution. Unicameral Parliament.

President: Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro (elected in 1991 and reselected at the beginning of this year)

Prime Minister: Carlos Veiga (since 1991)

Political parties represented in Parliament:

Movimento pare a Democracia (MPD)

Partido Africano pare a Independencia de Cabo Verde (PAICV)

Partido da Convergencia Democratica (PCD) - formed as a result of a break away from the MPD

Party representation in Parliament: MPD 50, PAICV 21, PCD 1

Economy

(1992 figures)

GDP: CVE 23.9 billion

GDP per capita: US $840

Origin of GDP by sector: agriculture 13%, industry 17%, services 70%

Real GDP growth (estimate 1995): 4% Balance of payments: deficit of CVE 11.9 billion

Main trade partners: Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, Brazil.

Annual inflation rate: 9.1%

Social indicators

Life expectancy at birth: 64.7

Infant mortality per 1000 live births: 56 Adult literacy: 66.4%

Enrolment in education (primary, secondary and tertiary): 59%

Human Development Index rating: 0.536 (123rd out of 174)

Sources: UNDP Human Development Report, 1995; Economic Intelligence Unit 1995; 'Etat et société aux iles du Cap Vert, by Michel Lesourd.

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