Location Atlantic Ocean Highest elevation 40 m (130 ft) Area 2 ha Municipality São Vicente | Width 0.10 km (0.062 mi) Population 0 Max length 150 m | |
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Other islets with the name Ilhéu dos Pássaros has one located near the island of Boa Vista, the other is in the Bijagós Archipelago and has its own lighthouse.
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Map of Ilh%C3%A9u dos P%C3%A1ssaros, Cape Verde
Ilhéu dos Pássaros is an uninhabited islet near the north coast of São Vicente Island, Cape Verde. It lies about 1.3 km (0.8 mi) west of the headland Ponta João Ribeiro, and 3.5 km (2.2 mi) northwest of Mindelo city centre. It lies between the Porto Grande Bay and the Canal de São Vicente, the channel of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the islands of São Vicente and Santo Antão. There is a lighthouse on the middle of the island facing the western part not far from the summit.
The islet was once connected with a rim that formed the outer caldera of Mindelo, thousands of years ago during the Ice Age, the area was nothing but land that used to be the "Northwestern Island", as the sea level rose, the islands split into São Vicente, Santo Antão and Santa Luzia and reduced to being a larger peninsula and split from the island to form its own islet. On an 1888 map collection book by Imray, it was displayed as Bird Island.
In recent years, the islet now forms a formal subdivision of the city of Mindelo, it is the smallest area and is the only uninhabited subdivision in the city.
Panoramic views of the nearby island, Monte Verde, Monte Cara and nearby Lazareto are offered.
Depictions
Along with Porto Grande Bay and the Port of Mindelo (or Porto Grande), Ilhéu dos Pássaros was featured on a Cape Verdean $500 escudo bill shown on the back issued between 1989 and 2000, Amílcar Cabral was shown in the front until 1992, the note was partly modified when a new government was established in 1992 and featured Baltasar Lopes da Silva on the front.