Cape Verde (New World)

The Territory of Cape Verde (pronounced /ˌkeɪp ˈvɜ:rd/ ( listen); Portuguese: Cabo Verde, pronounced [ˈkabu ˈveɾdɨ]) is an island territory, spanning an archipelago located in the Macaronesia ecoregion of the North Atlantic Ocean, off the western coast of Africa, opposite Mauritania and Senegal.

It is slightly more than 4,000 km2 in area with an estimated population of over 620,000, most of this due to US military bases stationed on the islands. The capital of Cape Verde is Praia. The previously uninhabited islands were discovered and colonized by the Portuguese in the 15th century, and attained independence from Portugal in 1917 when they were captured by the United States in World War I, and incorporated as a territory in the Treaty of Versailles in 1918.