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Santo Antao Island

Mountains - Santo Antao Island

Tarrafal - Santo Antao Island

Paul - Santo Antao Island

Mountains - Santo Antao Island

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Santo Antao Island

Santo Antao is an Island full of mountains, valleys and colors. A perfect harmony that left anyone that visit it marked with its beauty and majestiousity. Long and sinuous ways between mountains of varied colors, available and challengeable for the ones that like adventures, in the following fazes of the feet ways are always something to impress and fascinate. An island, naturedly, spiritually for relaxing. People with simplicity, humility, generous, easy to treat and always available for a good reception and cultural and human integration with everyone that visits the island. The visitors always bring with them the memories, the registries and emotions of unforgettable places that penetrate in the souls of anyone with perturbed landscapes but overall, with profound meaning and with the willingness to be back.

The Island of Santo Antao is from volcanic origins and with an area of 779 km2 being the most mountainous island of the Cape Verde archipelago. The most elevate point on the island is called Top de Coroa with 1979 meters of altitude and integrate the central line from east to west of the island always with altitudes superiors of 1000 metres. As the whole archipelago the island is under influences of Sahara and of a regime of alisios wind that forms places with micro-climate in the mountains e change the climate from accentuated aridity until a strong amenity climate with temperatures of 10 degrees in the mountains in the colder mouths (January and February). The weak potentials of natural resources, especially in south sub-region is explained with the lack of water and the poor lands.

Culture

The culture heritage of the Island Santo Antao comes from the believes and values acquired by acculturation and deeply diffusion of races from Europe, Africa and Asia, and translated in the morabeza of the people of the island. Pure cultural manifestation such thrums in the romary feasts (cola of Santo Antonio, Sao Joao Baptista, Sao Pedro Apostolo that take places during June) are marks resisted over the time and inserted in the daily life, the folklore and the manner of being in life. The music (morna and coladeira) and the dances (mazurka an contradanca) are essential elements of the artistic patrimony of Santo Antao Island.

Economy

The economy characteristics of Santo Antao are typically of the island Small market, few diversity of economy structures, lack of private entrepreneurial capacity and insufficient distribution and commercialization chains of local produced goods and services are the most visible constrains. The agricultural sector, directed primarily at regional and national consumption, is Santo Antão's main economic sector and income source. There is now a growing increase in tourism given the island's exceptional conditions for adventure travel especially for walking holidays. The active work force is around 16.330 people. The females are predominant in the sectors of commerce, hotels, and restaurants and in the productive services. The GDP is around 495 US Dollar percapita.