title: Sotavento Islands
text: # Sotavento Islands
  
  15°00′N 24°00′W﻿ / ﻿15.000°N 24.000°W﻿ / 15.000; -24.000
  
  The Sotavento Islands (Portuguese: Ilhas de Sotavento, literally, the Leeward Islands) is the southern island group of the Cape Verde archipelago. There are four main islands. The western three islands, Brava, Fogo and Santiago, are rocky and volcanic agricultural islands, with the longest histories of human habitation. The fourth and easternmost island Maio is a flat desert island whose economy was primarily based on salt, giving it more in common with the Barlavento islands Sal and Boa Vista. The Ilhéus do Rombo are barren islets north of Brava. The total area of the Sotavento Islands is 1,803 $km^2$ (696 sq mi).
  
  