Sal (Portuguese for "salt" -- from the mines at Pedra de Lume) is an island in the country of Cape Verde, and the municipality of the same name. The island is 30 km long by 12 km wide. It belongs to the northern group of islands, called Barlavento and is one of the three sandy eastern islands (Sal, Boa Vista and Maio) of the archipelago, with white sandy beaches and fairly flat, with the highest elevation of 406 m at Monte Grande. Serra Negra has a height of 92 m.
The island was discovered on December 3, 1460 and named Llana until salt deposits were found. Sal is the oldest island in Cape Verde, formed 50 million years ago during the eruption of a volcano which is now inactive.
Sal's main town, Vila dos Espargos, is home to one of the nation's international airports and has around 8,000 inhabitants. Its population grew around salt collection and later shifted to fishing, but is now based on tourism (amounting to 50% of the archipelago's tourism) at the beach resort of Santa Maria.
Its airport, Amilcar Cabral International Airport, was used as a refuelling base by South African Airways on its Johannesburg to London routes. Later, flights to and from New York and Atlanta also refuelled there, and the island was a crew-change station. SAA established the long runways needed by the fully-fueled Boeing 707s on their take-offs in the high temperatures. On July 1, 2006, SAA operated its final flight to Sal due to the ending of its flights to Atlanta.
Saline marshes can be found in the Pedra Lume crater and north of Santa Maria. ClimateSal Island has 350 days of sunshine. Winds mainly blow from the northeast.
AdministrationThe island has only one parish, named Nossa Senhora das Dores.
TransportationThe major roads on the island are:
Santa Maria - Espargos Road (paved) Palmeira - Espargos Road (narrowly paved) Pedra de Lume - Espargos Road (paved) Espargos - Reguinho Fiúra Road (unpaved)
PlacesThere are six inhabited centers:
Pedra de Lume, on the eastern coast, is the most ancient, and the home of the first salt workers. Today it is only a small village with very few inhabitants. Palmeira is a fishing village, built around a port situated on the opposite coast of the island. It is also a small village but is growing. Espargos (5,758 for the town, 8,000 including Hortelão and Preguiça) is the main urban center and is situated between Pedra de Lume and Palmeira. It was formed around the international airport named after Amilcar Cabral (IATA airport code SID) located in the heart of the island. Terra Boa is the only place on the island where agriculture can be found on a large scale, as the island is very dry, mainly because it has no mountains to induce rainfall. This place is situated north of Espargos. Murdeira is a tourist resort, which is growing in population. Santa Maria (pop: 1,367), which was a former salt working village, is now the tourism center of the island. Other inhabited settlements are:
Feijoal, 1 km west of Pedra de Lume. Fontona, south of Palmeira. Reguinho Fiúra, a remote village near a lighthouse and overlooking Ponta Norte, the island's northernmost point.
Wikipedia - Sal Island
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