Demographic features of the population of Cape Verde include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Cape Verde has about 540,000 inhabitants. A large proportion (236,000) of Cape Verdeans live on the main island, Santiago. Many more live abroad in the Cape Verdean diaspora in mainland Africa, Europe, U.S., Brazil, et cetera.

The archipelago of Cape Verde was first discovered and claimed by Portuguese sailors working for the Portuguese Crown in 1456. Cape Verdeans are West African. Many foreigners from other parts of the world settled in Cape Verde as their permanent country.

The difficulty of survival in a country with few natural resources has historically induced Cape Verdeans to emigrate. In fact, of the more than 1 million people of Cape Verdean ancestry in the world, only a little more than one-third actually live on the islands. Some 500,000 people of Cape Verdean ancestry live in the United States, mainly in New England. Many people of Cape Verdean ancestry also live in Portugal, Netherlands, France, Italy and Senegal. Cape Verdean populations also settled Spain, Germany, Canada, and other CPLP countries (Angola, Brazil and Guinea-Bissau). Since independence from Portugal in 1975, a number of Cape Verdean students have continued to be admitted every year to Portuguese high schools, polytechnical institutes and universities, through bilateral agreements between the Portuguese and Cape Verdean governments.

Portuguese functions as a state language. Virtually all formal documents and official declarations are in Portuguese. But it is not the first language. Cape Verdean, commonly called Kriolu, is spoken as a mother tongue by virtually all Cape Verdeans, irrespective of social status or religious affiliation. Moreover, historical linguists often attribute Cape Verdean Creole as the oldest "New World" contact language. It is a "contact" language in the sense that it was born and evolved between linguistically different groups who, by necessity, had to create a common language to communicate with each other. There is a rich repertoire of literature and songs in Cape Verdean Creole. In religion, the majority of Cape Verdeans follow Catholic Christianity. There are some Protestants, Baháʼís and Muslims.

Population

According to the total population was in , compared to only 178,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 31.8%, 62.3% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 5.9% was 65 years or older.

Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 243 403 248 280 491 683 100 0–4 25 131 25 069 50 200 10.21 5–9 25 168 25 040 50 208 10.21 10–14 27 864 27 361 55 225 11.23 15–19 29 655 29 405 59 060 12.01 20–24 27 327 25 578 52 905 10.76 25–29 23 336 21 005 44 341 9.02 30–34 18 165 16 339 34 504 7.02 35–39 14 106 13 130 27 236 5.54 40–44 12 988 13 303 26 291 5.35 45–49 11 347 12 165 23 512 4.78 50–54 8 162 9 999 18 161 3.69 55–59 4 947 7 196 12 143 2.47 60–64 2 613 3 580 6 193 1.26 65–69 2 499 3 716 6 215 1.26 70–74 3 437 5 229 8 666 1.76 75–79 2 980 4 453 7 433 1.51 80–84 2 092 3 185 5 277 1.07 85–89 827 1 358 2 185 0.44 90–94 377 696 1 073 0.22 95+ 172 325 497 0.10Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 78 163 77 470 155 633 31.65 15–64 152 646 151 700 304 346 61.90 65+ 12 384 18 962 31 346 6.38 Unknown 210 148 358 0.07

Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 281 533 275 324 556 857 100 0–4 26 739 25 524 52 264 9.39 5–9 26 162 24 973 51 135 9.18 10–14 25 262 25 389 50 651 9.10 15–19 23 734 23 483 47 218 8.48 20–24 23 955 22 461 46 416 8.34 25–29 28 159 26 015 54 173 9.73 30–34 28 603 24 995 53 597 9.62 35–39 24 111 20 484 44 595 8.01 40–44 18 738 15 923 34 660 6.22 45–49 14 043 12 780 26 822 4.82 50–54 12 282 12 693 24 974 4.48 55–59 10 437 11 557 21 994 3.95 60–64 7 125 9 226 16 351 2.94 65–69 4 080 6 402 10 482 1.88 70–74 2 050 2 955 5 006 0.90 75–79 1 722 2 772 4 494 0.81 80–84 2 037 3 496 5 533 0.99 85–89 1 443 2 389 3 833 0.69 90–94 682 1 249 1 931 0.35 95+ 170 560 730 0.13Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 78 163 75 886 154 049 27.66 15–64 191 186 179 615 370 801 66.59 65+ 12 184 19 823 32 007 5.75

Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 246 363 244 870 491 233 100 0–4 23 111 22 429 45 540 9.27 5–9 23 533 23 086 46 619 9.49 10–14 23 809 22 771 46 580 9.48 15–19 21 903 20 401 42 304 8.61 20–24 20 391 18 159 38 550 7.85 25–29 22 481 21 665 44 146 8.99 30–34 22 552 21 681 44 233 9.00 35–39 19 217 18 105 37 322 7.60 40–44 15 820 14 259 30 079 6.12 45–49 12 269 11 347 23 616 4.81 50–54 11 257 11 224 22 481 4.58 55–59 10 001 10 682 20 683 4.21 60–64 7 536 8 765 16 301 3.32 65–69 4 496 6 510 11 006 2.24 70–74 2 347 3 279 5 626 1.15 75–79 1 685 2 842 4 527 0.92 80–84 1 839 3 404 5 243 1.07 85–89 1 257 2 473 3 730 0.76 90–94 648 1 316 1 964 0.40 95+ 211 472 683 1.39Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 70 453 68 286 138 739 28.24 15–64 163 427 156 288 319 715 65.08 65+ 12 483 20 296 32 779 6.67

Vital statistics Vital events of Cape Verde are not (yet) available for recent years. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.

PeriodLive births per yearDeaths per yearNatural change per yearCBR*CDR*NC*TFR*IMR* 1950–1955 9 000 4 000 5 00049.022.626.36.57139 1955–1960 10 000 4 000 5 00048.021.126.96.76132 1960–1965 10 000 4 000 6 00045.018.726.36.97125 1965–1970 11 000 4 000 6 00041.416.425.06.97117 1970–1975 12 000 4 000 8 00041.113.427.76.8696 1975–1980 13 000 4 000 9 00041.611.630.06.6278 1980–1985 13 000 3 000 10 00041.310.331.06.1065 1985–1990 14 000 3 000 11 00040.99.231.75.6354 1990–1995 14 000 3 000 11 00036.57.928.64.9344 1995–2000 13 000 3 000 10 00031.66.724.94.1537 2000–2005 12 000 3 000 9 00026.25.820.53.2828 2005–2010 11 000 3 000 8 00021.95.216.72.6021 * CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Registered births and deaths

YearPopulationLive birthsDeathsNatural increaseCrude birth rateCrude death rateRate of natural increaseTFR 1948 3,756 1949 3,904 3,641 263 1950 5,322 2,562 2,760 1951 7,367 2,377 4,990 1952 7,647 2,455 5,192 1953 7,597 2,866 4,731 1954 8,697 3,305 5,392 1955 8,547 2,220 6,327 1956 8,377 2,200 6,177 1957 8,237 2,790 5,447 1958 9,026 2,552 6,474 1959 9,609 2,382 7,227 1960 8,954 3,127 5,827 1961 8,319 2,543 5,776 1962 8,952 2,452 6,500 1963 9,671 2,996 6,675 1964 9,783 2,315 7,468 1965 9,638 2,377 7,261 1966 9,621 2,167 7,454 1967 10,190 2,593 7,597 1968 10,131 2,397 7,734 1969 9,671 3,452 6,219 1970 9,379 2,883 6,496 1971 9,493 4,147 5,346 1972 8,966 2,779 6,187 1973 8,418 3,513 4,905 1974 8,492 2,576 5,916 1975 8,210 2,796 5,414 1976 9,863 2,869 6,994 1977 9,965 2,564 7,401 1978 10,060 3,207 6,853 1979 8,289 2,469 5,820 1980 9,650 2,080 7,570 1981 8,580 1982 11,066 2,169 8,897 1983 11,438 2,649 8,789 1984 11,696 2,863 8,833 1985 11,282 2,735 8,547 1986 12,636 1987 12,771 1988 12,443 1989 1990 9,669 2,505 7,164 1991 12,289 2,616 9,673 1992 9,671 2,843 6,828 1993 2,821 1994 1995 386,813 3,520 9.1 1996 393,478 2,715 6.9 1997 406,267 3,047 7.5 1998 413,382 15,460 2,811 12,649 6.8 1999 426,061 2,812 6.6 2000 436,821 12,746 2,433 10,313 29.2 5.6 23.6 4.00 2001 445,035 12,550 2,396 10,154 28.2 5.4 22.8 2002 452,198 12,345 2,395 9,950 27.3 5.3 22.0 2003 460,837 12,120 2,600 9,520 26.3 5.6 20.7 2004 468,854 11,862 2,522 9,340 25.3 5.4 19.9 2005 478,163 11,554 2,423 9,131 24.3 5.1 19.2 2006 487,121 9,765 2,612 7,153 20.7 5.4 15.3 2.443 2007 491,419 10,421 2,484 7,937 21.8 5.2 16.6 2.575 2008 499,796 10,165 2,683 7,482 21.0 5.5 15.5 2.429 2009 485,677 9,962 2,583 7,379 20.4 5.3 15.1 2.334 2010 477,859 10,568 2,352 8,216 22.1 4.9 17.2 2.535 2011 480,577 10,777 2,488 8,289 22.4 5.2 17.2 2.589 2012 483,285 10,050 2,610 7,440 20.8 5.4 15.4 2.419 2013 485,996 9,845 2,518 7,327 20.3 5.2 15.1 2.358 2014 488,719 9,868 2,528 7,340 20.2 5.2 15.0 2.356 2015 491,436 9,794 2,761 7,033 19.9 5.6 14.3 2.330 2016 493,465 9,980 2,591 7,389 20.2 5.3 14.9 2.389 2017 495,522 9,943 2,497 7,446 20.1 5.0 15.1 2.401 2018 497,558 9,551 2,836 6,715 19.2 5.7 13.5 2.327 2019 499,609 9,284 2,771 6,513 18.6 5.5 13.1 2.286 2020 501,657 9,211 2,959 6,252 18.4 5.9 12.5 2.280 2021 504,125 8,607 3,178 5,429 17.1 6.3 10.8 2.147 2022 506,595 7,981 3,032 4,949 15.8 6.0 9.8 1.99 2023 509,078 6,760 2,925 3,835 13.3 5.7 7.6 1.68 2024 511,534 5,999 3,082 2,917 11.7 6.0 5.7 1.52

Fertility Total fertility rate (TFR) (wanted fertility rate) and crude birth rate (CBR):

Year CBR (Total) TFR (Total) CBR (Urban) TFR (Urban) CBR (Rural) TFR (Rural) 2005 22 2,9 (2,8) 23 2,7 (2,7) 22 3,1 (3,0)

Fertility data from 2005 (DHS Program):

Region Total fertility rate Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant Mean number of children ever born to women age 40–49 Santo Antão 2.9 3.8 6.0 São Vicente 2.0 3.4 4.0 São Nicolau 3.3 4.4 4.2 Sal 3.2 7.0 3.9 Boa Vista 2.4 10.0 4.4 Maio 2.6 1.7 4.3 Santiago 3.1 5.4 4.5 Praia Urbano 3.2 5.1 4.5 Santiago Norte 2.7 6.2 4.3 Resto Santiago 3.3 4.6 4.8 Fogo 3.1 6.3 5.6 Brava 2.8 7.0 5.0

Life expectancy PeriodLife expectancy in Years1950–195548.081955–1960 48.77 1960–1965 49.45 1965–1970 52.43 1970–1975 55.25 1975–1980 60.52 1980–1985 62.37 1985–1990 64.10 1990–1995 65.73 1995–2000 67.94 2000–2005 71.27 2005–2010 71.77 2010–2015 72.14

Ethnic groups Genetics E1b1a, R1b

The predominance of West African mitochondrial DNA haplotypes in their maternal gene pool, the major West African Y-chromosome lineage E3a was observed only at a frequency of 15.9%. Overall, these results indicate that gene flow from multiple sources and sex-specific patterns have been important in the formation of the genomic diversity in the Cabo Verde islands.

Languages Portuguese (official), Kriolu According to results from 2016, 72.8% of the population aged 12 or above could speak a language besides Kriolu, and the vast majority of them spoke Portuguese, the official language of the country and the language from colonial time. Ability to speak non-Kriolu languages also varied greatly by age, with younger generations being substantially more likely to speak a non-creole language. +Percentage of population aged 12 or above by ability to speak various languagesAny non-creole languagesPortugueseEnglishFrenchSpanishItalianTotal 12+72.872.216.513.53.00.912-1484.884.78.57.00.00.115-2488.688.125.019.51.20.325-4479.878.820.515.84.31.645-6454.654.47.27.84.60.665 +26.426.32.64.51.81.1

Religion

Catholic 77.3%, Protestant 3.7% (includes Church of the Nazarene 1.7%, Adventist 1.5%, Universal Kingdom of God 0.4%, and God and Love 0.1%), other Christian 4.3% (includes Christian Rationalism 1.9%, Jehovah's Witness 1%, Assembly of God 0.9%, and New Apostolic 0.5%), Islam 1.8%, Other 1.3%, None 10.8%, Unspecified 0.7% (2010 estimate)

See also

References

External links

National Institute of Statistics Demographic Highlights — Statistics from the Population Reference Bureau