The territory of Cape Verde is divided into 22 concelhos (municipalities), and subdivided into 32 freguesias (equivalent to civil parish).
In Portuguese language usage, there are two words to distinguish the territory and the administrative organ. Administratively, right below the government, there are the municÃÂpios (municipalities), which administer the concelhos. Therefore, the concelhos are the first-level administrative subdivision in Cape Verde. Each municipality has an Assembleia Municipal (municipal assembly, the legislative body) and a Câmara Municipal (municipal chamber, the executive body). Every four years elections are held for the Assembleia Municipal, the Câmara Municipal and the President of the Câmara Municipal. Where a municipality consists of several freguesias (civil parishes), a Delegação Municipal (municipal delegation) is established in the parishes that do not contain the municipal seat.
The islands are traditionally divided in two geographic regions (with no administrative meaning):
<imagemap> Image:Cv map mun num.gif|thumb|right|350px|Municipalities of Cape Verde rect 18 197 35 219 Tarrafal rect 91 222 111 245 São Miguel rect 120 231 138 254 São Salvador do Mundo rect 129 262 146 284 Santa Cruz rect 157 303 173 327 São Domingos rect 119 342 137 365 Praia rect 71 365 90 387 Ribeira Grande de Santiago rect 27 357 45 382 São Lourenço dos ÃÂrgãos rect 47 284 65 306 Santa Catarina rect 111 441 141 462 Brava rect 174 471 200 495 São Filipe rect 223 441 251 465 Santa Catarina do Fogo rect 206 407 235 430 Mosteiros rect 444 374 474 396 Maio rect 478 218 506 241 Boa Vista rect 426 113 455 137 Sal rect 233 104 264 128 Ribeira Brava rect 176 142 206 165 Tarrafal de São Nicolau rect 102 110 130 133 São Vicente rect 36 47 65 70 Porto Novo rect 40 3 69 26 Ribeira Grande rect 96 25 128 47 Paul </imagemap>
Island group:
ùThe uninhabited island of Santa Luzia and all its uninhabited islets, Raso and Branco, are part of the Municipality of São Vicente.