CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire National Guard has been selected as the new state partner for the Republic of Cabo Verde, an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean off the northwestern coast of Africa.

The partnership is part of the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program, which began 28 years ago as an initiative to assist countries after the end of the Cold War.

The program now involves one-third of the world’s countries and the National Guard of every U.S. state and territory. Vermont partnered with North Macedonia in 1993 and Senegal in 2008. Maine partnered with Montenegro in 2006.

Cabo Verde is New Hampshire’s second state partnership country. The state partnered with El Salvador in 2000.

“Beyond the shared benefits for Cabo Verde and New Hampshire, we have an opportunity to play a strategic role helping to maintain stability in the region,” New Hampshire Adjutant Gen. David Mikolaities said in a statement.

Cabo Verde is home to about 500,000 people who live on 10 volcanic islands. Its military, the Cabo Verdean Armed Forces, consists of a National Guard and Coast Guard. Its primary mission is combating international drug trafficking.

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