Acting globally, communicating locally
Sao Tome and Principe
Sweet sister islands!
The islands of São Tomé and Príncipe were uninhabited before the arrival of the Portuguese sometime between 1469 and 1471. Over these three years, Portuguese navigators explored the islands and decided that it would be a good location for bases to trade with the mainland.
The first successful settlement of São Tomé was established in 1493 by Álvaro Caminha, who received the land as a grant from the crown. Príncipe was settled in 1500 under a similar arrangement. Attracting settlers proved difficult, however, and most of the earliest inhabitants were "undesirables" sent from Portugal, mostly Jews. In time these settlers found the excellent volcanic soil of the region suitable for agriculture, especially the growing of sugar.
Since the 1800s, the economy of São Tomé and Príncipe has been based on plantation agriculture. At the time of independence, Portuguese-owned plantations occupied 90% of the cultivated area.
After independence, control of these plantations passed to various state-owned agricultural enterprises, which have since been privatized. The dominant crop on São Tomé is cocoa, representing about 95% of exports. Other export crops include copra, palm kernels, and coffee.
Sao Tome Facts
Capital: Sao Tome
Official language: Portuguese
Population: 157,000 (188th)
GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate
Total $0.214 billion (218th)
HDI (2004) 0.607 (medium) (127th)
Currency: Dobra (STD)