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,
Science and technology in Cape Verde Economic and Monetary Union, UNESCO, the pan-African Ecobank and the Government of Cape Verde. Science and technology in Cape Verde Science and technology in Cape Verde examines government policies designed to foster a national innovation system and the impact of these policies. Cape Verde remains a model for political rights and civil liberties in Africa, according to a 2014 country study by the African Development Bank. In 2014, it ranked second (after Mauritius) on the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, which assesses 52 countries. On the Human Development Index, it is ranked 123rd. Life expectancy was 75 years in 2013,