Cape Verde when Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the islands, establishing the first European settlement in the tropics. Ideally located for the Atlantic slave trade, the islands grew prosperous throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, attracting merchants, privateers, and pirates. The end of slavery in the 19th century led to economic decline and emigration. Cape Verde gradually recovered as an important commercial center and stopover for shipping routes. Incorporated as an overseas department of Portugal in 1951, the islands continued to campaign for independence, which was peacefully achieved in 1975. Since the early 1990s, Cape Verde has been a stable representative democracy,
Cape Verde–Guinea-Bissau relations Residentes em Cabo Verde. Despite their shared language and culture, immigrants from Guinea-Bissau are often viewed as "manjacos", a derogatory term used for people from mainland Africa and the legalisation of Guinea-Bissauans in Cape Verde has been long delayed. Cape Verde–Guinea-Bissau relations Cape Verde–Guinea Bissau relations refers to the bilateral relationship between the Republic of Cape Verde (Cabo Verde) and the Republic of Guinea-Bissau. Cape Verde is an island country about 900 km north-west of Guinea-Bissau, a coastal West African country. Both were colonies of the Portuguese Empire and they campaigned together for independence with a plan for unification, but