Editing History of Cape Verde (section)

==Prehistory==
[[File:1534 - Isolario di Benedetto Bordone - Canarias y Cabo Verde.jpg|thumb|alt=Old map|The [[Canary Islands]] and [[Cape Verde]] in the 1534 ''Isolario'' by [[Benedetto Bordone]]]]
[[File:Insulae Capitis viridis-1598.jpg|thumb|alt=A larger old map|''Insulae Capitis Viridis'' (1598), showing Cape Verde]]
	
The first islands formed, around 40&ndash;50 million years ago, were present-day [[Sal, Cape Verde|Sal]] and its eastern neighbors. The western islands were formed later, including [[São Nicolau, Cape Verde|São Nicolau]] (as early as 11.8 million years ago), [[São Vicente, Cape Verde|São Vicente]] (nine million years ago), present-day [[Santiago, Cape Verde|Santiago]] and [[Fogo, Cape Verde|Fogo]] (four million years ago), and [[Brava, Cape Verde|Brava]] (two to three million years ago).<ref name = Brown>{{cite journal | url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2015.18485 | doi=10.1038/nature.2015.18485 | title=Island boulders reveal ancient mega-tsunami | year=2015 | last1=Brown | first1=Emma | journal=Nature | s2cid=182938906 }}</ref><ref name = SeaLevel/> Millions of years after the seamounts rose above the Atlantic, the first lizards, insects and plants came to the archipelago, possibly on ocean currents from the African mainland when the ocean's [[salinity]] was lower.<ref name = SeaLevel>{{cite web | url=https://ocean.si.edu/through-time/ancient-seas/sea-level-rise | title=Sea Level Rise &#124; Smithsonian Ocean | date=30 April 2018 }}</ref>

The archipelago experienced several large volcanic eruptions, including [[Praia Grande, Cape Verde|Praia Grande]] 4.5 million years ago, São Vicente (and, possibly, present-day Porto Grande) 300,000 years ago,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ramalho|first=R|title=Traces of uplift and subsidence in the Cape Verde Archipelago|journal=Journal of the Geological Society|year=2010|volume=167|issue=3|pages=519–538|doi=10.1144/0016-76492009-056|bibcode=2010JGSoc.167..519R|s2cid=140566236|url=http://oceanrep.geomar.de/32040/2/18390SupPub.pdf}}</ref> [[Topo da Coroa]] 200,000 years ago, and east of present-day [[Fogo, Cape Verde|Fogo]] 73,000 years ago which inundated coastal Santiago Island and possibly Brava and part of the Barlavento Islands.<ref name = Brown/>

During the [[Last glacial period|last Ice Age]], the sea level dropped to about {{convert|130|m}} below its current level. Cape Verde's islands were slightly larger, and there was a large island known as Northwest Island. [[Santo Antão, Cape Verde|Santo Antão]] was one kilometer northwest of the island; [[Boa Vista, Cape Verde|Boa Vista]] and [[Maio, Cape Verde|Maio]] were one island, and another island known as Nola (Ilha da Nola, northwest of Santo Antão) was about {{convert|80|to|90|m}} meters above sea level. Before the end of the Ice Age, the Eastern Island (Ilha Occidental) split into three islands; one became submerged and is now the [[João Valente (reef)|João Valente Reef]], the [[Canal de São Vicente]] widened to provide {{convert|12|km}} separation from Santo Antão, Nola Island was submerged and again became a seamount, and eastern Northwest Island broke up into São Vicente, the smaller [[Santa Luzia, Cape Verde|Santa Luzia]], and the two islets of [[Ilhéu Branco|Branco]] and [[Ilhéu Raso|Raso]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.addisherald.com/africa/cape-verde/#gmedia9767 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809201925/https://www.addisherald.com/africa/cape-verde/#gmedia9767 | url-status=usurped | archive-date=August 9, 2020 | title=Cape Verde – Addis Herald }}</ref>