São Tomé and Principe

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Condoms catching on

SÃO TOMÉ Wednesday, July 23, 2008 (IRIN) - No one expected that the reaction to empty condom dispensers on São Tomé and Príncipe would be so angry....

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Condoms catching on

No one expected that the reaction to empty condom dispensers on São Tomé and Príncipe would be so angry. "I thought the country had run out of...

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Condoms anytime, anywhere

Bars, restaurants and stores in the archipelago of São Tomé and Príncipe now have a new attraction: small brown wooden boxes containing 144 condoms...

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Something pretty because they are special

Night falls early along the equator. When darkness creeps across the bay of Santa Ana and sets over the town of Sao Tome, the girls appear in twos...

A chat with Mary N’Diaye another sprouting singer in Sweden

Mary Ndiaye is among the few African musicians that are highly respected in Sweden. She is already a registered songwriter and has performed at...

National name: República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe

Geography

Capital: São Tomé
Major Towns São Tomé, Trindade, Santo Amaro, Neves, Santana
Location (geographical coordinates/latitude and longitude): São Tomé: 0°20'N, 6°44'E
Time Zone: UTC (UTC+0)
Size (Land and Sea): 964 km²; Water: 0%. Smallest Portuguese-speaking country in the world.
Borders with: São Tomé and Principe is an island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Africa. It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe, located about 140 kilometres apart and about 250 and 225 kilometres respectively, off of the northwestern coast of Gabon.
Elevation extremes: Highest point: Pico de São Tomé: 2024 m

Politics

Head of State: President: Fradique de Menezes, Prime Minister: Tomé Vera Cruz
Form of Government: Republic
Independancy (from Portugal): 12 July 1975
Currency: Dobra

Industry :
Main industries: Petroleum, plantation agriculture: mainly cocoa, representing about 95% of exports. Other export crops include copra, palm kernels, and coffee. Fishing and a small industrial sector engaged in processing local agricultural products and producing a few basic consumer goods. Tourism upcoming
Other Industries: light construction, textiles, soap, beer, fish processing, timber.
Natural resources: fish, hydropower
Agriculture: cocoa, coconuts, palm kernels, copra, cinnamon, pepper, coffee, bananas, papayas, beans; poultry; fish

Population and People

Population: 199,579 (2007 est.); 157,000 (2005 est.) (second smallest, after Seychelles)
Population density per sq mi: 538
Growth rate: 3.13% (2007 est.)
Birth rate: 39.72 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate: 5.53 children born/woman (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 40.5/1000
Religion: Catholic 70.3%, Evangelical 3.4%, New Apostolic 2%, Adventist 1.8%, other 3.1%, none 19.4% (2001 census)
Languages: Portuguese, Portuguese-based creoles Forro (85%), Angolar (3%) and Principense (0.1%), French
Ethnic groups / Tribes: Mesticos, Angolares, Forros, Servicais, Tongas, Europeans (mainly Portuguese), Asian (mainly Chinese
Age structure: 0-14 years: 47.3% (male 47,796/female 46,589); 15-64 years: 49% (male 47,386/female 50,412); 65 years and over: 3.7% (male 3,383/female 4,013) (2007 est.)
Life expectancy: 67.6
Literacy: 85%

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