Sal Rei

Sal Rei
Aerial view of Sal Rei
Coordinates: 16°10′37″N 22°55′05″W / 16.177°N 22.918°WCoordinates: 16°10′37″N 22°55′05″W / 16.177°N 22.918°W
Country	Cape Verde
Island	Boa Vista
Municipality	Boa Vista
Civil parish	Santa Isabel
Population (2010)[1]
• Total	5,778

Sal Rei is a town on the northwestern coast of the island of Boa Vista in eastern Cape Verde. Sal Rei is the island's main urban settlement, and the seat of the Boa Vista Municipality. Its 2010 population was 5,778. Sal Rei has been island capital since the mid 1800s. The name of the settlement means "Salt King" in Portuguese. This name stems from when the island's main industry was salt production, saltpans lies north of the town, urban development now built into some of the saltpans.

Sal Rei view from the South

A square in Sal Rei.

Sal Rei has a port on the bay and has ferry routes to the islands of Santiago (Praia), Sal (Santa Maria) and Maio (Vila do Maio). The small islet of Ilhéu de Sal Rei, which is mainly sandy and grassy, lies in the harbor.

Tourism is a major industry of Sal Rei, new hotels popped up in the south and southeast of town and more of it along with villas further north along the ocean even inside its saltpans.

The football team in town are Académica Sal-Rei, Sal-Rei FC and Académica Operária, teams that also serve the whole island includes Sporting Boa Vista. Once played in a small stadium west of the city, since February 2008, they play at the multi-use Estádio Municipal Arsénio Ramos roughly north of the city.

History

The town was founded in the saltpans of Boa Vista. In 1815 and 1817, the town was sacked by pirates, Forte Duque de Bragança was built on the nearby island to defend the town from further pirate attacks. In the early and mid 20th century the town was affected by emigration together with the whole island and Cape Verde which was led by droughts and famines.

The population has been growing large since the 1990s and gigantically since 2010 and recently surpassed the 6,000 mark, in percentage, the fastest growing town in Cape Verde. Windmills constructed roughly 3 to 4 kilometers north in 2008, also the town's perimeter road was completed. In the 2010s, the island's port started its enlargement which continues today. Hurricane Fred struck the island in August 31, 2015, the island's cell service was cut off as the hurricane toppled a transmission tower in the north.^[2]

References

1. "2010 Census results". Instituto Nacional de Estatística Cabo Verde (in Portuguese). 17 March 2014.
2. Fonseca, Sanny (2015-08-31). "Furacão "Fred" causa estragos na Boa Vista e no Sal". A Semana (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2015-08-31.