Sal, Cape Verde

Sal (Portuguese for “salt” — from the mines at Pedra de Lume) is an island in Cape Verde. It belongs to the northern group of islands, called Barlavento. The island is composed by a single administrative division, the Sal municipality. The island is home to Amílcar Cabral International Airport, the main airport of Cape Verde.

Geography

The island is 30 km long by 12 km wide. It is one of the three sandy eastern islands (Sal, Boa Vista and Maio) of the archipelago, with white sandy beaches and fairly flat. The highest elevation of 406 m is at Monte Grande. Serra Negra has a height of 92 m.

Climate

Sal Island has on average 350 days of sunshine a year. Winds mainly blow from the northeast. However, many days do also have cloud, but it tends to be broken and seldom brings rain. The 'rainy season' is from August to mid-October, although rainfall is still low.

History

The island was discovered on December 3, 1460 and named Llana until salt deposits were found. Sal is the geologically oldest island in Cape Verde, formed 50 million years ago during the eruption of a volcano which is now inactive.

Economy

Sal’s main town, Vila dos Espargos, is home to one of the nation’s international airports and has around 8,000 inhabitants. Its population grew around salt collection and later shifted to fishing, but is now based on tourism (amounting to 50% of the archipelago’s tourism) at the beach resort of Santa Maria.

Its airport, Amilcar Cabral......
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