Cape Verde

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Introducing Cape Verde

Most people only know Cape Verde through the haunting mornos (mournful songs) of Cesária Évora. To visit her homeland – a series of unlikely volcanic islands some 500km off the coast of Senegal – is to understand the strange, bittersweet amalgam of West African rhythms and mournful Portuguese melodies that shape her music.

It’s not just open ocean that separates Cape Verde from the rest of West Africa. Cool currents, for example, keep temperatures moderate, and a stable political and economic system help support West Africa’s highest standard of living. The population, who represent varying degrees of African and Portuguese heritage, will seem exuberantly warm if you fly in straight from, say, Britain, but refreshingly low-key if you arrive from Lagos or Dakar.

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Latest headlines for Cape Verde

From BBC News

  1. Timeline: Guinea-Bissau

    2 July 2009 2:22PM

    A chronology of key events

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  2. Fundraiser jailed in Africa freed

    9 June 2009 11:23AM

    A Merseyside film-maker is freed after being jailed in the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of West Africa.

    Read more

  3. Film-maker jailed off West Africa

    7 June 2009 2:31PM

    An English film-maker is in prison off the coast of West Africa after being arrested while on a fundraising trip around the world.

    Read more

See more news at bbc.co.uk/news

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