African migrants in Cabo Verde

Abstract

This article outlines the results of study among main migrant groups of Cabo Verde, nationals of Africa. Ethnographic expedition for studying contemporary ethnic processes worked on the archipelago in December 2019 - January 2020. A comprehensive research method was used, along with examination of written and statistical sources. Interviews with informants and experts and mass-survey of African migrants using representative sample was carried out.It turned out that before XX century there were no African migrants on the archipelago, and up to 98-99% of the population were Cabo Verdeans(creole) - descendants of African slaves that were brought on the islands up to the middle of XIX century. Modern migration from African countries started only in the beginning of XXI century, but migrants viewed Cabo Verde as a staging point for further resettling into Western Europe and Northern America. In 2010, total number of African settlers achieved 10 thousand people. In the mid-2010s, government passed new laws that heavily restricted migration and the stream of new people from Africa drastically declined. Now African immigrants make up less than 2% of the total population. This study allowed to find out the age and gender composition of immigrants, language processes, degree of adaptation to local culture, social and educational level of migrants, the degree of development of integration and assimilatory processes and other questions allowing to draw conclusion about the subsequent development of immigrant groups in the country.