Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe

Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe is celebrating its 43 years of independence from Portugal (July 12, 1975.)

São Tomé and Príncipe is Africa’s tiniest Portuguese-speaking island country.  It is located in the Gulf of Guinea near Central Africa’s western equatorial coast. Sao Tome and Principe is a country consisting of two small islands and also smaller islets sitting off the Western coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. They gained independence  from Portugal in 1975. It is a picturesque town consisting of colonial Portuguese architectural tradition and also many attractive parks.

FUN FACTS

  • The island of Sao Tome was named after Saint Thomas by the Portuguese explorers who happened to arrive at the island at the saint’s feast day.
  • In the island of Sao Tome and Principe all the volcanoes are extinct meaning they no longer erupt.
  • The island was discovered by JOAO DE SANTAREM AND PEDRO ESCOBAR.
  • Portuguese is the official language of Sao Tome & Principe nation.
  • The island nation has a long history of domination of the slave trade and also slave-worked plantations of various crops.
  • Sao Tome and Principe is the second-smallest African country by population. It is also the smallest of all Portuguese-speaking countries.
  • The island nation is home to a large number of birds and plants, including the world’s smallest ibis and the world’s largest sunbird and many other giant species of Begonia.
  • Cocoa is the main crop of the island nation and it also represents 95% of the country’s export. Other export crops include copra, palm kernels and coffee.
  • You’ll need to exchange your money for Dobra if you wish to be sipping a cool drink on  the sandy beaches.
  • The people here are very friendly. Its quite safe to go out in the park at night or even sleep at the beach.

São Toméan culture is a mixture of African and Portuguese influences.

 

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