The Island Worlds of Cape Verde

The entire archipelago includes 10 larger islands, of which 9 are inhibited, and 5 smaller islands that are uninhibited. Based on the north-eastern trade winds, the islands are subdivided into "barlavento" – islands above the wind – and "sotavento" – islands under the wind.

The barlavento islands include: Sal, Santo Antão, São Vicente, São Nicolau and Boavista (inhabited) as well as Santa Luzia, Branco and Raso (uninhabited). The sotavento islands include: Maio, Santiago, Brava and Fogo (inhabited). Seen geographically, the Cape Verde Islands area part of the African continent. Together with the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands they build a collective known as Macaronesia, which means "Fortunate Islands".