Praia (municipality)
| Praia | ||
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| Municipality | ||
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| Coordinates: 14°57′N 23°31′W / 14.95°N 23.52°WCoordinates: 14°57′N 23°31′W / 14.95°N 23.52°W | ||
| Country | Cape Verde | |
| Island | Santiago | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 102.6 km2 (39.6 sq mi) | |
| Population (2010) | ||
| • Total | 130,271 | |
| • Density | 1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi) | |
| Website | Official website | |
Praia is a concelho (municipality) of Cape Verde. It is situated in the southern part of the island of Santiago. Its seat is the city Praia, the capital of Cape Verde. Its population was 130,271 at the 2010 census. The municipality consists of one freguesia (civil parish), Nossa Senhora da Graça. The city hall is located in the Plateau part of the city which is the city center south of Praça Alexandre Albuquerque or 12 de Setembro. East is Rua Serpa Pinto. Other nearby landmarks includes the Praia Pro-Cathedral, the Presidential Palace and the Banco Comercial do Atlântico (BCA), until 1975, it was Banco Nacional Ultramarino who occupied that space. The building has colonial neoclassical architecture and has two stories with an extra third storey in the middle portion, white facade in its windows and two yellow stripes in the middle part.
Praia is one of the oldest municipalities in Cape Verde. It was created in the 18th century, when the then town of Praia de Santa Maria received city status and became the new capital of the Portuguese dominion of Cape Verde. Through history, its municipal territory has been successively reduced due to demographic increase.
By the end of the 19th century, the Municipality of Praia occupied the southern half of the island, while the northern half was the Municipality of Santa Catarina and from 1917 also Tarrafal. In 1971, the two northern parishes of the Municipality were split off to become the Municipality of Santa Cruz. In 1988, two more northern parishes of the Municipality were split off to become the Municipality of São Domingos. In 2005, two western parishes of the Municipality were split off to become the Municipality of Ribeira Grande de Santiago.
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