General Information

Geography
Paul is the smallest of the three counties on the island of Santo Antão, with a total area of 54.26 km² and a population of 8,383 inhabitants. Vila das Pombas, the main town of Paul, is situated on the northern shore of Santo Antão. The town is between Ponta da Tumba (Latitude 17° 07’N, Longitude 24° 58’W) and Ponta de Saudade (Latitude 17° 10’N, Longitude 25° 01’W). The valley of Ribeira do Paul can be characterized as a plush, mountainous terrain rich in vegetation. It is undoubtedly the most beautiful place in all of Cape Verde.

History
The island of Santo Antão was first discovered on January 17, 1462 by Portuguese navigators. Settlement began in the year 1548, first by Portuguese and African and later by Spaniards, Italian, English, and American. The Africans constituted the slave work until the year of 1780, the year when Royal Decree declared the population of the island free and exempt of any slavery.

The mixture of several cultures created a society of its very own, with differences in characteristics from the other islands, namely in the style of speech with the presence of archaic Portuguese still evident today in their Kriolu, the spoken language in Cape Verde. The island was officially divided into two different counties- Ribeira Grande and Paul on April 3, 1867. Four years later (March 1, 1871), Governor Geral of Província designated a commissioning body of government to organize and inaugurate an administration for the district of Paul.

Vegetation
The vegetation of Paul is very diverse. Much of it is indigenous and that which is not comes from several sources. In Paul there are centennial trees, some of which are very large. These trees are protected and preserved.

An old Administrator of the County and Captain of the Portuguese Colonial Army, Serafim Oliveira, introduced to Paul a substantial number of plants and trees, namely the well known and appreciated "caneca" sugarcane (used essentially in manufacturing of the liquor and molasses). He also introduced a type of mango tree and Jaqueira, commonly known as "breadfruit tree" - it reaches a significant size and gives fruit all year.

The dragoeiro is a symbol of resistance to the drought. It is protected by government ordinance, as it is close to extinction. It exists only on the Islands of Macaronésia, with concentration on the Canary Islands. In Cape Verde it mainly exists on islands of Santo Antão, Brava, and S. Nicolau.

Pavement of the Roads
In Paul the pavement of streets and highways is cobblestoned - made by laying down small rectangular stones. Even the steepest and the narrowest paths up the valleys are skillfully cobblestoned.