Santa Cruz, Cape Verde

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Municipality of Santa Cruz
Map
Statistics
Seat:	Pedra Badejo
Island:	Santiago
Founded:	1971
Population:	32,965
Area:	150 km²
Population density:	…/km²
National Municipal code (CGN-CV):	73
ISO 3166-2 code:	CV-CR
Website:	[1]

Santa Cruz is a municipality located in the eastern part of the island of Santiago in Sotavento in southern Cape Verde and is ranked fourth in Cape Verde. The municipal is around 32,965, the area is 150 km² and the density is about 205/km². The seat of the municipality is Vila de Pedra Badejo. The municipality was created in 1971 out the old municipality of Praia and covers about 14% of the total population of the island of Santiago. Santa Cruz is located about 40 km NNW of Cape Verde's capital Praia, SE of Tarrafal and E of Assomada.

Santa Cruz are linked with a highway linking Tarrafal and Praia and a road to Pico and Assomada. Farmlands are situated within the valley areas, the mountains cover the rest of the municipality especially the western parts. Grasslands and bushes covers the mountain areas to the west. Alluvial basins (ribeiras) create pockets of fertile soil and high water tables to some villages in the eastern half.

Its economy is based in agriculture, in which rural population produces agricultural commodities for export to larger markets in Praia, Assomada and Fogo. Small market centers exist in São Lourenço dos Órgãos and Pedra Badejo, which act primary as commodity exchanges where subsistence farmers exchange goods as available with merchants who transport and sell goods in larger markets. The primary agricultural productions include fodder (usually in the form of maize stalks), bananas, papayas and coconuts. Prior to 1981 the area also produced a substantial percentage of the island's maize, but the arrival of large-scale international food aid, while vastly improving the region’s food security, made producing foodstuffs unprofitable. Maize and legumes are still the region's primary agricultural product, though 97% is consumed by the families that produce it. The mixture of nitrogen fixing and nitrogen consuming crops reduces the need for chemical fertilizers, allowing small farmers to remain solvent despite little cash income.

The dry-season economy is directed primarily by agricultural cooperatives, which assign stonemasonry, carpentry and other construction tasks through contracts awarded by the local governments. The president of the cooperative acts as a de-facto village headman in areas where there are no government representative.

The soil in the region is very fertile (being especially rich in iron and potash, though water is scare in all parts of the concelho. Harsh living conditions forces a large part of the young population to move to Praia as well as other islands of Sal and Boa Vista in search for better conditions of life and working conditions. The municipality has plagued been by unemployment and illiteracy, through recent literacy capmaigns have brought functional literacy to above 75% for younger residents.

About 1/3 of the population of Santa Cruz are in agriculture, cattle, and forestry. Commercial, civil works and public administration and have a secondary importance. A German group will plan to construct a port next to the old port of Pedra Badejo.

Santa Cruz is the native land of Orlando Pantera and Catchás, two of the names most head in music that the island of Santiago never knew.

[edit] Historical population (Pedra Badejo)

[edit] Parishes

The municipality includes only one parish:

• Santiago Maior.

[edit] External links

• In Portuguese:
  • Câmara Municipal de Santa Cruz
  • ANMCV (Associação Nacional dos Municípios Cabo-Verdianos - National Association of the Capeverdean Municipalities)

Coordinates: 15°08′N, 23°34′W