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,
African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde 21 August 2011, Manuel Inocêncio Sousa lost to Jorge Carlos Fonseca (MpD) with 32.66% of the votes in the first round and 45.74% in the second round. The PAICV, which advertises itself as an Africa-oriented political party in contrast to the somewhat neoliberal and europhile MpD, enjoys its greatest support in the municipalities most comparable to those on the African mainland: the dense urban areas such as Praia, and rural agricultural areas such as Santa Cruz and São Filipe. The party is a full member of the Socialist International. African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde The African Party