The Historical Reason Most Cape Verdeans Are Light-Skinned

Cape Verde, located off West Africa, has a predominantly light-skinned population. This traces back to its founding by the Portuguese in the 1460s when the islands were uninhabited. The Portuguese used Cape Verde as a transit hub for enslaved people from Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, and Balanta groups in the Senegal-Gambia region. Many were baptized, given Portuguese names, and mixed with settlers. Their mixed-race descendants, known as mulattoes, now account for about 71% of Cape Verde’s population. About 28% identify as African, and roughly 1% are Portuguese or other European expatriates.

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