Santiago, Cape Verde

Santiago (Portuguese for “Saint James”), or Santiagu in Cape Verdean Creole, is the largest island of the Cape Verde archipelago. It is the most important agricultural centre and home to half the nation’s population. Praia, the capital of the country is in this island.
The Santiago island is part of the Macaronesia, a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean with similar ecosystems.
History.
The island was discovered in around 1460 by António de Noli (or António da Noli), a 15th-century nobleman and navigator from Genoa that worked for Henry the Navigator of Portugal. De Noli founded in 1462 the old capital of the islands, Ribeira Grande, now known as Cidade Velha.
Population.
 (last national census), there were 273,919 people living in the island, giving it a population density of inhabitants/km².
The largest city of the island is Praia, its capital, with a population, in 2010, of 131,602.
Geography.
Santiago is in the southern "Sotavento" group of islands, at about to the west of the island of Maio and at about to the east of the island of Fogo.
The Santiago island has an area of ; it is long, north to south, and about wide, east to west.
The island is mountainous, although slightly flatter in the southeast. There are two volcanic mountain ranges:
There are two natural parks in the island to protect the plants and animals in the two mountain ranges:
Climate.
Praia, in the southeast coast, has a Tropical and Subtropical Desert climate (Köppen climate classification : Bwh).
The average temperature for the year in Praia is . The warmest month, on average, is August with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Praia is 8.3". The month with the most precipitation on average is August with of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is March without any precipitation. There are an average of 49.0 days of precipitation, with the most precipitation occurring in September with 7.0 days and the least precipitation occurring in December with 2.0 days.
Administration.
The Santiago island is divided in 9 municipalities ("conselhos") and 10 parishes ("freguesias").