Santiago (Portuguese for “Saint James”) is the largest island of Cape Verde, its most important agricultural centre and home to half the nation's population.

It was the first of the islands to be settled: the town of Ribeira Grande (now Cidade Velha and a UNESCO World Heritage Site[2]) was founded in 1462.

The eastern side of the nearby island of Fogo collapsed into the ocean 73,000 years ago, creating a tsunami 170 metres (558 ft) high which struck Santiago.

[2] The wealth of Ribeira Grande and conflicts between Portugal and rival colonial powers France and Britain attracted pirate attacks, including those by Francis Drake (1585) and Jacques Cassard (1712).

With few natural resources and inadequate sustainable investment from the Portuguese, the citizens grew increasingly discontented with the colonial masters, who nevertheless refused to provide the local authorities with more autonomy.

The interior and the east coast are seasonally, and somewhat sporadically, hot tropical in climate and forested, whereas the south and southwest occupy the central uplands' arid rain shadow.

Due to their proximity to the Sahara, most are dry, but on those with high mountains and farther away from the continent, by orography (relief precipitation), the humidity is much higher, giving small upland rainforest habitats, but strongly affected by human presence.

It is the second busiest port in Cape Verde, after Porto Grande Bay on São Vicente, with 817,845 metric tonnes of cargo and 85,518 passengers handled in 2017.

[16] There are several small fishing ports along the coast, including Tarrafal, Cidade Velha, Pedra Badejo and Calheta de São Miguel.

In 2015 a project called EcobusCV started running a fleet of dual fuel waste vegetable oil / diesel minibuses between Praia and Assomada.

[23] Endangered endemic species of flora and fauna on Santiago include the plants Campanula bravensis, Campylanthus glaber, Conyza feae, Conyza pannosa, Diplotaxis varia, Echium hypertropicum, Limonium lobinii, Micromeria forbesii, Sonchus daltonii and Umbilicus schmidtii, and the animals Chioninia vaillantii and Tarentola rudis.

[25] Several sports are practised on Santiago, including football (soccer), basketball, volleyball, track and field, futsal and athletics.