Satellite image of Cap-Vert

Children play on N'Gor beach, at the northern tip of Cap-Vert.

Cap-Vert is a peninsula in Senegal, and the westernmost point of the continent of Africa and of the Old World mainland. Originally called Cabo Verde or "Cape Green" by Portuguese explorers, it is not to be confused with the Cape Verde islands, which are some 560 kilometres (350 mi) further west. Dakar, the capital of Senegal, is located near the southern tip.

Cap-Vert is a rocky promontory extending west from the main sandy areas of Senegal. Cap-Vert has an excellent harbor, facing Gorée Island.

Formed by a combination of volcanic offshore islands and a land bridge produced by coastal currents, it projects into the Atlantic Ocean, bending back to the southeast at its tip. Exposure to southwesterly winds contributes to Cape Verde's seasonal verdant appearance, in contrast to the undulating yellow dunes to the north.

The peninsula is shaped like a triangle (about 9 miles (14 km) per side), with the base of the triangle roughly along the north and its apex on the south, near Dakar. Near Pointe des Almadies, the north-western tip of the cape, lies Dakar's international airport, famous as a transatlantic ferrying point during World War II. Twin volcanic cones, the Deux Mamelles ("Two Teats"), dominate the landscape along the coast northwest of Dakar. The peninsula embraces a bay and a natural harbour in the southwest.

The indigenous inhabitants of the peninsula, the Lebou, lived as fishermen and farmers. Since about 1444, when the Portuguese first sighted the cape, it has been an entrepôt for African-European trade. The French later established the city of Dakar on the cape in 1857.

External links[link]

• Satellite picture by Google Maps

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Coordinates: 14°44′41″N 17°31′13″W / 14.74472°N 17.52028°W / 14.74472; -17.52028

Cesária Évora
Cesária Évora in 2008
Background information
Born	(1941-08-27)27 August 1941 Mindelo, Portuguese Cape Verde
Died	17 December 2011(2011-12-17) (aged 70) São Vicente, Cape Verde
Genres	Morna Coladeira
Occupations	Singer
Years active	1957–2011

Cesária Évora (Portuguese pronunciation: [sɨˈzaɾiɐ ˈɛvuɾɐ]; 27 August 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a Cape Verdean popular singer. Nicknamed the "Barefoot Diva" for performing without shoes,^[1] she was also the "Queen of Morna".^[2]

Life and career[link]

Cise (as her friends used to call her) was born on August 27, 1941 in Mindelo, São Vicente, Cape Verde. When she was seven years old her father (who was a part-time musician ^[3]) died, and at age ten she was placed in an orphanage, as her mother could not raise all six children. At the age of 16, she was persuaded by a friend to sing in a sailors' tavern.^[2]

In the 1960s, she started singing on Portuguese cruise ships stopping at Mindelo as well as on the local radio. It was only in 1985 when at the invitation of Cape Verdean singer Bana she went to perform in Portugal. In Lisbon she was discovered by the musician José da Silva and invited to record in Paris.^[4]

Évora's international success came only in 1988 with the release of her first album La Diva Aux Pieds Nus recorded in France.^[2] Her 1992 album Miss Perfumado sold over 300,000 copies worldwide, and included one of her most celebrated songs, "Sodade"^[5], composed by Bonga Kuenda (Angola 74).

Her 1995 album Cesária brought her broader international success and the first Grammy Award nomination.^[2] In 1997, she won KORA All African Music Awards in three categories: "Best Artist of West Africa", "Best Album" and "Merit of the Jury".^[6] In 2003, her album Voz d'Amor was awarded a Grammy in the World music category.^[2]

In 2010, Évora performed a series of concerts, the last of which was in Lisbon on May 8th. Two days later, after a heart attack, she was operated on at a hospital in Paris. On the morning of May 11, 2010 she was taken off artificial pulmonary ventilation, and on May 16, she was discharged from the intensive care unit and transported to a clinic for further treatment. In late September 2011, Évora's agent announced she was ending her career due to poor health.^[7]

On December 17, 2011, aged 70, Évora died in São Vicente, Cape Verde, from respiratory failure and hypertension.^[8] A Spanish newspaper reported that 48 hours before her death she was still receiving people -and smoking- in her home in Mindelo, popular for always having its doors open. ^[9]

Discography[link]

The house of Cesária Évora.

Studio albums[link]

• La Diva Aux Pieds Nus (1988)
• Distino di Belita (1990)
• Mar Azul (1991)
• Miss Perfumado (1992)
• Cesária (1995)
• Cabo Verde (1997)
• Café Atlantico (1999)
• São Vicente di Longe (2001)
• Voz d'Amor (2003)
• Rogamar (2006)
• Nha Sentimento (2009)

Compilations & live albums[link]

• Sodade - Les Plus Belles Mornas de Cesária (Best of compilation, 1994)
• Club Sodade (Remix album, 1996)
• Live à l'Olympia (Live album, recorded at the Paris Olympia, 1996)
• Colors of the World (Allegro Music, 1997)
• Live Lugano July 1997 (Live album, recorded at Lugano, 1997)
• Best Of' (Best of compilation, 1998) CAN: Gold^[10]
• Anthology (Best of compilation, 2002)
• Anthologie - Mornas & Coladeras (Double CD edition of Anthology, 2004)
• Live d'Amor (Live DVD, recorded in 2004 at Le Grand Rex, Paris, 2004)
• Un Geste Pour Haiti"

Singles[link]

• Nutridinha (2001)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cesária Évora

• Life and Work of Cesária Évora, in Portuguese
• Blog by the fans of Cesária Évora, the 1st page entirely in portuguese about her, 2008
• Official Website
• extensive bio by Radio France Internationale