Cabo Verde Accordion Stamp

Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1997
To: hmtrad@hmtrad.com
From: "Hellrigl Manfred, Dr." (manfred.hellrigl@vlr.gv.at)

I'm glad you enjoyed the stamp. Cabo Verde (Cape Verdian Islands) is one of the poorest countries in the world, but as you might expect, they are very very friendly. The overall population is approximately 900,000 people, but only 300,000 live on the 9-island archipelago, the rest is spread over the world, primarily to the USA (Boston) and Europe. Because of water shortage - it rains only three or four days a year - it's pretty hard to make a living there, so they have to emigrate.

I bought the stamp in a post office in the town of Praia, that's the capital of the Cabo Verde islands.