[2] The municipality consists of one freguesia (civil parish), Santo Amaro Abade.

[4] Under Salazar the Tarrafal Concentration Camp was built on the plain south of town (Chão Bom) to contain opponents of the political regime.

At the federal level, it belongs to the constituency of Santiago North.

Since 2004, the Movement for Democracy (MpD) is the ruling party of the municipality.

The results of the latest elections, in 2016:[7] Tarrafal is twinned with the following municipalities in Portugal:[8]