Achada Grande Frente

Achada Grande Tras
Neighborhood
View of Achada Grande Frente with bits of Lem Ferreira in the west from Miradouro do Cruzeiro in the Plateau of Praia
Country	Cape Verde
Island	Santiago Island
City	Praia
Postal code	7600
Website	www.cmpraia.cv

Achada Grande Frente or Achada Grande Leite (meaning the front portion of Achada Grande) is a volcanic plateau and a subdivision in the east of Praia in the island of Santiago, Cape Verde. It is the largest neighborhood in Praia being around 25 km2, its length is 1.2 km (urban) and 1.5 km (remainder) and its width ranges from 400 meters in the mid north to 600 meters at the widest in the south. The highest point is 64 meters in the northeast corner at a roundabout, the elevation at the center is about 56 meters, the lowest point is the Atlantic and the Praia Harbor. Other elevation area is 37 meters at the south escarpment.

Bordering neighbourhoods includes the larger Achada Grande Tras to the north the east, Platô in the southwest, Lem Ferreira in the west and Cova Mendes in the northwest. Praia Harbor dominates the south and southwest. It is bounded by Rua do Aeroporto and the area of the stream to the north, Avenida John F. Kennedy and Rua Achada Grande to the east, the Port of Praia in the south, Avenida Charles Darwin (then Rua do Porto) in the southwest and Ribeira da Trindade in the west.

It includes an area that was the southern portion of Francisco Mendes International Airport, an airport existed between 1961 and 2004.

The geography before the 16th century is mainly unknown, the area around Ribeira da Trindade is forested.

Portugal never took part in the Anglo-French War which happened between 1778 and 1783 and was a neutral country. The Battle of Porto Praya which involved Great Britain and France took place at the harbor on April 16, 1781, it occurred south of Achada Grande, about 300 to 400 feet (about 100 meters) south, three British convoys were in the southwest, two near Ribeira Grande and one closer where the Porto of Praia is located today.

In the 1960s, Achada Grande Frente became a part of the city Praia, it remained to be a part of the then village of Achada Grande until independence in 1975 when it was fully a part of the city.

Agriculture dominated the area up to the 1980s when the urban sprawl of Praia spreaded to the area in the 1960s, tmuch of the residential part became urbanized in the 1990s, it was not fully urbanized until the early 2000s, agricultural lands and some forest groves dominates the remainder in the northwest. Industrial buildings began to appear along with other business buildings in the 2000s, several were added in 2007 and more were added in 2011 and 2014 and are currently developing. That portion has the remaining undeveloped area still remaining today.