Poor in natural resources, prone to drought and with little arable land, the Cape Verde islands are heavily dependent on food imports, sometimes in the form of aid.
The former Portuguese colony comprises 10 islands and five islets, all but three of which are mountainous.
During the 20th century severe droughts caused the deaths of 200,000 people and prompted heavy emigration. Today, more people with origins in Cape Verde live outside the country than inside it. The money that they send home brings in much-needed foreign currency.
From the mid-1990s, droughts cut the islands' grain crop by 80%, and in 2002 the government appealed for international food aid after the harvest failed.
Nonetheless, Cape Verde enjoys a per capita income that is higher than that of many continental African nations. It has sought closer economic ties with the US, EU and Portugal.
Tourism is on the rise, but there are concerns that it poses a threat to the Cape Verde's rich marine life. It is an important nesting site for loggerhead turtles and humpback whales feed in the islands' waters.
Cape Verde became independent in 1975, a year after its sister colony, Guinea-Bissau, won freedom from Portugal. The two countries planned to unite, but the plan was ditched after a coup in Guinea-Bissau in 1980 strained relations.
In 1991 Cape Verde held its first free presidential elections, which were won by Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro, who replaced the islands' first president, Aristides Pereira.
President: Pedro de Verona Rodrigues Pires
Incumbent leader Pedro Pires won presidential elections in February 2006, gaining 51% of the vote and narrowly defeating his rival, Carlos Veiga.
The pair have been Cape Verde's dominant political personalities since independence in 1975. Poverty, unemployment and the state of the economy were key issues in the 2006 poll.
Mr Pires, from the ruling African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), led the country from 1975 to 1990, when he lost Cape Verde's first multi-party elections to Mr Veiga's Movement for Democracy.
He took office again in March 2001 after beating Carlos Veiga by just 17 votes in February's elections.
Over the years the PAICV has shed its Marxist leanings and has embraced the market economy.
Pedro Pires was born in 1934 on the island of Fogo. He studied in Portugal and is a veteran of the struggle for independence.
Cape Verde is a republic with a president, who is the head of state, and a prime minister who heads the government. The prime minister is appointed by parliament.
Press freedom is guaranteed by law and is generally respected. Much of the media is state-run, but there is an active private press and a growing number of private broadcasters.
Portuguese public TV and radio services for Africa and Radio France Internationale are relayed across Cape Verde, and Portuguese and Brazilian newspapers are available. Local newspapers use their online presence to reach the many Cape Verdeans who live overseas.
Some radio and TV programmes are presented in the Crioulo tongue - an African-Portuguese hybrid.
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