São Tomé and Príncipe

COUNTRY FLAG

COAT OF ARMS

LOCATION MAP

AREA MAP

Government: Unitary Semi-Presidential Republic

Current President: Evaristo Carvalho

Economy:

• Increasingly dependent on cocoa since independence in 1975.
• Being an island country, São Tomé and Príncipe has to import fuels, most manufactured goods, consumer goods, and a substantial amount of food, making it vulnerable to fluctuations in global commodity prices.
• Potential exists for the development of a tourist industry, and the government has taken steps to expand facilities in recent years.
• Maintaining control of inflation, fiscal discipline, and increasing flows of foreign direct investment into the oil sector, are the major economic problems facing the country.

Population: 190,428 (2014)

Land Size: 1,001 sq km (386 sq miles)

Major Ethic Groups:

• Mestico
• Angolares (descendants of Angolan slaves)
• Forros (descendants of freed slaves)
• Servicais (contract laborers from Angola, Mozambique, and Cabo Verde), Tongas (children of Servicais born on the islands)
• Europeans (primarily Portuguese)

• Catholic: 70.3%
• Evangelical: 3.4%
• New Apostolic: 2%
• Adventist: 1.8%
• Other: 3.1%
• None: 19.4%

Language(s):

• Portuguese (official)

Links:

• CIA World Fact Book: São Tomé and Príncipe
• U.S. Department of State: São Tomé and Príncipe
• BBC News: São Tomé and Príncipe