Image 1 taken by Rui Camilo (2017).
Welcome to São Tomé and Príncipe!
Pronounced [saw tome] and [prIntsIpe]
Pronounced [saw tome] and [prIntsIpe]
Where is it?
The country of São Tomé and Príncipe is located in Central Africa, to the west of Gabon, and north of the Equator. It is a noticeably small area and can fit the size of Washington, D.C., five times. The people typically experience a hot and humid climate. On this land, there are primarily volcanoes and mountains. Despite these barriers, about half of the land is used for agriculture.
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Who lives here?
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/3/9/123987288/published/sao-tome-and-principe-population.jpg?1552455817)
The total population of São Tomé and Príncipe in 2018 consisted of 204, 454 São Toméans. Out of this small population, about 60 percent of the inhabitants are under the age of 25 (see Figure 1, which exemplifies the age distribution and gender distribution). This indicates that the population is fairly young, and growing, as fertility rates increase.
Additionally, most of the population consists of Portuguese descendants due to early colonization. Many are mesticos (mixed descendants of the Indigenous people and Portuguese people), angolares (descendants of the Angolan slaves) and Forros (descendants of free slaves). Others include descendants of former slaves, contract laborers, Europeans, and some Asian groups. About 78.2 percent of the population lives in cities, with the capitol, Sao Tome, as the most populated city.
Additionally, most of the population consists of Portuguese descendants due to early colonization. Many are mesticos (mixed descendants of the Indigenous people and Portuguese people), angolares (descendants of the Angolan slaves) and Forros (descendants of free slaves). Others include descendants of former slaves, contract laborers, Europeans, and some Asian groups. About 78.2 percent of the population lives in cities, with the capitol, Sao Tome, as the most populated city.
What is its History?
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Under Colonial Rule
In 1470, the Portuguese discovered two islands--they named the first, São Tomé, after the apostle of Saint Thomas, and the second, the Isle of the Prince, for the Prince of Portugal who received benefits from the colony's sugar production. Following the Portuguese discovery, in the 16th to the early 19th centuries, the colony based its economy on the production of sugar and slave trading. This later manifested into the production of cocoa and coffee. Each of the industries relied on African plantation slave labor and later, contract labor. In the 1890s, cocoa surpassed coffee as the colony's cash crop and the colony became one of the largest producers of cocoa. The production of cocoa thrived, even with the abolishment of slavery in 1875. The Portuguese, in response, replaced slavery with contract laborers. The living conditions of contract laborers greatly resembled that of the plantation slave laborers. After World War I, cocoa production declined and conditions worsened. Conditions worsened to a point in which laborers were massacred. Soon enough, the Movement for Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe (MLSTP) cited the massacre as ground for independence. Eventually, in 1974 to 1975, the leaders of a coup took power and handed their power to the Movement for Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe (MLSTP). |
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After Independence
On July 12, 1975, São Toméans achieved independence. Manuel Pinto de Costa, a member of the MLSTP, became the country's first president. The government initially followed an eastern European model of political and economic organization. Soon though, many became dissatisfied with this. In 1990, the people established a multiparty democracy. Under this system, there have been frequent internal disputes between the parties, recurring changes in leadership, and four failed coup attempts. In 2016, former President Pinto de Costa ran against a leader of the Independent Democratic Action (ADI) party, Evaristo Carvalho. After another close run-off election, Pinto de Costa boycotted the election; Carvalho became president. The country still remains dependent on cocoa production. However, people have recently discovered oil in the Gulf of Guinea, in which São Tomé and Príncipe are located, increasing attention to this small country. In the mid-2000s, earnings from the oil have began, and will continue. |
Any religions?
Christianity is the dominant religion in São Tomé and Príncipe. As Figure 2 shows, about 55.7 percent or just over half of the population practice Roman Catholicism. This makes sense considering that the Portuguese, who controlled São Tomé and Príncipe for half a century, practiced Roman Catholicism. Under the Portuguese cocoa plantations, they also had an obligation to teach their workers Catholicism (Higgs, 2012, pp. 45). More recently, other people practice different forms of Protestantism. Meanwhile, about one-fifth of the population does not practice any religions; they are the nonreligious group indicated in Figure 2.
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What languages are spoken?
The official and dominant language is Portuguese, a Romance language of the Indo-European family. See Figure 3 to further understand this language. Virtually everyone, or about 98.4 percent of the population, speaks Portuguese.
Additionally, many people speak one or more of three locally developed Portuguese-based creoles: Sãotomense or the Forro creole, spoken by 36.3 percent of Forros; the Angolar creole, spoken by 6.6 percent of Angolares in the southern tip of São Tomé; Principense, spoken by a few hundred people on Príncipe. Moreover, about 8.5 percent of people speak a borrowed Portuguese creole called Cabo Verdian. Lastly, 6.8 percent of people speak French and 4.9 percent speak English. This makes English the sixth language to be spoken on São Tomé and Príncipe. Consequently, the English language has experienced little development in this country. |
What about Education?
About 74.9 percent of the society is literate. Most children attend primary school, as four years of it is compulsory. Fewer students enroll in secondary education, which consists of four and three years of schooling. Secondary schools are less widely available to the population. Lastly, a smaller amount of students enroll in higher education, which has limited options. There are two large universities: the University of São Tomé and Príncipe (USTP) and Portugal's Lusíada University. Both universities teach primarily in Portuguese, but some they offer some English classes.
To improve the education system, the government recently adopted an education sector plan in 2007 and an Education Policy Charter for 2012 to 2020 (Global Partnership for Education [GPE], 2018). The main objective of both is to provide 12 years of free, quality education to every child (GPE, 2018). Additionally, the governments hopes to develop higher and technical education options, implement a higher-level training policy for teaches (as only 40 percent of teachers are currently qualified), and create a better Education Management Information System (GPE, 2018). To achieve all this, the government receives funds and grants supervised by the World Bank. The U.S. provided the most recent grant to help implement in-service teacher training and a better management system for human resources (GPE, 2018). |
Jennifer D'Addabbo, Winter 2019