Sal

Sal
  • ISS006-E-5223
  • 07 December 2002
  • 14:47 UTC

The island of Sal (Ilha do Sal) is the most northeasterly of all the Cape Verde Islands, being located at the eastern extremity of the Ilhas do Barlavento group, 78 km north from Boa Vista. With an area of 216 km², Sal measures 30 km in length (orientated north to south) and 12 km in width. (North is to the right in the above image.)

Like the other islands of the east — Maio and Boa Vista — Sal has a very flat and arid landscape that is largely devoid of vegetation cover. The low topography is broken in the north by the isolated peaks of a few highly eroded volcanic remnants: Monte Grande (407 m) in the northeast, Monte Rocha da Salina (299 m) also in the northeast, and Morro Leste (263 m) in the northwest. The southern end of the island is of extremely low elevation.

Immediately offshore from the mainland are a few small rocky islets, including Ilhéu Rabo de Junco (off the central west coast), Ilhéu da Fragata (off the southeast coast) and the rocky outcrops of the Ilhéus do Chano (off the central east coast).

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