Population:
583,255
(July 2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
173
[see also: Population country ranks ]
Nationality:
noun:
Cabo Verdean(s)
adjective:
Cabo Verdean
Ethnic groups:
Creole (mulatto) 71%, African 28%, European 1%
Languages:
Portuguese (official), Krioulo (a blend of Portuguese and West African languages)
Religions:
Roman Catholic 77.3%, Protestant 4.6% (includes Church of the Nazarene 1.7%, Adventist 1.5%, Assembly of God 0.9%, Universal Kingdom of God 0.4%, and God and Love 0.1%), other Christian 3.4% (includes Christian Rationalism 1.9%, Jehovah's Witness 1%, and New Apostolic 0.5%), Muslim 1.8%, other 1.3%, none 10.8%, unspecified 0.7%
(2010 est.)
Demographic profile:
Cabo Verde’s population descends from its first permanent inhabitants in the late 15th-century – a preponderance of West African slaves, a small share of Portuguese colonists, and even fewer Italians, Spaniards, and Portuguese Jews. Over the centuries, the country’s overall population size has fluctuated significantly, as recurring periods of famine and epidemics have caused high death tolls and emigration.
Labor migration historically reduced Cabo Verde’s population growth and still provides a key source of income through remittances. Expatriates probably outnumber Cabo Verde’s resident population, with most families having a member abroad. Cabo Verdeans have settled in the US, Europe, Africa, and South America. The largest diaspora community in New Bedford, Massachusetts, dating to the early 1800s, is a byproduct of the transatlantic whaling industry. Cabo Verdean men fleeing poverty at home joined the crews of US whaling ships that stopped in the islands. Many settled in New Bedford and stayed in the whaling or shipping trade, worked in the textile or cranberry industries, or operated their own transatlantic packet ships that transported compatriots to the US. Increased Cabo Verdean emigration to the US coincided with the gradual and eventually complete abolition of slavery in the archipelago in 1878.
During the same period, Portuguese authorities coerced Cabo Verdeans to go to Sao Tome and Principe and other Portuguese colonies in Africa to work as indentured laborers on plantations. In the 1920s, when the US implemented immigration quotas, Cabo Verdean emigration shifted toward Portugal, West Africa (Senegal), and South America (Argentina). Growing numbers of Cabo Verdean labor migrants headed to Western Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. They filled unskilled jobs in Portugal, as many Portuguese sought out work opportunities in the more prosperous economies of northwest Europe. Cabo Verdeans eventually expanded their emigration to the Netherlands, where they worked in the shipping industry. Migration to the US resumed under relaxed migration laws. Cabo Verdean women also began migrating to southern Europe to become domestic workers, a trend that continues today and has shifted the gender balance of Cabo Verdean emigration.
Emigration has declined in more recent decades due to the adoption of more restrictive migration policies in destination countries. Reduced emigration along with a large youth population, decreased mortality rates, and increased life expectancies, has boosted population growth, putting further pressure on domestic employment and resources. In addition, Cabo Verde has attracted increasing numbers of migrants in recent decades, consisting primarily of people from West Africa, Portuguese-speaking African countries, Portugal, and China. Since the 1990s, some West African migrants have used Cabo Verde as a stepping stone for illegal migration to Europe.
Age structure:
0-14 years: 27.95%
(male 82,010/female 81,012)
[see also: Age structure - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 18.69%
(male 54,521/female 54,504)
[see also: Age structure - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 40.76%
(male 115,811/female 121,923)
[see also: Age structure - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 7.12%
(male 18,939/female 22,597)
[see also: Age structure - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 5.48%
(male 12,037/female 19,901)
(2020 est.)
[see also: Age structure - 65 years and over country ranks ]
population pyramid:
This is the population pyramid for Cabo Verde. A population pyramid illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population and may provide insights about political and social stability, as well as economic development. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends.
For additional information, please see the entry for Population pyramid on the Definitions and Notes page under the References tab.
Dependency ratios:
total dependency ratio: 55.4
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - total dependency ratio country ranks ]
youth dependency ratio: 48.4
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - youth dependency ratio country ranks ]
elderly dependency ratio: 6.9
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - elderly dependency ratio country ranks ]
potential support ratio: 14.4
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - potential support ratio country ranks ]
Median age:
total: 26.8 years
[see also: Median age - total country ranks ]
male: 25.9 years
[see also: Median age - male country ranks ]
female: 27.6 years
(2020 est.)
[see also: Median age - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
151
Population growth rate:
1.28%
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
84
[see also: Population growth rate country ranks ]
Birth rate:
19.1 births/1,000 population
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
79
[see also: Birth rate country ranks ]
Death rate:
5.9 deaths/1,000 population
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
169
[see also: Death rate country ranks ]
Net migration rate:
-0.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
129
[see also: Net migration rate country ranks ]
Population distribution:
among the nine inhabited islands, population distribution is variable; islands in the east are very dry and are only sparsely settled to exploit their extensive salt deposits; the more southerly islands receive more precipitation and support larger populations, but agriculture and livestock grazing have damaged the soil fertility and vegetation; approximately half of the population lives on Sao Tiago Island, which is the location of the capital of Praia; Mindelo, on the northern island of Sao Vicente, also has a large urban population
Urbanization:
urban population: 66.2% of total population
(2019)
[see also: Urbanization - urban population country ranks ]
rate of urbanization: 1.97% annual rate of change
(2015-20 est.)
[see also: Urbanization - rate of urbanization country ranks ]
Major urban areas - population:
168,000 PRAIA (capital)
(2018)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - at birth country ranks ]
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 0.84 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 0.6 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 65 years and over country ranks ]
total population: 94.5 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio country ranks ]
Maternal mortality rate:
58 deaths/100,000 live births
(2017 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
91
[see also: Maternal mortality rate country ranks ]
Infant mortality rate:
total: 19.7 deaths/1,000 live births
[see also: Infant mortality rate - total country ranks ]
male: 22.7 deaths/1,000 live births
[see also: Infant mortality rate - male country ranks ]
female: 16.7 deaths/1,000 live births
(2020 est.)
[see also: Infant mortality rate - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
79
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.2 years
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - total population country ranks ]
male: 70.8 years
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - male country ranks ]
female: 75.6 years
(2020 est.)
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
149
[See also: Healthy Life Expectancy ]
[See also: Health Performance ]
Total fertility rate:
2.16 children born/woman
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
95
[see also: Total fertility rate country ranks ]
Drinking water source:
improved:
urban: 94% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - improved - urban country ranks ]
rural: 87.3% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - improved - rural country ranks ]
total: 91.7% of population
unimproved:
urban: 6% of population
rural: 12.7% of population
total: 8.3% of population
(2015 est.)
Current Health Expenditure:
5.2%
(2016)
[see also: Current Health Expenditure country ranks ]
Physicians density:
0.77 physicians/1,000 population
(2015)
[see also: Physicians density country ranks ]
Hospital bed density:
2.1 beds/1,000 population
(2010)
[see also: Hospital bed density country ranks ]
Sanitation facility access:
improved:
urban: 81.6% of population
(2015 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - improved - urban country ranks ]
rural: 54.3% of population
(2015 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - improved - rural country ranks ]
total: 72.2% of population
(2015 est.)
unimproved:
urban: 1.4% of population
(2015 est.)
rural: 45.7% of population
(2015 est.)
total: 27.8% of population
(2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.6%
(2018 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
59
[see also: HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
2,400
(2018 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
135
[see also: HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS country ranks ]
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
<100
(2018 est.)
[see also: HIV/AIDS - deaths country ranks ]
Major infectious diseases:
note: active local transmission of Zika virus by Aedes species mosquitoes has been identified in this country (as of August 2016); it poses an important risk (a large number of cases possible) among US citizens if bitten by an infective mosquito; other less common ways to get Zika are through sex, via blood transfusion, or during pregnancy, in which the pregnant woman passes Zika virus to her fetus
Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
11.8%
(2016)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
134
[see also: Obesity - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
Education expenditures:
5.2% of GDP
(2017)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
53
[see also: Education expenditures country ranks ]
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.8%
[see also: Literacy - total population country ranks ]
male: 91.7%
[see also: Literacy - male country ranks ]
female: 82%
(2015)
[see also: Literacy - female country ranks ]
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 12 years
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - total country ranks ]
male: 12 years
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - male country ranks ]
female: 12 years
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - male country ranks ]
(2017)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
total: 32.5%
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - total country ranks ]
male: 29.5%
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - male country ranks ]
female: 36.4%
(2017)
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
25
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Cabo Verde on this page is re-published from the 2020 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Cabo Verde People 2020 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Cabo Verde People 2020 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may have the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assigns counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order.
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This page was last modified 27-Jan-20