Cape Verde one on Brava and the other on Santo Antão, closed for safety reasons. Due to its geographical location, Cape Verde is often flown over by transatlantic airliners. It is part of the conventional air-traffic route from Europe to South America, which goes from southern Portugal via the Canary Islands and Cape Verde to northern Brazil. Cape Verde Cape Verde () or Cabo Verde (, ) (, ), officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country spanning an archipelago of 10 volcanic islands in the central Atlantic Ocean. It forms part of the Macaronesia ecoregion, along with the Azores,
History of Cape Verde to hold on to its former colonies, since 1951 called overseas territories. When most former African colonies gained independence in 1957/1964, the Portuguese still held on. Consequently, following the Pijiguiti Massacre, the people of Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau fought one of the longest African liberation wars. As with other colonies in 1972, autonomy was granted and Portuguese Cape Verde held its only parliamentary elections in 1973, in which only those that were Portuguese citizens could vote. Out of a total population of 272,071, only 25,521 people registered to vote. A total of 20,942 people voted, giving a voter turnout of