Ilhéu de Santa Maria, once known as Quail Island is a small uninhabited tiny islet of the Sotavento archipelago in Cape Verde located south of the Santiago. The area is 35 km² (some reads 34 km²). Like all Cape Verdean islands, the islet is of volcanic origin. The islet has an area of roughly 0.05 km2 and is 420 meters long and 130 meters wide, it is situated in front of Praia da Gamboa and forms a part of the city of Praia since 1975, it is due south of the city center and is inside the bay. Until the early 2010s, it was separated by about 120 m from the beach, not it separates nearly 250 meters from the beach.