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,
National emblem of Cape Verde symbolizes righteousness and uprightness which constitute the "key vault" of Cape Verdean constitution. The equilateral triangle symbolizes unity, equality and people's civil rights recognized by the democratic system. The torch symbolizes freedom gained after many years of struggle. The sea symbolizes nostalgia. The palms symbolize victory won in the struggle for national independence, and the stars represent the ten islands that form the archipelago of Cape Verde. National emblem of Cape Verde The national emblem of Cape Verde contains a circle within which is written the name of the nation in Portuguese. Within the circle are a torch and triangle,