Politics & Societal Life

Since having become independent in 1975, the island state has been a parliamentary republic with a majority election system. Despite the poverty and the rife unemployment, there is no social tension.

The periodically occurring elections run according to democratic principles and fully free of intervention.

The population predominantly confesses to be Catholic and Protestant.

Approximately 20% of the gross domestic product results from the contributions sent by Cape Verdeans living in other countries to their families back home. There is still a delicate situation throughout the country which is particularly serious for young people due to the lack of infrastructure for enterprise. The path of immigration is currently not readily open for many nowadays due to the restrictive immigration policies in North America and the EU. They can only hope that the growing interest in financial investments on behalf of foreign investors will create a number of jobs.

Particularly interesting is the tourist development of the country since the mid 90ies, which has mostly taken place on the islands of Sal and Boavista. With the opening of the new airports in Boavista and São Vicente plus the possibility of reaching the Islands with flights from foreign countries, the tourist potential is growing incredibly. The industrial sector of tourism already makes up 12% of the gross domestic product of the country. This tendency is growing. The construction branch and the service sector drive the economy and is slowly but surely pulling the country out of the poverty caused by centuries of paralysis.