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,
Santiago, Cape Verde Praia, located in the southeast coast, is the largest city on the island, and also the largest city and capital of the country. Other towns on the island include Cidade Velha, west of Praia, Cape Verde's first capital; Assomada, in the centre of the island; Tarrafal in the north; Pedra Badejo and Calheta de São Miguel along the east coast. In the 1830s, Santiago's population was estimated at 30,000. Santiago has always been the most populous island in Cape Verde. The island population has doubled since the independence of Cape Verde in 1975. The population of the island was 294,135