Sao Tome and Principe

• tropical;
• hot, humid;
• one rainy season (October to May)

• Sao Tome, the capital city, has roughly a quarter of the nation's population;
• Santo Antonio is the largest town on Principe;
• the northern areas of both islands have the highest population densities

• deforestation and illegal logging;
• soil erosion and exhaustion;
• inadequate sewage treatment in cities;
• biodiversity preservation

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

noun:

Sao Tomean(s)

adjective:

Sao Tomean

0-14 years:

41.2% (male 42,825 /female 41,403)

15-24 years:

21.01% (male 21,767 /female 21,188)

25-54 years:

31.03% (male 31,218 /female 32,229)

55-64 years:

3.93% (male 3,708 /female 4,332)

65 years and over:

2.83% (male 2,545 /female 3,239) (2018 est.)

total dependency ratio:

86.7 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio:

81.1 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio:

5.6 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio:

17.8 (2015 est.)

total:

18.7 years (2018 est.)

male:

18.3 years

female:

19.1 years

• Sao Tome, the capital city, has roughly a quarter of the nation's population;
• Santo Antonio is the largest town on Principe;
• the northern areas of both islands have the highest population densities

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.03 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.97 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.86 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.79 male(s)/female

total population:

1 male(s)/female (2018 est.)

total:

44.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2018 est.)

male:

46 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

42.1 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

65.7 years (2018 est.)

male:

64.3 years

female:

67.1 years

degree of risk:

high (2016)

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever (2016)

vectorborne diseases:

malaria and dengue fever (2016)

water contact diseases:

schistosomiasis (2016)

total:

20.8%

male:

NA

female:

NA (2012 est.)

conventional long form:

Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe

conventional short form:

Sao Tome and Principe

local long form:

Republica Democratica de Sao Tome e Principe

local short form:

Sao Tome e Principe

etymology:

• Sao Tome was named after Saint THOMAS the Apostle by the Portuguese who discovered the island on 21 December 1470 (or 1471), the saint's feast day;
• Principe is a shortening of the original Portuguese name of "Ilha do Principe" (Isle of the Prince) referring to the Prince of Portugal to whom duties on the island's sugar crop were paid

name:

Sao Tome

geographic coordinates:

0 20 N, 6 44 E

time difference:

UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

etymology:

named after Saint Thomas the Apostle

history:

approved 5 November 1975

amendments:

• proposed by the National Assembly;
• passage requires two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly;
• the Assembly can propose to the president of the republic that an amendment be submitted to a referendum;
• revised several times, last in 2006 (2017)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Sao Tome and Principe

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

5 years

chief of state:

President Evaristo CARVALHO (since 3 September 2016)

head of government:

Prime Minister Jorge Bom JESUS (since 3 December 2018)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister, appointed by the president

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 7 July 2016 and 7 August 2016 (next to be held in July 2021);
• prime minister chosen by the National Assembly and approved by the president

election results:

• Evaristo CARVALHO elected president;
• percent of vote - Evaristo CARVALHO (ADI) 49.8%, Manuel Pinto DA COSTA (independent) 24.8%, Maria DAS NEVES (MLSTP-PSD) 24.1%;
• note - first round results for CARVALHO were revised downward from just over 50%, prompting the 7 August runoff;
• however, on 1 August 2016 DA COSTA withdrew from the runoff, citing voting irregularities, and CARVALHO was declared the winner

description:

unicameral National Assembly or Assembleia Nacional (55 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by closed party-list proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 7 October 2018 (next to be held in October 2022)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - ADI 41.8%, MLSTP/PSD 40.3%, PCD-GR 9.5%, MCISTP 2.1%, other 6.3%;
• seats by party - ADI 25, MLSTP-PSD 23, PCD-MDFM-UDD 5, MCISTP 2;
• composition - men 45, women 10, percent of women 18.2%

highest courts:

• Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal Justica (consists of 5 judges);
• Constitutional Court or Tribunal Constitucional (consists of 5 judges, 3 of whom are from the Supreme Court)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court judges appointed by the National Assembly;
• judge tenure NA;
• Constitutional Court judges nominated by the president and elected by the National Assembly for 5-year terms

subordinate courts:

Court of First Instance; Audit Court

• three horizontal bands of green (top), yellow (double width), and green with two black five-pointed stars placed side by side in the center of the yellow band and a red isosceles triangle based on the hoist side;
• green stands for the country's rich vegetation, red recalls the struggle for independence, and yellow represents cocoa, one of the country's main agricultural products;
• the two stars symbolize the two main islands

note: uses the popular Pan-African colors of Ethiopia

name:

"Independencia total" (Total Independence)

lyrics/music:

Alda Neves DA GRACA do Espirito Santo/Manuel dos Santos Barreto de Sousa e ALMEIDA

note: adopted 1975

• cocoa, coconuts, palm kernels, copra, cinnamon, pepper, coffee, bananas, papayas, beans;
• poultry;
• fish

agriculture:

26.1%

industry:

21.4%

services:

52.5% (2014 est.)

lowest 10%:

NA

highest 10%:

NA

general assessment:

• local telephone network of adequate quality with most lines connected to digital switches;
• mobile cellular superior choice to landland;
• dial-up quality low;
• broadband expensive (2018)

domestic:

fixed-line 3 per 100 and mobile-cellular teledensity 86 telephones per 100 persons (2018)

international:

• country code - 239;
• landing points for the Ultramar GE and ACE submarine cables from South Africa to over 20 West African countries and Europe;
• satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2019)

• 1 government-owned TV station;
• 1 government-owned radio station;
• 3 independent local radio stations authorized in 2005 with 2 operating at the end of 2006;
• transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available

number of registered air carriers:

1 (2015)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 1 (2015)

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

50,716 (2015)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

0 mt-km (2015)