Santa Maria (Portuguese for Saint Mary) is a fishing town situated in the southern part of the island municipality of Sal, Cape Verde. The town is the third largest in Cape Verde and is one of the few that it is larger than the the municipal capital. Santa Maria is located about 15 km south of the Amílcar Cabral International Airport, and it is the southernmost point of the road linking north to Espargos. The GDP and the living standards are one of the highest in Cape Verde.

The streets follow mostly a grid system. The urban area is near the beach. Much of the area around Santa Maria is flat, dry and sandy with no vegetation. In the 1990s the population boomed owing to tourism. Hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops are within its main streets.

South of Santa Maria is a cape featuring a lighthouse in the island's southernmost point and is accessed with an unpaved road. Another road east links to the southeasternmost point.

In January 2008, Hilton Hotels announced plans to open the five-star, 268-room Hilton Cape Verde in the second quarter of 2010 in Santa Maria.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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