Santa Maria

Santa Maria (Portuguese for Saint Mary) is the small fishing town situated in the southern part of the island municipality of Sal, Cape Verde. The town is the third largest city in Cape Verde and is one of the few cities in Cape Verde that it is larger than the island or the municipal capital. The is located about 12 km south of Mindelo, the island capital and is the southernmost point of the road linking north to Espargos. The town also serves ferry routes with its harbor and its port to the islands of São Vicente (Mindelo), São Nicolau (Tarrafal), Boa Vista (Sal Rei) and Santiago (Tarrafal/Praia?). The GDP and the living standards are one of the highest in Cape Verde.

The street system are grid. The urban area are within the harbor. The urban plan of the mid and late-20th century were never paved and grass were never seen. Much of the area around Santa Maria are flat, dry and sandy with no vegetation and vegetation is mainly in Santa Maria. Several hills and mountains dominate the northeast. Housing developments arrived in the 1990s and the population boomed and is presently booming slow to this day. Hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops are within its main streets and is the most famous industries in Santa Maria as tourism, businesses and agriculture are ranked after tourism.

South of Santa Maria is a cape featuring a lighthouse in the island's southernmost point and is accessed with an unpaved road. Another road east links to the southeasternmost point.