São Salvador do Mundo
Santiago's interior agricultural municipality exploiting mountain moisture for vegetable and fruit production.
São Salvador do Mundo lies in Santiago's interior—a landlocked municipality where mountain agriculture represents the primary economic activity. Picos, the main settlement, sits at elevations that capture moisture unavailable in coastal areas.
Agricultural production mirrors other interior Santiago municipalities: vegetables, fruits, corn, beans, and livestock. The relatively wet microclimate enables cultivation despite Cabo Verde's generally arid conditions. Products supply local consumption and Praia's urban markets.
The municipality's small population and interior location limit service-sector development. Most residents engage directly in farming or related activities. Young people face the choice between agricultural life and emigration toward urban opportunities.
The biological pattern is interior niche occupation: São Salvador do Mundo exploits altitude-driven moisture gradients, creating agricultural capacity that coastal and flat islands lack but facing the isolation challenges common to mountainous rural areas.