Demographics of Cape Verde

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Cape Verde, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Two Cape Verdean children playing marbles.

Cape Verde has a population of approximately half a million people. A large proportion (236,000) of Cape Verdeans live on the main island, Santiago.[1]

The Cape Verde archipelago was uninhabited when the Portuguese discovered it in 1456. African slaves were brought to the islands to work on Portuguese plantations. As a result, some Cape Verdeans are mulattoes (mestiços in Portuguese), who have mixed black and white origins. European ancestors also include Spanish, Italian and French seamen who were granted land by the Portuguese Empire, followed by Portuguese settlers, exiles, and Portuguese Jews who were victims of the Inquisition. Many foreigners from other parts of the world settled in Cape Verde as their permanent country. Most of them were Dutch, French, British (English), Arab and Jewish (from Lebanon and Morocco). All of these have been absorbed into the mestiço population.

The high degree of genetic mixture of individuals is a result of centuries of migration. It is not unusual to encounter persons with dark skin and blond hair and blue eyes, and persons with light skin and black hair.

Survival in a country with few natural resources has historically induced Cape Verdeans to emigrate. In fact, of the more than 1 million people of Cape Verdean ancestry in the world, only a little more than one-third actually live on the islands. Some 500,000 people of Cape Verdean ancestry live in the United States, mainly in New England. Many people of Cape Verdean ancestry also live in Portugal, Netherlands, France, Italy, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, and Senegal. Cape Verdean populations also settled Spain, Germany, Canada, and other CPLP countries (Angola, Brazil and Guinea-Bissau). Since after independence from Portugal in 1975, a number of Cape Verdean students continued to be admitted every year at Portuguese high schools, polytechnical institutes and universities, through bilateral agreements between the Portuguese and Cape Verdean governments.

Although the official language is Portuguese, most Cape Verdeans speak Cape Verdean Creole (Crioulo in Portuguese, Kriolu or Kriol in Cape Verdean Creole) as their first language. There is a rich repertoire of literature and songs in Creole. In religion, the majority follow Roman Catholic Christianity. There are some Protestants, Bahá'ís and Muslims.

Population

Demographics of Cape Verde, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

According to the 2010 revision of the World Population Prospects the total population was 496 000 in 2010, compared to only 178 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 31.8%, 62.3% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 5.9% was 65 years or older.[2]

Total population (x 1000) Population aged 0–14 (%) Population aged 15–64 (%) Population aged 65+ (%)
1950 17832.659.87.6
1955 19535.857.96.2
1960 21142.153.24.8
1965 24048.547.34.2
1970 27448.247.84
1975 31145.849.64.6
1980 3004648.75.3
1985 32844.550.55
1990 34845.449.84.8
1995 39544.550.55
2000 43741.752.95.3
2005 4733757.25.8
2010 49631.862.35.9

Vital statistics

Vital events of Cape Verde are not (yet) available for recent years. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.[2]

Period Live births per year Deaths per year Natural change per year CBR* CDR* NC* TFR* IMR*
1950-1955 9 000 4 000 5 00049.022.626.36.57139
1955-1960 10 000 4 000 5 00048.021.126.96.76132
1960-1965 10 000 4 000 6 00045.018.726.36.97125
1965-1970 11 000 4 000 6 00041.416.425.06.97117
1970-1975 12 000 4 000 8 00041.113.427.76.8696
1975-1980 13 000 4 000 9 00041.611.630.06.6278
1980-1985 13 000 3 000 10 00041.310.331.06.1065
1985-1990 14 000 3 000 11 00040.99.231.75.6354
1990-1995 14 000 3 000 11 00036.57.928.64.9344
1995-2000 13 000 3 000 10 00031.66.724.94.1537
2000-2005 12 000 3 000 9 00026.25.820.53.2828
2005-2010 11 000 3 000 8 00021.95.216.72.6021
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Births and deaths[3]

Year Population (x1000) Live births Deaths Natural increase Crude birth rate Crude death rate Rate of natural increase TFR
2009 13 044 2 897 10 147 25,6 5,7 19,9
2010 13 415 2 917 10 498 25,9 5,6 20,3

Fertility and births

Total fertility rate (TFR) (wanted fertility rate) and crude birth rate (CBR):[4]

Year CBR (Total) TFR (Total) CBR (Urban) TFR (Urban) CBR (Rural) TFR (Rural)
2005 22 2,9 (2,8) 23 2,7 (2,7) 22 3,1 (3,0)

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Median age

Total: 23.1 years
Male: 22.3 years
Female: 23.9 years (2012 est.)

Urbanization

Urban population: 60% of total population (2008)
Rate of urbanization: 3.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.58 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total population: 71 years
Male: 68.78 years
Female: 73.27 years (2012 est.)

HIV/AIDS

Adult prevalence rate: 0.035% (2001 est.)
People living with HIV/AIDS: 775 (2001)
Deaths: 225 (as of 2001)

Genetics

E1b1a, R1b

The predominance of west African mitochondrial DNA haplotypes in their maternal gene pool, the major west African Y-chromosome lineage E3a was observed only at a frequency of 15.9%. Overall, these results indicate that gene flow from multiple sources and sex-specific patterns have been important in the formation of the genomic diversity in the Cabo Verde islands.[5]


Religions

Roman Catholic (infused with indigenous beliefs); The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Protestant (mostly Church of the Nazarene), Buddhist 0.2%.

Languages

Portuguese, Creole

Literacy

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 76.6%
Male: 85.8%
Female: 69.2% (2003 est.)

See also

References

  1. "Cape Verde: Population". caperverde.com.
  2. 1 2 Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
  3. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm
  4. http://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/1363
  5. Gonçalves, Rita; Alexandra Rosa; Ana Freitas; Ana Fernandes; Toomas Kivisild; Richard Villems; António Brehm (26 August 2003). "Y-chromosome lineages in Cabo Verde Islands witness the diverse geographic origin of its first male settlers". Human Genetics 113 (6): 467–472. doi:10.1007/s00439-003-1007-4. PMID 12942365.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document "2008 edition".

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demography of Cape Verde.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.