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,
Media of Cape Verde Media of Cape Verde This article is about the Media in Cape Verde including its telecommunications, television and radio. In 2003, Cape Verde had 71,700 main line telephones with an additional 53,300 cellular phones in use throughout the country. In 2011, Cape Verde had 72,764 main line telephones with an additional 500,000 mobile and cellular phones in use throughout the country, cellular phones was nearly one per person. In 2004, there were seven radio stations; six independent and one state owned. The media is operated by the Capeverdean News Agency (secondarily as Inforpress). In 2002, there were about 100,000 radios