Sao Tome and Principe country profile

Sao Tome and Principe, once a leading cocoa producer, consists of two islands of volcanic origin and a number of smaller islets lying off the coast of Africa.

From the late 1400s Portugal began settling convicts on Sao Tome and establishing sugar plantations with the help of slaves from the mainland. The island was also important in the transshipment of slaves.

The colony's aspirations for independence were recognised after the 1974 coup in Portugal and at first the Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe was the country's sole political party. However, the 1990 constitution created a multi-party democracy.

The island of Principe assumed autonomy in 1995.

The country hopes to reduce its dependence on donors and cocoa exports by exploiting offshore oil. It has strong links with Angola, which is a major business partner.

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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: FACTS

• Capital: Sao Tome

• Area: 964 sq km

• Population: 220,700

• Languages: Portuguese, plus Spanish, Forro, Angolar, Principense

• Life expectancy: 65 years (men) 70 years (women)

LEADERS

President: Carlos Vila Nova

Sao Tome has a tradition of premiers and presidents from opposing camps governing together peacefully.

The president has an arbitrating role in government but no executive powers, leaving the prime minister in the dominant position.

Prime minister: Patrice Emery Trovoada

Patrice Emery Trovoada has been prime minister since November 2022. He previously served as prime minster during 2008, from 2010-2012 and again from 2014-2018. He is the son of former long-time President Miguel Trovoada.

He has said he wants to "reach the goal" of 40% women in his adminstration.

MEDIA

The Presidency in Sao Tome

Freedom of expression, guaranteed by the constitution, is also respected in practice.

The state runs the only radio and TV stations but no law forbids private broadcasting.

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TIMELINE

Some key dates in Sao Tome's history:

Since independence in 1975, São Tomé and Príncipe has been one of Africa's most stable and democratic countries

1493 - First successful settlement of São Tomé by Portugal's Álvaro Caminha - the islands were uninhabited before the arrivbal of teh Portuguese.

1500 - Príncipe settled. Attracting settlers to the islands proves difficult, and most of the earliest inhabitants are "undesirables" sent from Portugal, mainly Sephardic Jews including 2,000 Jewish children, to work on the sugar plantations.

16th Century - Islands become an important staging post for slave trade.

1595 - Major slave revolt: some 5,000 slaves raid and destroy plantations, sugar mills, and settlers' houses. 200 slave are killed in three weeks' fighting, the rebel leaders are executed. There are smaller slave rebellions followed in the 17th and 18th Centuries.

1800s - Cocoa and coffee are introduced. Sao Tome develops into one of world's main cocoa producers.

1951 - Becomes overseas province of Portugal.

1960 - Formation of nationalist group which later becomes the socialist oriented Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe (MLSTP).

1974 - Military coup in Portugal. Portuguese government recognises islands' right to independence, acknowledges MLSTP as sole representative in negotiations. Unrest followed by exodus of Portuguese.

1975 - Independence, with Manuel Pinto da Costa (MLSTP) as president; and Miguel Trovoada as prime minister. Plantations nationalised, strong ties built up with communist countries.

1978 - Government announces suppression of coup attempt, brings in Angolan troops for support.

1979 - Trovoada arrested, accused of complicity in coup attempt. He is released and goes into exile in 1981.

1980s - Government scales down links with communist world as economy deteriorates. Declares itself nonaligned, seeks Western support for recovery plans.

1988 - Coup attempt.

1990 - New constitution allows opposition parties, provides for multi-party elections and restricts president to two five-year terms. Trovoada returns from exile.

1991 - First multiparty elections. Renamed MLSTP-PSD loses majority. Transitional government installed, pending presidential elections, subsequently won by independent candidate Trovoada.

1992 - Popular unrest sparked by austerity measures.

1995 - Trovoada toppled and detained in bloodless coup by soldiers but is reinstated within days after pressure from donor countries.

1996 - Trovoada re-elected president. Popular protests over economic hardships.

2002 - President De Menezes announces plans for a US naval base in the country, which would aim to protect Sao Tome's oil interests.

2003 - Military coup topples the government. President De Menezes, in Nigeria at the time, returns to Sao Tome a week later after an agreement is struck with the junta. A general amnesty is given to the coup leaders.

2004 - President De Menezes sacks the prime minister and government after a series of corruption scandals. A new prime minister is sworn in.

2005 - Sao Tome - jointly with Nigeria - signs its first offshore oil exploration and production-sharing agreement with international oil firms.

2007 - World Bank, IMF forgive $360m in debt owed by Sao Tome. This represents about 90% of the country's foreign debt.

Nigeria and Sao Tome agree to establish a joint military commission to protect their common oil interests in the Gulf of Guinea.

2008 - Several high-ranking former government officials, including to ex-prime ministers, appear in court in Sao Tome's largest corruption scandal.

2009 - Government says coup plot foiled. Nigeria and Sao Tome agree to set up a joint maritime military commission to protect offshore oil fields.

2010 - Opposition leader Arlecio Costa, jailed over 2009 coup plot, is pardoned.

2016 - Sao Tome re-establishes diplomatic relations with China after cutting ties with Taiwan.

2022 - Sao Tome says "four citizens" were killed in a gunfight in an attempted coup, which also involved 12 soldiers from South Africa's officially disbanded Buffalo Battalion. One of the dead is Arlecio Costa.

Media reporting of images of what appear to be tortured suspects surrounded by soldiers before and after their deaths sparks outrage and calls for a probe into the killings

2023 - A Sao Tome court dismisses charges against former army chief Olinto Paquete over the 2022 coup attempt, citing a lack of evidence. Paquete was among soldiers charged with torturing and killing the four suspects accused of the failed coup. He resigned shortly afterwards.

With oil discoveries offshore, Sao Tome has the potential to become a significant oil producer