CAPE VERDE Ten astonishing islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, 450 km from African West Coast. The archipelago has volcanic origins. The ten islands are divided into two groups: the ones in the north area "Grupo de Barlavento", the ones on the south "Grupo de Sotavento". Maio, Sal and Boavista are completed surrounded by white sand and by a wonderful deep blue ocean. The other islands have more vegetations but not many beaches. Discovered by portoguese in 1460, the islands starting being inhabitated by Europeans and African, the first island to be populated was Santiago, where there is now the capital of the archipelago. Capeverdean pulation is a mixure of different cultures and races. The culture which has given the carachteristics to the population is the creol. In fact the official language of Cape Verde is called "creol", a variety of portoguese language. Cape Verde become an indipendent nation on 5th July 1975. Now it is an Indipendent Republic with election every 4 years. The country has political stability with absence of crime.