Principe Travel Information
São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic
Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a
Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of
Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Africa.
It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe,
located about 140 kilometres (87 mi) apart and about
250 and 225 kilometres (155 and 140 mi),
respectively, off the northwestern coast of Gabon.
Both islands are part of an extinct volcanic
mountain range. São Tomé, the sizable southern
island, is situated just north of the equator. It
was named in honour of Saint Thomas by Portuguese
explorers who happened to arrive at the island on
his feast day.
São Tomé and Príncipe is the second-smallest African
country in terms of population (the Seychelles being
the smallest). It is the smallest country in the
world that is not a former British overseas
territory, a former United States trusteeship, or
one of the European microstates. It is also the
smallest Portuguese-speaking country.
History
The islands of São Tomé and Príncipe were
uninhabited before the arrival of the Portuguese
sometime around 1470. The islands were discovered by
João de Santarém and Pedro Escobar and bore his
name[clarification needed] until the 20th century.
Portuguese navigators explored the islands and
decided that they would be good locations for bases
to trade with the mainland.
The dates of discovery are sometimes given as
December 21 (St Thomas's Day), 1471 for São Tomé,
and January 17 (St Anthony's Day), 1472 for
Principe,[3] though other sources give different
nearby years. Principe was initially named Santo
Antão ("Saint Anthony"), changing its name in 1502
to Ilha do Principe ("Prince's Island"), in
reference to the Prince of Portugal to whom duties
on the island's sugar crop were paid.
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[4]. In time these
settlers found the volcanic soil of the region
suitable for agriculture, especially the growing of
sugar.
The cultivation of sugar was a labour-intensive
process and the Portuguese began to import large
numbers of slaves from the mainland. By the
mid-1500s the Portuguese settlers had turned the
islands into Africa's foremost exporter of sugar.
São Tomé and Príncipe were taken over and
administered by the Portuguese crown in 1522 and
1573, respectively.
However, superior sugar colonies in the western
hemisphere began to hurt the islands. The large
slave population also proved difficult to control,
with Portugal unable to invest many resources in the
effort. Sugar cultivation thus declined over the
next 100 years, and by the mid-17th century, the
economy of São Tomé had changed. It was now
primarily a transit point for ships engaged in the
slave trade between the West and continental Africa.
In the early 19th century, two new cash crops,
coffee and cocoa, were introduced. The rich volcanic
soils proved well suited to the new cash crop
industry, and soon extensive plantations (roças),
owned by Portuguese companies or absentee landlords,
occupied almost all of the good farmland. By 1908,
São Tomé had become the world's largest producer of
cocoa, which remains the country's most important
crop.
The roças system, which gave the plantation managers
a high degree of authority, led to abuses against
the African farm workers. Although Portugal
officially abolished slavery in 1876, the practice
of forced paid labor continued. In the early 20th
century, an internationally publicized controversy
arose over charges that Angolan contract workers
were being subjected to forced labor and
unsatisfactory working conditions. Sporadic labor
unrest and dissatisfaction continued well into the
20th century, culminating in an outbreak of riots in
1953 in which several hundred African laborers were
killed in a clash with their Portuguese rulers. This
"Batepá Massacre" remains a major event in the
colonial history of the islands, and its anniversary
is officially observed by the government.
The cathedral - Sé - of Sao Tomé
By the late 1950s, when other emerging nations
across the African Continent were demanding
independence, a small group of São Toméans had
formed the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé
and Príncipe (MLSTP), which eventually established
its base in nearby Gabon. Picking up momentum in the
1960s, events moved quickly after the overthrow of
the Caetano dictatorship in Portugal in April 1974.
The new Portuguese regime was committed to the
dissolution of its overseas colonies; in November
1974, their representatives met with the MLSTP in
Algiers and worked out an agreement for the transfer
of sovereignty. After a period of transitional
government, São Tomé and Príncipe achieved
independence on July 12, 1975, choosing as the first
president the MLSTP Secretary General Manuel Pinto
da Costa.
In 1990, São Tomé became one of the first African
countries to embrace democratic reform, and changes
to the constitution — the legalization of opposition
political parties — led to elections in 1991 that
were nonviolent, free, and transparent. Miguel
Trovoada, a former prime minister who had been in
exile since 1986, returned as an independent
candidate and was elected president. Trovoada was
re-elected in São Tomé's second multi-party
presidential election in 1996. The Party of
Democratic Convergence (PCD) overtook the MLSTP to
take a majority of seats in the National Assembly,
with the MLSTP becoming an important and vocal
minority party. Municipal elections followed in late
1992, in which the MLSTP came back to win a majority
of seats on five of seven regional councils. In
early legislative elections in October 1994, the
MLSTP won a plurality of seats in the Assembly. It
regained an outright majority of seats in the
November 1998 elections. The Government of São Tomé
fully functions under a multi-party system.
Presidential elections were held in July 2001. The
candidate backed by the Independent Democratic
Action party, Fradique de Menezes, was elected in
the first round and inaugurated on September 3.
Parliamentary elections were held in March 2002. For
the next four years, a series of short-lived
opposition-led governments were formed.
The army seized power for one week in July 2003,
complaining of corruption and that forthcoming oil
revenues would not be divided fairly. An accord was
negotiated under which President de Menezes was
returned to office.
The cohabitation period ended in March 2006, when a
pro-presidential coalition won enough seats in
National Assembly elections to form and head a new
government.
In the 30 July 2006 presidential election, Fradique
de Menezes easily won a second five-year term in
office, defeating two other candidates Patrice
Trovoada (son of former President Miguel Trovoada)
and independent Nilo Guimarães. Local elections, the
first since 1992, took place on 27 August 2006 and
were dominated by members of the ruling coalition.
On February 12, 2009, there has been an attempted
coup d'état to overthrow President Fradique de
Menezes according to sources of the authorities.[5]
Politics
President Fradique de Menezes
Main article: Politics of São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé has functioned under a multiparty system
since 1990. The president of the republic is elected
to a 5-year term by direct universal suffrage and a
secret ballot, and must gain an outright majority to
be elected. The president may hold up to two
consecutive terms. The prime minister is named by
the president, and the fourteen members of cabinet
are chosen by the prime minister.
The National Assembly, the supreme organ of the
state and the highest legislative body, is made up
of 55 members, who are elected for a 4-year term and
meet semiannually. Justice is administered at the
highest level by the Supreme Court. The judiciary is
independent under the current constitution.
With regards to human rights, there exists the
freedom of speech and the freedom to form opposition
political parties.
São Tomé and Príncipe finished 9th out of the 48
sub-Saharan African countries measured by the
Ibrahim Index of African Governance, a comprehensive
reflection of the levels of governance in Africa.[6]
Provinces and districts
Main articles: Provinces of São Tomé and Príncipe
and Districts of São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe is divided into 2 provinces:
Príncipe, São Tomé.
The provinces are further divided into seven
districts, six on São Tomé and one on Príncipe (with
Príncipe having self-government since April 29,
1995).
Geography
Map of São Tomé and Príncipe
Main article: Geography of São Tomé and Príncipe
The islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, situated in
the equatorial Atlantic about 300 and 250 kilometres
(186 and 155 mi), respectively, off the northwest
coast of Gabon, constitute Africa's second smallest
country. Both are part of the Cameroon volcanic
mountain line, which also includes the islands of
Annobón to the southwest, Bioko to the northeast
(both part of Equatorial Guinea), and Mount Cameroon
on the African west coast.
Beach scenery on São Tomé.
São Tomé is 50 km (31 mi) long and 32 km (20 mi)
wide and the more mountainous of the two islands.
Its peaks reach 2,024 metres (6,640 ft). Príncipe is
about 30 km (19 mi) long and 6 km (4 mi) wide. Swift
streams radiating down the mountains through lush
forest and cropland to the sea cross both islands.
At sea level, the climate is tropical—hot and humid
with average yearly temperatures of about 27 °C
(80.6 °F) and little daily variation. The
temperature rarely rises beyond
32 °C (89.6 °F). At the interior's higher altitudes,
the average yearly temperature is 20 °C (68 °F), and
nights are generally cool. Annual rainfall varies
from 5,000 mm (196.85 in) on the southwestern slopes
to 1,000 mm (39.37 in) in the northern lowlands. The
rainy season runs from October to May.
The equator lies immediately south of São Tomé
Island, passing through an islet named Ilhéu das
Rolas.
Wildlife
Main article: Wildlife of São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe does not have a large number
of native mammals (although the São Tomé Shrew and
several bat species are endemic). The islands are
home to a larger number of endemic birds and plants,
including the world's smallest ibis (the São Tomé
Ibis), the world's largest sunbird (the Giant
Sunbird), and several giant species of Begonia.
Economy
Main article: Economy of São Tomé and Príncipe
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. The main crop on São Tomé is cocoa,
representing about 95% of exports. Other export
crops include copra, palm kernels, and coffee.
Domestic food-crop production is inadequate to meet
local consumption, so the country imports some of
its food. Efforts have been made by the government
in recent years to expand food production, and
several projects have been undertaken, largely
financed by foreign donors.
Fisherman landing their catch in São Tomé
Other than agriculture, the main economic activities
are fishing and a small industrial sector engaged in
processing local agricultural products and producing
a few basic consumer goods. The scenic islands have
potential for tourism, and the government is
attempting to improve its rudimentary tourist
industry infrastructure. The government sector
accounts for about 11% of employment.
Following independence, the country had a centrally
directed economy with most means of production owned
and controlled by the state. The original
constitution guaranteed a “mixed economy,” with
privately owned cooperatives combined with publicly
owned property and means of production. In the 1980s
and 1990s, the economy of São Tomé encountered major
difficulties. Economic growth stagnated, and cocoa
exports dropped in both value and volume, creating
large balance-of-payments deficits. Efforts to
redistribute plantation land resulted in decreased
cocoa production. At the same time, the
international price of cocoa slumped.
In response to its economic downturn, the government
undertook a series of far-reaching economic reforms.
In 1987, the government implemented an International
Monetary Fund (IMF) structural adjustment program,
and invited greater private participation in
management of the parastatals, as well as in the
agricultural, commercial, banking, and tourism
sectors. The focus of economic reform since the
early 1990s has been widespread privatization,
especially of the state-run agricultural and
industrial sectors.
São Tomé market
The São Toméan Government has traditionally obtained
foreign assistance from various donors, including
the UN Development Programme, the World Bank, the
European Union (EU), Portugal, Taiwan, and the
African Development Bank. In April 2000, in
association with the Banco Central de São Tomé e
Príncipe, the IMF approved a poverty reduction and
growth facility for São Tomé aimed at reducing
inflation to 3% for 2001, raising ideal growth to
4%, and reducing the fiscal deficit.
In late 2000, São Tomé qualified for significant
debt reduction under the IMF-World Bank’s Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. The
reduction is currently being reevaluated by the IMF,
due to the attempted coup d’etat in July 2003 and
subsequent emergency spending. Following the truce,
the IMF decided to send a mission to São Tomé to
evaluate the macroeconomic state of the country.
This evaluation is ongoing, reportedly pending oil
legislation to determine how the government will
manage incoming oil revenues.
Portugal remains one of São Tomé's major trading
partners, particularly as a source of imports. Food,
manufactured articles, machinery, and transportation
equipment are imported primarily from the EU.
Source Wikipedia
More Principe Information
|
