2019-04-16 Tue

Cape Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country spanning an archipelago of 10 volcanic islands in the central Atlantic Ocean. It forms part of the Macaronesia ecoregion, along with the Azores, Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Savage Isles. In ancient times these islands were referred to as "the Islands of the Blessed" or the "Fortunate Isles".

The islands were uninhabited till the 15th century CE, when Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the islands, establishing the first European settlement in the tropics. Ideally located for the Atlantic slave trade, the islands grew prosperous throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, attracting merchants, privateers, and pirates.

Since the early 1990s, Cape Verde has been a stable representative democracy and remains one of the most developed and democratic countries in Africa. Lacking natural resources, its developing economy is mostly service-oriented, with a growing focus on tourism and foreign investment. The escudo is the currency of the Republic of Cape Verde.

Until 1930, Cape Verde used Portuguese coins, although banknotes were issued by the Banco Nacional Ultramarino specifically for Cape Verde beginning in 1865. In 1914, notes in denominations of 4, 5, 10, 20 and 50 centavos were introduced.

The note depicted in the image is a 500 Escudos banknote issued in 1977. The obverse depicts a tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) to left; and the portrait of Amilcar Lopes Cabral to right. The reverse features the main port of Mindelo on the island of Sao Vicente; Mountains and shoreline of Santo Antao Island and city of Porto Novo harbour to center-left; and creatures of the ocean to right. This blue-grey note has the portrait of Amilcar Cabral as its watermark.

Image Courtesy: PicClick