São Domingos, Cape Verde (municipality)

{{short description|Municipality of Cape Verde}}

{{Other uses|São Domingos (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox Cape Verde settlement

| name = São Domingos

| image =

| image_seal =

| image_skyline = Santiago-São Domingos (2).jpg

| image_size =

| image_caption = Main street of São Domingos

| coordinates = {{coord|15.02|-23.52|type:adm1st_region:CV_dim:50000|display=inline,title}}

| image_map = São Domingos county, Cape Verde.png

| key = 75

| area = 147.5

|website = {{url|http://cmsd.cv/}}

}}

São Domingos is a concelho (municipality) of Cape Verde. It is situated in the southeastern part of the island of Santiago. Its seat is the city São Domingos (Várzea da Igreja). Its population was 13,699 at the 2010 census, and its area is 147.5 km².[http://ine.cv/censo_quadros/resumo-dos-indicadores-rgph-2010/ 2010 Census Summary]

File:Santiago-São Domingos (3).jpg

The two major settlements in the concelho are São Domingos and Praia Baixo, São Domingos (population about 3,000) being the largest settlement in the area. Smaller settlements in the area include Água do Gato, Achada Banana and Rui Vaz, which is situated on the edge of a 1 km high cliff overlooking Ribeirão Galinha. While Rui Vaz and Praia Baixo are the main tourist draws in the area, tourism does not constitute a major factor in the region’s overwhelmingly agrarian economy.

Farmlands cover the eastern and the central parts, where runoff from the center of the island allows a higher water table and loamier soils than the dense clays found on most of the island. Mountains dominate the western border, where the steep relief and lack of rainwater runoff makes large-scale agriculture impractical. Several dozen subsistence farming villages dot the main road leading towards Assomada, but produce negligible agricultural products for export.