Cape Verde Municipalities

Cape Verde is an archipelago of ten volcanic islands about 600 kilometres off the coast of Senegal, and it is a rare country whose map is almost all sea. Its 22 municipalities (concelhos) are the islands or pieces of them: the smallest islands are a single municipality, while the biggest, Santiago, which holds the capital, is split into nine.

The quiz: Name to place, on the map
Grouped by: Barlavento, the windward islands, and Sotavento, the leeward islands
In the game: 22 municipalities

Start

What you are looking at

The 22 municipalities of today. Where an island has one municipality, it takes the island's name (Sal, Maio, Brava, Boa Vista, São Vicente), so placing it is placing the island. Where an island is divided, the municipalities are named for their towns and parishes, and a few names repeat: there is a Ribeira Grande on Santo Antão and another on Santiago, a Ribeira Brava on São Nicolau beside the island of Brava, and two Tarrafals.

Cape Verde itself groups the islands into two. Barlavento, the windward islands, are the northern arc of Santo Antão, São Vicente, São Nicolau, Sal and Boa Vista. Sotavento, the leeward islands, are the southern group of Maio, Santiago, Fogo and Brava.

How to place one

Start with the single-municipality islands. Sal and Boa Vista lie flat and far east, São Vicente is the small island between Santo Antão and São Nicolau, and Maio and Brava sit at the southern end of the chain.
Santo Antão is split in three. Ribeira Grande in the north, Paul in the east and Porto Novo in the south and west.
Santiago is the crowded one. Praia sits at the southern tip, and the others fan out north from it.
Mind the doubles. Ribeira Brava is on São Nicolau and Brava is its own island; Tarrafal is on Santiago and Tarrafal de São Nicolau is on the island of that name.

Every municipality, by group

Barlavento8 municipalities: Boa Vista, Paul, Porto Novo, Ribeira Brava, Ribeira Grande, Sal, São Vicente, Tarrafal de São Nicolau
Sotavento14 municipalities: Brava, Maio, Mosteiros, Praia, Ribeira Grande de Santiago, Santa Catarina, Santa Catarina do Fogo, Santa Cruz, São Domingos, São Filipe, São Lourenço dos Órgãos, São Miguel, São Salvador do Mundo, Tarrafal

Worked examples

Praia

The capital

Praia is the capital, on the southern coast of Santiago, with Santa Catarina to the north-west and São Domingos and São Lourenço dos Órgãos inland.

Ribeira Grande

Two with one name

This Ribeira Grande is the one on Santo Antão, the north-western island. The other, Ribeira Grande de Santiago, is on the southern island of Santiago, and is the one with the longer name.

Sal

An island that is a municipality

Sal is a flat, dry island in the east of the northern group and holds the country's busiest international airport.