| Sal | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Elevation: | 406 m (Monte Vermelho) |
| Latitude: | between +16° 35′ and +16° 51′ N |
| Longitude: | between -22° 52′ and -23° 00′ W |
| Length: | 30 km from north to south |
| Width: | 12 km from east to west |
| Population: | 14,816 |
| Location: | Cape Verde Islands |
| Area: | 216 km² |
Sal (Portuguese for “salt” — from the mines at Pedra de Lume) is an island in Cape Verde. It belongs to the northern group of islands, called Barlavento.
Contents |
Geography
The island is 30 km long by 12 km wide. It is one of the three sandy eastern islands (Sal, Boa Vista and Maio) of the archipelago, with white sandy beaches and fairly flat. The highest elevation of 406 m at Monte Grande. Serra Negra has a height of 92 m.
Climate
Sal Island has 350 days of sunshine. Winds mainly blow from the northeast.
History
The island was discovered on December 3, 1460 and named Llana until salt deposits were found. Sal is the geologically oldest island in Cape Verde, formed 50 million years ago during the eruption of a volcano which is now inactive.
Economy
Sal’s main town, Vila dos Espargos, is home to one of the nation’s international airports and has around 8,000 inhabitants. Its population grew around salt collection and later shifted to fishing, but is now based on tourism (amounting to 50% of the archipelago’s tourism) at the beach resort of Santa Maria. Its airport, Amilcar Cabral International Airport, was used as a refuelling base by South African Airways on its Johannesburg to London routes. Later, flights to and from New York and Atlanta also refuelled there, and the island was a crew-change station. SAA established the long runways needed by the fully-fueled Boeing 707s on their take-offs in the high temperatures. On July 1, 2006, SAA operated its final flight to Sal due to the ending of its flights to Atlanta. Saline marshes can be found in the Pedra Lume crater and north of Santa Maria.
Administrative division
| Municipality of Sal | |
| Map | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 |
|
| Statistics | |
| Name of inhabitants: | Salense m, ~s pl |
| Seat: | Espargos |
| Island: | Sal |
| Population: | 14,816 |
| Area: | 216 km² |
| Population density: | …/km² |
| National Municipal code (CGN-CV): |
41 |
| ISO 3166-2 code: | CV-SL |
| Website: | [1] |
The whole island of Sal makes up the Sal Municipality.
Parishes
The municipality includes only one parish:
| Municipalities of Cape Verde |
|---|
|
Municipalities |
|
New municipalities (as of 2005) |
Transportation
The major roads on the island are:
- Santa Maria - Espargos Road (paved)
- Palmeira - Espargos Road (narrowly paved)
- Pedra de Lume - Espargos Road (paved)
- Espargos - Reguinho Fiúra Road (unpaved)
Settlements
There are six inhabited centers:
-
- Pedra de Lume, on the eastern coast, is the most ancient, and the home of the first salt workers. Today it is only a small village with very few inhabitants.
- Palmeira is a fishing village, built around a port situated on the opposite coast of the island. It is also a small village but is growing.
- Espargos (5,758 for the town, 8,000 including Hortelão and Preguiça) is the main urban center and is situated between Pedra de Lume and Palmeira. It was formed around the international airport named after Amilcar Cabral (IATA airport code SID) located in the heart of the island.
- Terra Boa is the only place on the island where agriculture can be found on a large scale, as the island is very dry, mainly because it has no mountains to induce rainfall. This place is situated north of Espargos.
- Murdeira is a tourist resort, which is growing in population.
- Santa Maria (pop: 1,367), which was a former salt working village, is now the tourism center of the island.
Other inhabited settlements are:
-
- Feijoal, 1 km west of Pedra de Lume.
- Fontona, south of Palmeira.
- Reguinho Fiúra, a remote village near a lighthouse and overlooking Ponta Norte, the island's northernmost point.
Persons
- Manuel di Candinho, a Capeverdean singer
- Nélson Marcos, a Capeverdan footballer (soccer player) living in Portugal
- Yass-Yass, a Capeverdean singer
- Ildo Lobo, a Capeverdean singer
Sporting teams
- Académica (Espargos) - Espargos
- Académico do Aeroporto - Espargos
- Juventure
- Palmeira
- Santa Maria - Santa Maria, Cape Verde
- Verdun
Gallery
 Santa Maria beach |
 Santa maria ilha do sal |
 The beach on the other coast of Santa Maria |
 Main street Espargos |
 Pedra Lume |
 Buracona natural swimming pool |
 Landscape |
External links
- Information on Cape Verde
- Information on Sal
- Sal map
- Sal map and information
- Article on the salt mines at Pedra de Lume from Aug 2007
| Islands of Cape Verde |  |
|---|---|
| Island Groups | |
| Barlavento | Sotavento | |
| Islands | |
|
Boa Vista | Brava | Fogo | Maio | Sal | Santa Luzia | Santiago | Santo Antão | São Nicolau | São Vicente |
|
| Islets | |
| Ilhéu do Baluarte | Ilhéu Branco | Ilhéu Laja Branca | Ilhéu dos Pássaros | Ilhéu Rabo de Junco | Ilhéu Raso | Ilhéu de Sal-Rei | Ilhéu de Santa Maria | Ilhéus Secos (Ilhéu de Cima | Ilhéu Grande) |
