Demographics of Cape Verde
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Cape Verde, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Cape Verde has a population of about 540,000 inhabitants who live in the islands. A large proportion of Cape Verdeans live on the main island, Santiago. Many more live abroad in the Cape Verdean diaspora in mainland Africa, Europe, U.S., Brazil, et cetera.
The archipelago of Cape Verde were first found and claimed by Portuguese sailors working for the Portuguese Crown in 1456. Cape Verdeans are West African. Many foreigners from other parts of the world settled in Cape Verde as their permanent country. Most of them were Dutch, French, British, Arab and Jewish. All of these have been absorbed into the mixed population.
The high degree of genetic mixture of individuals is a result of centuries of migration. It is not unusual to encounter persons with dark skin, blond hair, and blue eyes, and persons with seemingly light caucasian skin and textured curly hair.
Survival in a country with few natural resources has historically induced Cape Verdeans to emigrate. In fact, of the more than 1 million people of Cape Verdean ancestry in the world, only a little more than one-third actually live on the islands. Some 500,000 people of Cape Verdean ancestry live in the United States, mainly in New England. Many people of Cape Verdean ancestry also live in Portugal, Netherlands, France, Italy, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, and Senegal. Cape Verdean populations also settled Spain, Germany, Canada, and other CPLP countries. Since after independence from Portugal in 1975, a number of Cape Verdean students continued to be admitted every year at Portuguese high schools, polytechnical institutes and universities, through bilateral agreements between the Portuguese and Cape Verdean governments.
Portuguese functions as a state language. Virtually all formal documents and official declarations are stated in Portuguese. But it is not the first language. Cape Verdean, commonly called Creolo, is spoken as a mother tongue by virtually all Cape Verdeans, irrespective of social status or religious affiliation. Moreover, historical linguists often attribute Cape Verdean Creole as the oldest "New World" contact language. It is a "contact" language in the sense that it was birthed and evolved between linguistically different groups who, by necessity, had to create a common language to communicate with each other. There is a rich repertoire of literature and songs in Cape Verdean Creole. In religion, the majority of Cape Verdeans follow Catholic Christianity. There are some Protestants, Bahá'ís and Muslims.
Population
According to the total population was in, compared to only 178,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 31.8%, 62.3% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 5.9% was 65 years or older.| Total population | Population aged 0–14 | Population aged 15–64 | Population aged 65+ | |
| 1950 | 178,000 | 32.6 | 59.8 | 7.6 |
| 1955 | 195,000 | 35.8 | 57.9 | 6.2 |
| 1960 | 211,000 | 42.1 | 53.2 | 4.8 |
| 1965 | 240,000 | 48.5 | 47.3 | 4.2 |
| 1970 | 274,000 | 48.2 | 47.8 | 4 |
| 1975 | 311,000 | 45.8 | 49.6 | 4.6 |
| 1980 | 300,000 | 46 | 48.7 | 5.3 |
| 1985 | 328,000 | 44.5 | 50.5 | 5 |
| 1990 | 348,000 | 45.4 | 49.8 | 4.8 |
| 1995 | 395,000 | 44.5 | 50.5 | 5 |
| 2000 | 437,000 | 41.7 | 52.9 | 5.3 |
| 2005 | 473,000 | 37 | 57.2 | 5.8 |
| 2010 | 496,000 | 31.8 | 62.3 | 5.9 |
Vital statistics
Vital events of Cape Verde are not available for recent years. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.Births and deaths
| Year | Population | Live births | Deaths | Natural increase | Crude birth rate | Crude death rate | Rate of natural increase | TFR |
| 2009 | 13 044 | 2 897 | 10 147 | 25,6 | 5,7 | 19,9 | ||
| 2010 | 13 415 | 2 917 | 10 498 | 25,9 | 5,6 | 20,3 |
Fertility and births
Total fertility rate and crude birth rate :| Year | CBR | TFR | CBR | TFR | CBR | TFR |
| 2005 | 22 | 2,9 | 23 | 2,7 | 22 | 3,1 |
Fertility data from 2005 :
| Region | Total fertility rate | Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant | Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49 |
| Santo Antão | 2.9 | 3.8 | 6.0 |
| São Vicente | 2.0 | 3.4 | 4.0 |
| São Nicolau | 3.3 | 4.4 | 4.2 |
| Sal | 3.2 | 7.0 | 3.9 |
| Boa Vista | 2.4 | 10.0 | 4.4 |
| Maio | 2.6 | 1.7 | 4.3 |
| Santiago | 3.1 | 5.4 | 4.5 |
| Praia Urbano | 3.2 | 5.1 | 4.5 |
| Santiago Norte | 2.7 | 6.2 | 4.3 |
| Resto Santiago | 3.3 | 4.6 | 4.8 |
| Fogo | 3.1 | 6.3 | 5.6 |
| Brava | 2.8 | 7.0 | 5.0 |
Life expectancy
Other demographic statistics
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.- One birth every 46 minutes
- One death every 180 minutes
- One net migrant every 360 minutes
- Net gain of one person every 76 minutes