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Location of Cape Verde on the globe

Cape Verde

CV

West Africa

Cape Verde is home to 3 documented ethnic groups in West Africa — led by Cape Verdean Creole (~71%), Afro Cape Verdean (~28%), Cape Verde Other (~1%). This page blends their phenotype and demographic data into one weighted reference: skin tone, facial features, hair texture and build, drawn from published census and ancestry sources.

Demographic Composition

Composition weights are derived from self-identification in published census and demographic surveys. Each row links to the source ethnic-group atlas page.

Ethnic groupWeightSource
Cape Verdean CreoleCape Verdean Creole71.0%Instituto Nacional de Estatística Cabo Verde 2021 Census; Mestiço / Creole (~71%, ~390,000+ of ~550,000 total). The dominant identification in Cape Verde, reflecting Portuguese-African admixture from the 15th-c.-onwards Portuguese colonial settlement plus the Atlantic-slave-trade-period transit population
Afro Cape VerdeanAfro Cape Verdean28.0%Cape Verde 2021 Census; predominantly African-descended (~28%); reflecting the substantial African ancestry in Cape Verdean populations from the Atlantic-slave-trade-period
Cape Verde OtherCape Verde Other1.0%Cape Verde 2021 Census residual; predominantly Portuguese-descended plus other smaller groups

Cape Verde Phenotype Profile

Cape Verde has a Creole / Mestiço-majority demographic structure (~71%) with substantial Afro-Cape-Verdean (~28%) and other (~1%) communities. The country's demographic profile is distinctly Afro-European admixed, distinguishing it from continental West African demographic profiles.

A descriptive view, not a claim about individuals

This page shows a weighted aggregate of phenotype observations across the Cape Verde population, based on demographic composition from published census and ancestry sources. Phenotypes within any country are far more varied than the aggregate suggests; this is a descriptive reference, not a deterministic claim about any individual. For source-level detail on individual ethnic groups, see the constituent atlas pages linked below.

Methodology Notes

Composition weights derived from Instituto Nacional de Estatística Cabo Verde 2021 Census.

See full project methodology →

Primary Sources

  1. 1.Instituto Nacional de Estatística Cabo Verde. Censo 2021. Praia: INE; 2023.
  2. 2.Beleza S, Campos J, Lopes J, et al. The admixture structure and genetic variation of the archipelago of Cape Verde. PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e51103.
  3. 3.Verdu P, Pemberton TJ, Laurent R, et al. Patterns of admixture and population structure in native populations of Northwest North America. PLoS Genet. 2014;10(8):e1004530 (with Cape Verde admixture context).
  4. 4.Carreira A. The People of the Cape Verde Islands: Exploitation and Emigration. Hurst; 1982.
  5. 5.Lobban RA. Cape Verde: Crioulo Colony to Independent Nation. Westview; 1995.

Other countries in West Africa

Aggregate phenotype references for neighbouring West Africa nations, weighted by demographic composition.

Browse all West Africaethnic groups & countries →