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Regions
Boavista	Brava	Fogo
Maio	Sal	Santa Antao
Santiago	Sao Nicolau	Sao Vicente
Getting There

Sal is the most touristic of all the Cape Verde islands. It is quite a barren island and is the flattest of all the Cape Verde islands. What Sal does have is excellent beaches making it a mecca for water sports. Sal takes it's name from the now inactive salt mines. Sal is the only island to currently have an international airport. Developers are already exploiting the opportunities here by opening up new beaches for development. Because of Sal's tourists, there is no lack of places to eat and drink. There are plenty of bars and restaurants - some hosting live local music. Sal is flat, dry and relatively small, with only two major settlements: the capital Espargos and the tourist resort Santa Maria. The island is perhaps most famous for its international airport, making it the gateway to Cape Verde for most travellers. In terms of attractions, there is little more than the beaches (which are splendid) and the tourist facilities themselves, which - at least until recently - have been lacking in most other islands. The tourist industry has attracted large numbers of migrants from Santiago, São Vicente and São Nicolau, and the island's population has nearly doubled during the last decade.

The island of Sal, in view of its close proximity to the African continent, has a climate very similar to other zones with the same latitude. It is a very arid island, and although volcanic in origin, constant erosion throughout its history has made it almost flat. The highest point is Monte Vermelho, with a height of 406m.

From north to south, it is about 3Okm long but does not exceed more then 12km in width. The overall surface area is 216km2.

The International Airport of Sal is the main gateway to the whole archipelago.

Getting There/Getting Around By air: Sal is one of the main flight hubs across the archipelago. By sea: The island is not served by a regular public ferry service. On land: Car / jeep hire is available - if you do not want to hire a car, Sal has plenty of taxis to run you around. Hiring a jeep can take you all over this island, which prides itself on providing high quality tourism.

History
Sal was discovered in 1640 and was first known as Llana or Plana meaning "flat'. It was given its present name when a lagoon in a crater of an extinct volcano was discovered and in this place, after the rains, salt was produced. This crater is now known as Padra Do Lume.

Sal was practically uninhabited and used only for grazing animals by the neighbouring population of Boavista. It was only when salt was discovered that Sal began to grow in importance and, in fact, salt became its main export right up until the middle of this century.
With a strong contribution from Italy and the recognition that a fuelling point for flights to South America was necessary, the International Airport was built in 1939. As a result, quite a large internal migration took place, particularly from Sao Nicolau to Sal. This factor made the construction of the tourist complexes possible, which for the last 20 years has been growing, particularly in Santa Maria, the region where the old salt pits were.