Praia, Cape Verde (municipality)

Coordinates: 14°57′N 23°31′W / 14.95°N 23.52°W / 14.95; -23.52CountryCape VerdeIslandSantiagoArea • Total102.6 km² (39.6 sq mi)Population • Total131,719 • Density1,300/km² (3,300/sq mi)ID74WebsiteOfficial website

Praia is a concelho (municipality) of Cape Verde. It is situated in the southern part of the island of Santiago. Its seat is the city Praia, the capital of Cape Verde. Its area is 120.6 km² (46.6 sq mi), and its population was 131,719 at the 2010 census.^[2] The municipality consists of one freguesia (civil parish), Nossa Senhora da Graça. The city hall is located in the Platô part of the city.

History

Praia is one of the oldest municipalities in Cape Verde. It was created in the 18th century, when the then town of Praia de Santa Maria received town status and became the new capital of the Portuguese dominion of Cape Verde. Throughout history, its municipal territory has been successively reduced due to demographic increases.

By the end of the 19th century, the Municipality of Praia occupied the southern half of the island, while the northern half was the (larger than present) Municipality of Santa Catarina. In 1971, the two northernmost parishes of the Municipality were split off to become the Municipality of Santa Cruz,^[3] and the parish of São Salvador do Mundo became part of the municipality of Santa Catarina.^[4] In 1994, two more northern parishes of the Municipality were split off to become the Municipality of São Domingos.^[5] In 2005, two western parishes of the Municipality were split off to become the Municipality of Ribeira Grande de Santiago.^[6]

Subdivisions

The municipality is divided into the following localities for statistical reasons:^[7]

Demography

Population of Praia (1940—2017)

Year	Population
1940[8]	18,208
1950[8]	17,179
1960[8]	24,872
1970[8]	39,911
1980[8]	57,748
1990[8]	71,276
2000[8]	106,348
2010[2]	131,719
2017[9]	159,050

Politics

At the federal level, Praia belongs to the constituency of Santiago South. Since 2008, the Movement for Democracy (MpD) is the ruling party of the municipality. The results of the latest elections, in 2016:^[10]

Party	Municipal Council		Municipal Assembly
	Votes%	Seats	Votes%	Seats
MpD	62.74	9	62.18	14
PAICV	32.43	0	32.43	7
UCID	1.77	0	2.24	0
PP	0.61	0	0.68	0
PTS	0.26	0	0.30	0

Presidents

• José Ulisses Correia e Silva (MpD, 2006-2008 and 2013-2016)
• Oscar Santos (MpD, since August 2016-2020)
• Francisco Carvalho (PAICV, since April 2020)

References

External links

• https://web.archive.org/web/20070928203332/http://www.cmpraia.cv/
• ANMCV (Associação Nacional dos Municípios Cabo-Verdianos - National Association of the Capeverdean Municipalities)