Paul is a concelho (municipality) of Cape Verde. It covers all the valley named the Vale do Paul. Situated in the northeastern part of the island of Santo Antão, it covers 7% of the island area, and is home to 16% of its population, the majority are rural. Its capital is the town Pombas. In area, the municipality is the 4th smallest and the 19th largest in the nation, in population it had the 17th largest and the 6th smallest in 2000.

Paul are connected with a road linking west Ribeira Grande and north of the island and since 2009 linking east then south and west to Porto Novo and south and west of the island without using the difficult road that crosses high in the mountains at around 1,400 m elevation.

It is part of a protected natural space in Cape Verde under the statute of natural park of Cova-Ribeira da Torre-Paul. The protected area covers Ribeira da Torre, within the Corda Crater and all of Paul Valley with som exception of the southeast.[2]

Its geology consists of basalt rocks formed 1.4 million to 700,000 years ago. It is the known as the Cova Group which has Cova, Corda and Paul rock formations.[3] In the southwest is the Cova crater.

The municipality and parish

The municipality consists of one freguesia (civil parish), Santo António das Pombas. The freguesia is subdivided into the following settlements, it population data was of the 2010 census:

The Paul Valley on Santo Antão

Demography

Population of Paul, Cape Verde (1940—2010)
1940[4] 1950[4] 1960[4] 1970[4] 1980[4] 1990[4] 2000[5] 2010[6]
5845 5370 6024 8000 7983 8121 8385 6997

History

The Municipality of Paul is one of the oldest administrative divisions in Cape Verde. By the end of the 19th century it merged with the older Municipality of Ribeira Grande, becoming the Municipality of Santo Antão. In 1971 the Municipality of Santo Antão was redivided in 3 municipalities: Ribeira Grande, Paul and Porto Novo.

In around 2009 and 2011, several windmills were built in the southeastern part of the municipality in an area where rural roads once difficultly connected to the road to Ribeira Grande and the west of the island, now they are connected with the new road, that area is located between Ponta do Tumbo and the municipal boundary. Windmills provide renewable energy to Paul and the north of the island.

Sports

Sport clubs

  • Foguetões, the football (soccer) club that currently plays in the north zone of the regional league
  • Irmãos Unidos, the football (soccer) club that is a part of the north zone of the regional league
  • União Desportivo Janela, the football (soccer) club that currently plays in the north zone of the regional league
  • Paulense Desportivo Clube, the chief club of the north zone of the regional league

Local competitions

Each year, the municipality of Paul has the Paul Municipal Cup which consists of four clubs based in the municipality. It takes place in around October or November of each year.

Notable people

  • Antoninho Travadinha, commonly known as Travadinha, one of the most autodidactic musicians of the nation

Politics

From 2004-2008 and since 2012, the Movement for Democracy is the ruling party of the municipality which won 54.7% in the last election.

Municipal assembly

2004
%		 2004
seats		 2008
%		 2008
seats		 2012
%		 2012
seats
Movement for Democracy 56.44 7 43.3 - 54.7 7
PAICV 43.56 6 50.3 - 42.9 6

Municipality

2004
%		 2004
seats		 2008
%		 2008
seats		 2012
%		 2012
seats
Movement for Democracy 56.12 5 44.2 0 55.4 7
PAICV 43.88 0 51.4 7 42.3 0

Sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Cape Verde

Paul has three sister cities and municipalities, all of them are in Portugal: Almodôvar, Benavente and Sernancelhe

References

  1. ^ "2010 Census results". Instituto Nacional de Estatística Cabo Verde (in Portuguese). 17 March 2014. 
  2. ^ Áreas protegidas, Cabo Verde (Portuguese)
  3. ^ Holm, Paul Martin (2006). Sampling the Cape Verde Mantle Plume: Evolution of Melt Compositions on Santo Antão, Cape Verde Island. 47. p. 145-18. doi:10.1093/petrology/egi071. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f Source: Statoids
  5. ^ Source: Instituto Nacional de Estatísticas.
  6. ^ "2010 Census results Santo Antão". Instituto Nacional de Estatística Cabo Verde (in Portuguese). 23 March 2014. 

External links