More than 93% of the population of Cape Verde is nominally Roman Catholic, according to an informal poll taken by local churches. About 5% of the population is Protestant. The largest Protestant denomination is the Church of the Nazarene.
Primary school education in Cape Verde is mandatory between the ages of 6 and 14 years and free for children ages 6 to 12.
Cape Verdean cuisine owes much to European influences and to the life in the sea around the archipelago. Perhaps the most ubiquitous dish is catchupa, a dish of ground maize, beans and sometimes meat or chicken.