The Admixture Histories of Cabo Verde: New DNA Studies!

Cape Verde’s football team, a.k.a. Tubarões Azuis (The Blue Sharks), almost reached the semi-finals of the Africa Cup this year. Never mind being a “small” nation of around 1 million people (islands + diaspora). Cape Verdean team spirit, talent and guts are widely acclaimed! It must be in the genes 😉

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Ever since I got my first DNA test results in 2010 I have been researching my Cape Verdean roots from several angels. Of course everything starts with personal genealogy. But for deeper understanding I also take into account: population genetics, historical demography and cultural retention. In 2014 I created a separate website for this purpose: CVRAIZ: Specifying The African Ethnic Origins for Cape Verdeans. In 2015 (on this blog) I published my first survey findings based on Cape Verdean personal DNA test results. Furthermore I have always been applying a comparative analysis to see how Cape Verde fits in the broader picture of the Afro-Diaspora.¹

In the last couple of years several new peer reviewed studies have been published using a similar research approach. So that makes it very interesting to compare notes with my own research findings! I will mainly focus on the most recent study “The Admixture Histories of Cabo Verde” (Laurent et al., 2023) (original title prior to peer review). But I will also refer to a few other studies.

The Admixture Histories of Cabo Verde (Laurent et al., 2023)

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“Cabo Verdean Kriolu is the first creole language of the TAST, born from contacts between the Portuguese language and a variety of African languages. The archipelago thus represents a unique opportunity to investigate, jointly, genetic and linguistic admixture histories and their interactions since the mid-15th century.” (Laurent et al., p.4).

“We find that admixture from continental Europe and Africa occurred first early during the TAST history, concomitantly with the successive settlement of each Cabo Verdean island between the 15th and the early 17th centuries”. (Laurent et al., p.26).

“Finally, we find that recent European and African admixture in Cabo Verde occurred mainly […] in the 1800s“. (Laurent et al., p.27).

“our results highlight both the unity and diversity of the genetic peopling and admixture histories of Cabo Verde islands […].” (Laurent et al., p.27)

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Figure 1 (click to enlarge)Source: Korunes et al. (2022). This plot shows how there’s shared ancestry between all islands. Even when the degrees of kinship will naturally be greater on each separate island and also among certain subsets of islands. In particular the socalled NW cluster (a.k.a. Barlavento islands) and Boavista. Fogo is being mentioned as having the highest incidence of endogamy. While this study also confirms that Santiago is clearly the oldest population of the entire island group. Based purely on their DNA analysis but in fact in line with known history!

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Recent studies on Cape Verdean Genetics

• A genetic and linguistic analysis of the admixture histories of the islands of Cabo Verde (Laurent et al., 2023).
• Sex-biased admixture and assortative mating shape genetic variation and influence demographic inference in admixed Cabo Verdeans (Korunes et al., 2022).
• Rapid adaptation to malaria facilitated by admixture in the human population of Cabo Verde (Hamid et al., 2021).

My own research 

• 100 Cape Verdean AncestryDNA results (Fonte Felipe, 2018) 
• DNA matches reported for 50 Cape Verdeans on AncestryDNA (Fonte Felipe, 2018)
• 100 Cape Verdean 23andme results (Fonte Felipe, 2021)
• Ethnic group matches on 23andme for 50 Cape Verdeans (Fonte Felipe, 2022)

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I have been eagerly anticipating these most recent DNA studies on Cape Verdean genetics. And I am also very excited about the prospects for follow-up research. These new papers are firstmost a continuation of previous peer reviewed DNA studies about Cape Verde (see this link for an overview). In fact some outcomes repeat and reinforce my own earlier key findings (2011-2022).² Still there are a few intriguing novelties as well. Providing meaningful insight.

I truly appreciate all the efforts of the research teams behind these studies. But I do have to point out that I have mixed feelings about the accuracy of the historical framework. Especially as provided by Laurent et al. (2023). This study seems to have overlooked an essential aspect of Cape Verde’s historical demography. Because most likely already in the late 1600’s a majority of the Cape Verdean population (both black and mixed-race) was no longer enslaved (see this table). Cape Verde is indeed part of the Atlantic Afro-Diaspora. And especially in its early history (1460-1660) Cape Verde was greatly impacted by the TAST (Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade). But several singular aspects about the Cape Verdean experience do require very careful and context-dependent analysis!

1. Main outcomes
   • Genetic clustering of Cape Verdeans according to island origins.
   • Differentiation of African ancestry according to island origins.
     • Greater genetic affinity with Wolof samples among Barlavento islanders
     • Minor “Nigerian” and Central African lineage among Cape Verdeans
   • Various admixture pulses but all islands have substantial shared ancestry from the 1500’s.
2. Getting the historical context right
   • Most Cape Verdeans (80+% of population) have been free of slavery since at least 1731
   • Other points of critique.
3. Suggestions for future research
   • Sampling: apply criterium of 4 grandparents born on the same Cape Verdean island.
   • More granular analysis of non-Senegambian/Iberian origins: Sierra Leone, Sephardi Jewish, Goa etc..
   • New research agenda involving Cape Verdean Diaspora.

New Update on 23andme: Ethnic Group Matches within Africa! (part 2)

This is the second part of my blogseries which deals with the update last month on 23andme. Introducing no less than 25 ethno-linguistic groups from Africa to get matched with! In order to learn more about the ethnic origins of some of your African ancestors. In the first part of this series I already covered the question of how accurate these ethnic group matches might be. Follow link below for more details:

• New Update on 23andme: Ethnic Group Matches within Africa! (part 1)

In this post I will be focusing on what to expect. Basing myself mostly on the survey findings for 100 African Americans and 50 Cape Verdeans. But I will also post screenshots of updated results from other parts of the Afro-Diaspora.

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Figure 1 (click to enlarge)

These are the updated results of a Cape Verdean cousin of mine. It was already very useful how 23andme is able to pinpoint recent ancestry from Cape Verde. However with these new ethnic group matches also historically plausible origins from mainland Africa are confirmed for Cape Verdeans. Although to be sure there are many other ethnic groups from across Upper Guinea which also contributed to Cape Verde’s African Roots (see this website).

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Just to quickly repeat myself. Last month 23andme released its most recent update which could very well signal the start of a truly game-changing feature for zooming into ethno-linguistic African lineage¹. Of course this new feature on 23andme, based on matching strength, is not perfectly flawless. However despite a few shortcomings I am very excited about this update on 23andme! Because based on more than 50 updated results for Africans (see this overview) I am quite impressed with the accuracy of this tool. Also the results I have seen for 50 Cape Verdeans and 100 African Americans are actually in line with historical plausibility.

This update has already been fully rolled out.² But still the odds of obtaining even only one of the 25 ethno-linguistic groups are rather low for most people. Depending also on your background. It seems for African Americans there’s only about a 20% chance. For many people 23andme is simply not able to detect a sufficient level of matching strength. Which is inevitable given the limitations of 23andme’s current African reference database. Understandably this may come as a big disappointement. However don’t despair because this update is a work in progress and upcoming updates will eventually reach more people! Glass half full mentality also for 2022 😉

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Figure 2 (click to enlarge)

Take note that the updated results on the right only feature one ethnic group match. Despite this African American woman being over 80% African and regionally speaking from atleast 4 major areas in West & Central Africa. Of course this finding in itself is already incredibly valuable. However this possibly Fula and/or Wolof lineage most likely covers less than 5% of her total ancestry. While for her primary region “Nigerian” not a single ethnic group has appeared yet. In fact, although not being detected she might still also have additional Mandinka ancestors. To be grouped under “Senegambian & Guinean”. Follow-up research is still needed if you want to uncover your entire African lineage!   

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In the remaining part of this blog post I will discuss the following:

1. Survey findings for 100 African Americans
   • “Igbo”, “Kongo & Mbundu” and “Fula & Wolof” most frequent
2. Survey findings for 50 Cape Verdeans
   • “Fula & Wolof” and “Mandinka” most frequent
3. Updated results from other parts of the Afro-Diaspora 
   • Atlantic Afro-descendants (Brazil, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti etc.)
   • Indian Oceanic Afro-descendants (Mauritius/Réunion, Seychelles, South African Coloured, UAE)
4. Considerations
   • Recap previous disclaimers
   • Some ethnic group matches appear more frequently than others
   • Each regional admixture category potentially includes ancestors from various ethnic groups

DNA matches reported for 50 Cape Verdeans on AncestryDNA (part 1)

In this two-part blogseries I will analyze the DNA matches being reported by AncestryDNA for 50 of my Cape Verdean survey participants. A follow-up to my previous blog post about 100 Cape Verdean AncestryDNA results (see this link). Because I was kindly given access to their profiles I was able to use my scanning and filtering method of DNA matches in Excel (see this link). Aside from matches with mainland Africans I am also including matches with people of (presumably) fully Portuguese, Jewish, West Asian and South Asian descent.¹ Below a statistical overview of my main findings. Going by group averages. For the individual results which do display greater variation follow this link:

• Spreadsheet with DNA matching patterns specified for 50 Cape Verdeans

Table 1 (click to enlarge)

This table is based on group averages. Except for the columns mentioning the frequency of close and zero matches. So for example among my 50 survey participants only one single person received a close African match (>20cM). While two persons did not receive any African matches at all (excl. North Africa). But on average 5 African matches were reported of whom 4 were connected to the Upper Guinea area. (Senegal-Sierra Leone). The average admixture amounts are based on the recently updated Ethnicity Estimates on AncestryDNA. This update strongly reduced the trace regions. Especially for North African & West Asian DNA. For a previous version of this table see this link.

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Table 2 (click to enlarge)

The background column is mostly based on informed speculation (plausible surnames/regional admixture) but at times also confirmed by public family trees. The proportion of Upper Guinean related matches is 88% of all African matches (south of the Sahara). That proportion being equal to 227/257. Excluding North African matches from the total. The high number of Fula matches is quite striking. But this could very well reflect a greater popularity of DNA testing among Fula people when compared with people from for example Guiné Bissau who are greatly underrepresented in Ancestry’s customer database.

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This project was merely intended as an exploratory exercise. Of course my research findings have limitations in several regards. And therefore they should be interpreted carefully in order not to jump to premature or even misleading conclusions. Still I do believe they can reveal relevant tendencies in DNA matching for Cape Verdeans in general. These outcomes may also provide valuable insight into the various ancestral components found within Cape Verdean DNA. In particular when aiming for complementarity by also taking in to account admixture analysis, genealogy and relevant historical context.

Below an overview of the topics I will cover in this blog post:

1. Considerations when dealing with DNA matches
2. Upper Guinean matches: as expected African matches (south of Sahara) were overwhelmingly from Upper Guinea (Senegal-Sierra Leone): 88% of the total. In line with the 92% Upper Guinean admixture proportion  (“Senegal” + “Mali” / total African) I found for my survey group.
3. North African matches: fairly consistent despite minimal shared DNA
4. Other African matches: unexpected & uncommon. Higher odds of false positives but in some cases to be corroborated by additional clues, such as AncestryDNA’s ethnicity estimates?
5. Methodology: how I filtered the African DNA matches as well as the decision rules I applied when determining a plausible background for each DNA match.

Part 2 of this blogseries will have the following topics:

1. Portuguese matches: omnipresent and clearly most numerous as well as often hinting at relatively recent ancestral ties (1800’s-1900’s).
2. Jewish matches: Sephardi matches more likely to be truly genealogical than Ashkenazi matches?
3. West Asian matches: quite rare, possibly indicating that West Asian admixture among Cape Verdeans is generally indicative of actual North African or Sephardi lineage.
4.  South Asian matches: also rare, but on a hit and miss basis still sometimes already seemingly validating trace amounts of South Asian admixture.
5. Inter-island matching patterns: illustrated by the distribution of the shared DNA segments between myself and my 100 Cape Verdean survey participants.
6. Methodology: how I filtered the non-African DNA matches as well as the decision rules I applied when determining a plausible background for each DNA match.

Dedicated to all my Cape Verdean primos and primas participating in this survey.² And special dedication to my newly born nephew Max!

100 Cape Verdean AncestryDNA results

In October 2015 I published my first preliminary survey findings based on 23 Cape Verdean AncestryDNA results (see this link). Right now, almost three years later, I have managed to collect a sample group which is four times greater. Consisting of no less than 100 AncestryDNA results of fully Cape Verdean-descended persons! Even though this quadrupled sample size is obviously still limited it will most likely provide a greater insight in the various ways how “Caboverdeanidade” can be described. Genetically speaking that is. And obviously when applying the regional AncestryDNA format, with all its enhanced features as well as its inherent shortcomings  😉

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Click on this banner to reach Cape Verde DNA, Inc: the biggest online community of Cape Verdean Genealogy & DNA enthusiasts! On Augustus 4 & 5 a pioneering Cape Verde DNA and Genealogy Conference will be held! See this link for more details.

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In this blog post I will discuss the main differences with my previous findings from 2015, which were focused on the African breakdown solely. And in addition I will also present some new statistics and background information on the European and other non-African origins of Cape Verdeans as reported by AncestryDNA. Below an overview of all the topics I will cover:

1. Background details of my 100 Cape Verdean survey participants
2. To be Cape Verdean is to be mixed?
3. Upper Guinean roots = “Senegal” + “Mali”
4. Beyond Upper Guinea: valid outcomes or misreading by AncestryDNA?
5. European breakdown reflecting mostly Portuguese ancestry?
6. “Africa North”, “Middle East”, “European Jewish” and other minor regional scores
7. Upcoming update of AncestryDNA’s Ethnicity Estimates

Follow these links for my complete survey data & research methodology:

• Spreadsheet with Cape Verdean results
• Survey of AncestryDNA results

Table 1 (click to enlarge)

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Chart 1 (click to enlarge)

This frequency of regions being ranked #1 (regions with the highest amount in either the African or European breakdown) is perhaps the best indicator of the main ancestral components for my Cape Verdean survey group. However only in an extra pronounced degree. For more nuance see the group averages in the next sections.

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Screenshots of individual results (rightclick and open in new tab to enlarge; island origins shown below)

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More charts and analysis when you continue reading!

Cape Verde Slave Census of 1856 (part 2)

Origins from across Upper Guinea, not just from Guinea Bissau

Map of Upper Guinea, western Mali should also be included for ancestral purposes

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Bissau, Cacheu, Cape Verde Slave Census of 1856

REGIONAL ORIGINS (combined)

Total ethnically specified: 1,615
Guinea Bissau’s Coastal Zone: 843 (52% of ethnically specified)
Upper Guinea Interior: 670  (42% of ethnically specified)
Senegal, Guinea & Sierra Leone: 102 (6% of ethnically specified)

TOP 3 ETHNIC ORIGINS (combined)

Mandinga (Upper Guinea) 262 – 16% of ethnically specified
Tilibonca (Upper Guinea) 229 – 14% of ethnically specified
Bijago (Guiné Bissau) 226 – 14% of ethnically specified
Source: Hawthorne (2003)

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In the first part of this blogpost i already discussed the main Guinean Bissau origins for Cape Verde according to its 1856 slave census, in this second part i will continue exploring origins outside of Guiné Bissau. When asked about their mainland African roots many Cape Verdeans might assume they only have ancestry coming from Guiné Bissau, this is however not completely true. It’s indeed correct that Guiné Bissau shares a very long and intimate history with Cape Verde. Both countries being ex-Portuguese colonies, united in their independence struggle during the 1970’s. Because of ever increasing English and French encroachment the formal Portuguese influence area within Upper Guinea during the 1600’s was already pretty much confined to modernday Guiné Bissau and Casamance (a region in southern Senegal which only was ceded to the French in 1888 and where a Portuguese-based Creole is still being spoken!).

Cape Verde Slave Census of 1856 (part 1)

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Cape Verde, an independent country since July 5th 1975!
Cape Verdeans: an indomitable people for more than 500 years!

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Cape Verde Slave Census of 1856

SUMMARY

Number of slaves 5,182
Creole (i.e. born in Cape Verde) 4,266 (82% of total)
African (mainland) 867 (17% of total)
African specified ethnically 130 (2,5% of total)

TOP 3 BREAKDOWN OF AFRICAN BORN SLAVES

Mandinga (Upper Guinea) 34 – 26% of African specified
Fula (Upper Guinea) 19 – 15% of African specified
Bijago (Guiné Bissau) 18 – 14% of African specified
Source: Carreira (1972)

From Creole to African

Nos tud nos é criol

Cape Verde football team participating in Africa Cup 2013

“Ethnic groups of Cape Verde:
Creole (mulatto) 71%, African 28%, European 1%”
Source: CIA Factbook,

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“Statistics from Portuguese administration in the sixties stated that the racial composition of the inhabitants was 71% of mestiços, 28% of “Africans” (i.e. blacks) and 1% of “Europeans” (i.e. whites). Those figures have been overused in several sites, in spite of not being up to date [and misleading]. Since the independence in 1975 the official statistics in Cape Verde have no longer made statistics based on racial groups. Official sources^[1] only states “the majority of the population is mulatto” (“…maioritariamente mestiça…”) without stating any number. Ethnically, Cape Verdeans see themselves as a single group, regardless of being mulatto, black or white.” (Wikipedia)

Do Cape Verdeans and African Americans share African ethnic roots?

In the previous posts i have established that:

1. most of the slave trade that passed through Cape Verde took place in the 1500’s/1600’s
2. involved people from the Upper Guinea region
3. with destinations in the Hispanic Americas
4. only northern Brazil had significant Upper Guinean slave imports in the 1700’s/1800’s
5. a separate Cape Verdean diaspora arrived in the Americas out of their free will, most of them living in the USA but many also residing in Argentina.

This brings me to my next question: to what degree do African Americans and Cape Verdeans show overlap in their African ethnic/regional origins?

Shared Upper Guinean roots between Cape Verdeans and Latin Americans

Cape Verde was used by the Portuguese in the 1500’s/1600’s as a midway station for collecting, “seasoning” and reexporting captives born in Upper Guinea to the labour-starved cities, mines and plantations of the Spanish Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Colombia and Peru.  Unlike what you might have expected few slaves exported via Cape Verde were actually going to Brazil but rather they were headed to the Hispanic Americas during this particular time period. 

Upper Guinean roots for Cape Verdeans

This post is meant to be introductory as i intend to blog much more in future posts about Cape Verdean ethnic roots on the continent as well as its shared ancestral connections with other Afro-diasporeans in the Americas. In fact i’ve just recently created a separate website (www.cvraiz.com) focusing exclusively on specifying the African Ethnic Origins for Cape Verdeans. Here’s the link for it:

Cabo Verde Raizes Na Africa