Ilha da Boa Vista

Boa Vista
  • ISS006-E-5222
  • 07 December 2002
  • 14:46 UTC

Boa Vista (Ilha da Boa Vista) is the easternmost island of the Cape Verde group, situated at the southeastern end of the the Windward Group (Ilhas do Barlavento). The island is located 39 km directly south from Sal and 78 km northeast from Maio in the Leeward Group (Ilhas do Sotavento). Senegal's Cap Vert, on the coast of West Africa, is located 570 km to the southeast. Boa Vista is approximately circular in shape, measuring 30 km across, covering an area of 634 km² — the third largest island of the Cape Verde Islands after Santo Ãntao and Santiago. It is, however, the least populated of the main islands.

Much of the island is of flat terrain, particularly in the west; in the east are the low remnants of an ancient volcanic landscape that today forms a belt of rugged, but low, terrain on the eastern side of the island, rising at Monte Estancia to a height of 387 m in the southeast (the mountain is visible in the large size image). Other high points in the east include Cacador (355 m), and Topo Vermelho (369 m). Santo Antonio (378 m) and Rocha Estancia (354 m) are located in the southwest, and the isolated Monte Calhau (326 m) in the northeast. The predominantly low-lying interior has a semi-arid to desert-like appearance, consisting of dunes, intermittent watercourses, and rocky to stony landscapes with scrub-type vegetation cover. Areas of salt pan are found in the south.

The coastlines of Boa Vista are generally low-lying also, with long curving expanses of sand-lined beaches broken by rocky headlands. Prominent among these in the above image are the Costa de Boa Esperanç on the north coast, Praia de Chave on the west, and on the southern coast the Praia do Curralinho and Praia de Lacação. A number of small islets lie immediately offshore, including: Ilhéu de Sal Rei (the largest) in the northwest, and several smaller islets in the northeast.

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