Poor in natural resources, prone to drought and with little arable land, the Cape Verde islands have won a reputation for achieving political and economic stability.

The former Portuguese colony comprises 10 islands and five islets, all but three of which are mountainous. During the 20th century severe droughts caused the deaths of 200,000 people and prompted heavy emigration. Today, more people with origins in Cape Verde live outside the country than inside it. The money that they send home brings in much-needed foreign currency.

From the mid-1990s, droughts cut the islands' grain crop by 80%, and in 2002 the government appealed for international food aid after the harvest failed.

Nonetheless, Cape Verde enjoys a per capita income that is higher than that of many continental African nations. It has sought closer economic ties with the US, EU and Portugal.

In 2008 Cape Verde became only the second country after Botswana to be promoted by the United Nations out of the ranks of the 50 least developed countries. In recent years it has seen economic growth averaging 6%, the construction of three international airports and hundreds of kilometres of roads.

Tourism is on the rise, but there are concerns that it poses a threat to the Cape Verde's rich marine life. It is an important nesting site for loggerhead turtles and humpback whales feed in the islands' waters.

Cape Verde became independent in 1975, a year after its sister colony, Guinea-Bissau, won freedom from Portugal. The two countries planned to unite, but the plan was ditched after a coup in Guinea-Bissau in 1980 strained relations.

In 1991 Cape Verde held its first free presidential elections, which were won by Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro, who replaced the islands' first president, Aristides Pereira.

International dialling code: +238

• Full name: The Republic of Cape Verde
• Population: 512,600 (UN, 2010)
• Capital: Praia
• Area: 4,033 sq km (1,557 sq miles)
• Major languages: Portuguese, Crioulo (a mixture of archaic Portuguese and African words)
• Major religions: Christianity
• Life expectancy: 70 years (men), 75 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 Cape Verdean escudo = 100 centavos
• Main exports: Shoes, clothes, fish, bananas, hides, pozzolana (volcanic rock, used to make cement)
• GNI per capita: US $3,010 (World Bank, 2009)
• Internet domain: .cv

President: Pedro de Verona Rodrigues Pires

Incumbent leader Pedro Pires won presidential elections in February 2006, gaining 51% of the vote and narrowly defeating his rival, Carlos Veiga.

The pair have been Cape Verde's dominant political personalities since independence in 1975. Poverty, unemployment and the state of the economy were key issues in the 2006 poll.

Mr Pires, from the ruling African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), led the country from 1975 to 1990, when he lost Cape Verde's first multi-party elections to Mr Veiga's Movement for Democracy.

He took office again in March 2001 after beating Carlos Veiga by just 17 votes in February's elections.

Over the years the PAICV has shed its Marxist leanings and has embraced the market economy.

Pedro Pires was born in 1934 on the island of Fogo. He studied in Portugal and is a veteran of the struggle for independence.

Cape Verde is a republic with a president, who is the head of state, and a prime minister who heads the government. The prime minister is appointed by parliament.

Prime Minister: Jose Maria Neves

Jose Maria Neves became prime minister in 2001 and gained further five-year terms in 2006 and 2011.

In the 2011 elections, his African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) based its campaign on strong economic growth - averaging 6% after a golden period which included the construction of three international airports, ports, and hundreds of kilometres of roads throughout the islands.

The PAICV and the MPD have dominated politics since independence from Portugal in 1975. Both have run the country, for a 10-year stint each since multi-party democracy was introduced in 1991.

Press freedom is guaranteed by law and is generally respected. Much of the media is state-run, but there is an active private press and a growing number of private broadcasters.

Portuguese public TV and radio services for Africa and Radio France Internationale are relayed across Cape Verde, and Portuguese and Brazilian newspapers are available. Local newspapers use their online presence to reach the many Cape Verdeans who live overseas.

Some radio and TV programmes are presented in the Crioulo tongue - an African-Portuguese hybrid.

There were 150,000 internet users by June 2010, comprising around 30% of the population (Internetworldstats.com).

The press

• Jornal Horizonte - daily
• Expresso das Ilhas - weekly
• A Semana - weekly

Television

• Televisao Nacional De Cabo Verde (TNCV) - state-run

Radio

• Radio Nacional De Cabo Verde (RNCV) - state-run
• Radio Nova - Catholic station, Sao Vicente
• Radio Comercial - private, Praia
• Praia FM - private

News agency

• Inforpress - state-run

A chronology of key events:

1456 - First Europeans arrive in Cape Verde.

1495 - Cape Verde becomes a Portuguese crown colony.

1956 - Amilcar Cabral, a native of Cape Verde, co-founds the African Party for Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) in Guinea-Bissau.

1960 - PAIGC-led liberation war begins against Portuguese rule in Guinea-Bissau, with many Cape Verdeans joining in.

Independence

1975 - Cape Verde becomes independent and adopts constitution envisaging unity with Guinea-Bissau.

1980 - Cape Verde ditches plans for unity with Guinea-Bissau following coup in latter.

1981 - African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) replaces the PAIGC and becomes the country's sole party.

1991 - Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro becomes president following Cape Verde's first free election.

1992 - A new constitution brings in a multi-party system.

1996 - Mascarenhas Monteiro is re-elected and his party, the Movement for Democracy, wins a majority of seats in parliamentary elections.

2001 January - Government accepts defeat in parliamentary elections, paving the way for the return to power of the former ruling African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, the PAICV.

2001 March - Pedro Pires, from the Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, is elected president after beating his rival, the Movement for Democracy's Carlos Veiga, by 17 votes.

2006 January-February - Governing PAICV wins parliamentary elections and incumbent leader, Pedro Pires, is victorious in closely-contested presidential polls.

2006 June - Some 7,000 Nato troops take part in war games on Sao Vicente island. This is the organisation's first major deployment in Africa.

2007 December - World Trade Organization (WTO) council approves Cape Verde's accession to the organisation.

2009 August - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ends seven-nation tour of Africa in Cape Verde.

2009 November - National emergency declared following outbreak of dengue fever.

2010 July - A Syrian prisoner who had been detained at Guantanamo Bay by the US is transferred to Cape Verde.

2010 October - UN office on drugs and crime, UNODC, launches a project for cooperation between Brazil and seven West African countries - including Cape Verde - to tackle drug trafficking.

2010 February - Governing PAICV party wins parliamentary elections.