Tarrafal is a concelho (municipality) of Cape Verde. It is situated in the northern part of the island of Santiago. Its seat is the town Tarrafal. Its population was 18,565 at the 2010 census, and its area is 120.8km2.

General view of the town and the bay
Beach
Saint Amaro Abade Church
Market Hall

Subdivisions

The municipality consists of one freguesia (civil parish), Santo Amaro Abade. The freguesia is subdivided into the following settlements (population data from the 2010 census):

History

The municipality was created in 1917, when two northern parishes of the older Municipality of Santa Catarina were split off to become the Municipality of Tarrafal. In 1997, the southeastern part of the municipality was split off to become the Municipality of São Miguel. Under Salazar the Tarrafal Concentration Camp was built on the plain south of town (Chão Bom) to contain opponents of the political regime.

Demography

Population of Tarrafal (1940—2010)
YearPopulation
194018,840
195013,222
196019,140
197026,251
198024,202
199011,626
200018,059
201018,565

Politics

At the federal level, it belongs to the constituency of Santiago North. Since 2004, the Movement for Democracy (MpD) is the ruling party of the municipality. The results of the latest elections, in 2016:

PartyMunicipal CouncilMunicipal Assembly
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
MpD53.70754.2210
PAICV43.11042.547

Notable people

International relations

Tarrafal is twinned with the following municipalities in Portugal:

External links