The island of Santiago was discovered byAntónio da Noli in 1460.[2]: 73 The first settlement on the island was Ribeira Grande (Cidade Velha). The villagePraia de Santa Maria was first mentioned around 1615 and grew near the naturalharbour.[3] The ports of Santiago were important ports of call for ships sailing between Portugal and the Portuguese colonies in Africa and South America. Between the end of the 16th century and the end of the 18th century, both Ribeira Grande and Praia suffered many pirate attacks, including those byFrancis Drake (1585) andJacques Cassard (1712).[2]: 195
Due to its strategic position on a plateau it had better protection against pirate attacks, which gave it a large advantage over the older city of Ribeira Grande (Cidade Velha). It gradually superseded Cidade Velha to become the most important settlement of Cape Verde, and became the capital of Cape Verde in 1770.[4] The navalbattle of Porto Praya took place atPraia Harbour on 16 April 1781, as Portugal was neutral, it involved Great Britain and France and ended in a tactical draw and French strategic victory. Praia was the first stop ofCharles Darwin's voyage withHMS Beagle in 1832.[5]
In the course of the 19th century, thePlateau was completely redeveloped with streets according to agrid plan, lined with grand colonial buildings and mansions.[4][6] Praia officially became a city (cidade) in 1858, which secured its status as the capital of Cape Verde, concentrating political, religious and economic roles.[2]: 55 In the early 1920s, the population was around 21,000.[7]
As in other parts of the archipelago, resistance against Portuguese rule rose in the 1950s. There was no open independence war like inGuinea-Bissau; after the 1974Carnation Revolution in Portugal and the resulting end of thePortuguese Colonial War, Cape Verde declared independence in July 1975. After independence, Praia underwent a demographic boom, receiving migrating movements from all the islands. As a result, 56% of the entire population of Cape Verde resides in Santiago; and 29% in the Municipality of Praia alone. Its estimated population has reached 151,436 (2015).[1]: 36 On 28 June 1985, Praia became member of UCCLA, the Union of Luso – Afro-Americo-Asiatic Capital Cities, an international organization.[8]
Geographically, Praia may be described as a set ofplateaus and their surroundingvalleys. These plateaus generally have the nameachada (Achada de Santo António, Achada de São Filipe, Achada Eugénio Lima, Achada Grande, Achadinha, etc. —achada being a Portuguese word to designate a volcanic plateau), but the central one is calledPlateau. The urban settlement is made mostly on top of these plateaus and along the valleys. Theislet of Santa Maria is in front of the beach bearing the same name.
For a long time, only thePlateau was considered to be the city, the other neighbourhoods being relegated to the condition of peripheral suburbs, in spite of always having a close relationship with thePlateau (people movements, goods and services exchanges, etc.). This is why only thePlateau previously had relatively well-developed urbanization with its own infra-structures. The remaining neighbourhoods developed in a more organic, chaotic way.
Only after independence did thePlateau merge with the other neighbourhoods to constitute what is now considered the City of Praia. The whole city was, at the time, equipped with adequate infrastructure. Urbanization begun immediately after independence and sought to expand north.
Praia has adesert climate (Köppen: BWh) with a shortwet season and a lengthy, very pronounceddry season. In fact, outside of the months of August, September and October, little precipitation falls on Praia. The city on average sees about 210 millimetres (8.3 in) of rain per year. Since the coldest month is far above 18 °C (64 °F) its temperature patterns resembles atropical climate, but lacks enough precipitation to be classified as such. 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 (81 °F) and an average low temperature of 22 °C (72 °F).Average temperatures in Praia generally remain at or above 20 °C year-round, with very rare brief dips below 20 °C occurring mostly during the coolest months.[9][10][11][12]
Nighttime temperatures in Praia generally remain above 20 °C year-round. While the table reflects official airport averages (1991–2020), additional sources (Weatherspark, Weather Atlas, Timeanddate, Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia e Geofísica) confirm that nighttime lows rarely drop below 20 °C.
According to the national statistics office, the city's population was estimated 159,050 as of July 2017. As of the mid-19th century, the population was estimated at 1,500 to 2,000.
When Edmund Roberts visited in 1832, he noted a population of black people in Praia totaling about "nineteen twentieths" of the population.[16]
The city of Praia is home to the first primary school in the archipelago, originally known as theEscola Central (today known as theEscola 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 neighbourhoods 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 theLiceu 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 theSeminário de Ribeira Brava on the island of São Nicolau, and later of the lyceum in Mindelo.
In 1960, Praia again had secondary education, first with a facility on 12 September Plaza and later in its own building. With the expansion of education in Cape Verde in the 1990s, buildings dedicated to education were constructed in Cape Verde, and Praia in 2016 had 12 secondary education schools.
Tourism is an important contributor to Praia's economy
The principal economic activities of Praia belong to the tertiary sector. Beyond activities related to administration and governance (local and national), there are extensive commerce, services (health care, education, tourism, restaurants and hotels, public functions, etc.), and other activities of a liberal character.[18]
Being the nation's capital as well as the economic hub, Praia is one of the most economically viable cities in the Cape Verde archipelago. About one third (1/3) of the city's population lives below the poverty line today (2014). The gross metropolitan product for the city is about 39% of the country's GDP, translating into US$4764 income per capita.
Public transport within the city of Praia is provided by the company SolAtlântico. There are 12 city bus lines. Intercityshare taxis for other cities on the island of Santiago depart from the Sucupira terminal in the city centre, which was opened in May 2018.[21] In 2015 a project called EcobusCV started running a fleet of dual fuel waste vegetable oil / diesel minibuses between Praia and Assomada. However, services were suspended in November 2016.[22]
There is theMuseu Etnográfico (Ethnographic Museum), which was founded in 1997. Some of the oldest buildings in Praia are Jaime Mota Barracks (Quartel Jaime Mota) dating from 1826. Since 2016, the historic centre of Praia is on the tentative list ofWorld Heritage Sites.[4]
Landmarks in the colonial city center include Albuquerque Square (named after the colonial governor of the mid 19th century,Caetano Alexandre de Almeida e Albuquerque), the old city hall built in the 1920s, thePresidential Palace, which was constructed in the end of the 19th century to house the Portuguese governor and theMonumento de Diogo Gomes, named after the Portuguesenavigator who discovered the island of Santiago in 1460.
Praia is home to several sports teams with the most popular football (soccer) clubs includeSporting,Boavista,Travadores,Académica,Vitória andDesportivo; others includeADESBA, based in Craveiro Lopes;Celtic, based in Achadinha de Baixo; Tchadense, based out of Achada Santo Antônio; Delta, and Eugênio Lima, based in that neighbourhood. Basketball clubs include ABC Praia, Bairro and Travadores. Volleyball clubs include Desportivo da Praia. All are part of theSantiago League South Zone. Many clubs play atEstádio da Várzea.
^"Normais Climatológicas" (in Portuguese). Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia e Geofísica. Archived fromthe original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved28 December 2020.
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