Praia is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde, an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean west of Senegal. It lies on the southern coast of Santiago island in the Sotavento Islands group. It is the island's ferry port and is home to one of the nation’s four international airports. The city centre is known as Plateau due to its location on a small plateau. Praia is located at 14°55' North, 23°31' West (14.91667, -23.51667).
Praia is Cape Verde's largest city, a commercial centre, and a port that ships coffee, sugar cane, and tropical fruits. Praia also has a fishing industry and there are resort beaches nearby. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name.
History
Statue of the navigator Diogo Gomes
In the history of Cape Verde there have been successive proposals for transferring the capital elsewhere, the most recent being Mindelo in the late 19th century. However, the successive Portuguese administrations never showed an interest (economical or political?) in such proposals. Through an official decree in 1858, when its status was changed from town to city, Praia secured its status as the capital of Cape Verde, concentrating political, religious and economic roles.
During the Portuguese administration, only the central plateau was considered to be the city proper and thus the principal zone of urbanization and concentration of municipal services. It was only after independence that the surrounding neighborhoods generally became accepted as part of the city proper. After independence the city suffered a demographic boom, and after 33 years its population has quadrupled, receiving migrating movements from all the islands. As a result, half of the entire population of Cape Verde currently resides on Santiago; a fourth in the Municipality of Praia; and a fifth in the City of Praia alone.
Geography
Praia Mar beach.
For a long time, only the Plateau was considered to be the city, being the other neighborhoods relegated to the condition of peripheral suburbs, in spite of always having a close relationship with the Plateau (people movements, goods and services exchanges, etc.). This is why only the Plateau previously had relatively well-developed urbanization with its own infra-structures. The remaining neighborhoods developed in a more organic, chaotic way.
Only after independence did the Plateau merge with the other neighborhoods to constitute what is now considered the City of Praia. The whole city was then equipped with adequate infra-structures and some de-centralization was planned. In spite of being recent, the urban plans are already in progress and the city is expanding north, through Achada de São Filipe, and west through Palmarejo. Although the Plateau is still attracting most of the daily traffic within the city, this is not because it is the largest neighborhood (Achada Grande) nor because it is the most populous (Achada de Santo António), but rather because it is still considered the economic and administrative center of the city. In spite of de-centralization attempts, the population continues to consider the neighborhoods peripherals to the Plateau, as either "bedroom communities" or industrial zones.
This was the first stop the HMS Beagle made on its journey on which Charles Darwin would make his amazing discoveries.
Climate
Praia features an arid climate with a short wet season and a lengthy, very pronounced dry season. In fact, outside of the months of August, September and October, little precipitation falls on Praia. The city on average sees about 260 mm of rain per year. Despite the fact that it has an arid climate, Praia seldom gets very hot or very cold, due to its oceanside location on Santiago Island. Temperatures are warm and constant with an average high temperature of 27 °C and an average low temperature of 22 °C.| Climate data for Praia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | ||||||||||||||
| Record high °C (°F) | 30 (86) | 31 (88) | 33 (91) | 34 (93) | 33 (91) | 34 (93) | 33 (91) | 32 (90) | 34 (93) | 33 (91) | 32 (90) | 31 (88) | 34 (93) | ||||||||||||||
| Average high °C (°F) | 25 (77) | 25 (77) | 26 (79) | 26 (79) | 27 (81) | 28 (82) | 28 (82) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 28 (82) | 26 (79) | 27 (81) | ||||||||||||||
| Average low °C (°F) | 20 (68) | 19 (66) | 20 (68) | 21 (70) | 21 (70) | 22 (72) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 25 (77) | 24 (75) | 23 (73) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) | ||||||||||||||
| Record low °C (°F) | 17 (63) | 13 (55) | 17 (63) | 18 (64) | 18 (64) | 19 (66) | 19 (66) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) | 22 (72) | 20 (68) | 18 (64) | 13 (55) | ||||||||||||||
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 3 (0.12) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 5 (0.2) | 97 (3.82) | 114 (4.49) | 31 (1.22) | 8 (0.31) | 3 (0.12) | 261 (10.28) | ||||||||||||||
| Avg. precipitation days | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 21.2 | ||||||||||||||
| Sunshine hours | 217 | 226 | 279 | 300 | 310 | 270 | 217 | 186 | 210 | 248 | 240 | 217 | 2,920 | ||||||||||||||
| Source: BBC Weather | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Culture
 Aerial view Dr. Antonio Lereno Square and the old High School. |  Praia City Hall |
 Praia International Airport |  Basketball court at Varzea Sports Center |
The Ildo Lobo Palace of culture in the Plateau neighborhood of Praia.
Education
The city of Praia is home to the first primary school in the archipelago, originally known as the Escola Central (today known as the Escola Grande). For much time it was the only primary school in Praia. At the beginning of the 1960s, other primary schools began to be built in neighborhoods around the Plateau and in other localities on the island.Praia was also the first site in Cape Verde with a secondary education institution with the creation of the Liceu Nacional in 1861. However, the Portuguese authorities were not interested in implementing secondary education in Cape Verde and the school failed as a result; secondary education became, afterwards, the role of the Seminário de Ribeira Brava on the island of São Nicolau, and later of the lyceum in Mindelo. Only in 1960 did Praia again have secondary education, first with a facility on September 12 Plaza and later in its own building. With the expansion of education in Cape Verde in the 1990s, various buildings dedicated to education were constructed in Cape Verde, and Praia currently has 7 secondary education schools.
For higher education, there is the Instituto Superior de Educação and the Jean Piaget University of Cape Verde, and the University of Cape Verde.
Main sights
Landmarks in the colonial city center include Albuquerque Square, the old city hall built in the 1920s, the Presidential Palace, which was constructed in the end of the 19th century to house the Portuguese governor and the Monumento de Diogo Gomes, named after the Portuguese navigator who discovered the island of Santiago in 1460. There is no National Museum in Praia, but the Museu Etnográfico (Ethnographic Museum), which was founded in 1997, is worth a visit. Some of the oldest buildings in Praia are Jaime Mota Barracks (Quartel Jaime Mota) dating from 1826.
Outside the colonial city center, Avenida Cidade de Lisboa, the most modern street of Praia, is worth a visit.www.en.wikipedia.org