Discovery and Portuguese rule

The islands were charted between 1460 and 1462 during Portuguese maritime expansion. The precise attribution of their discovery to individual navigators remains debated, while sources broadly agree on its chronology and political context.

Ribeira Grande, now Cidade Velha, became the first European colonial settlement built in the tropics. Its position on Santiago enabled the Portuguese Crown to administer the territory and organise movement between the African coast and the Atlantic world.

Portuguese rule lasted until 1975 and encompassed very different phases: the rise of Atlantic trade, Ribeira Grande’s decline, the growth of other islands and ports, famines linked to drought and colonial vulnerability, and the growth of anti-colonial movements in the 20th century.