São Tomé and Príncipe

Coordinates: 1°N 7°E / 1°N 7°E / 1; 7

São Tomé and Príncipe (/ˌsaʊ təˈmeɪ ən ˈprɪnsᵻpə/ SOW-tə-MAY-ən PRIN-si-pə or /ˈprɪnsᵻpeɪ/ PRIN-si-pay;Portuguese pronunciation: [sɐ̃w̃ tuˈmɛ i ˈpɾĩsɨpɨ]) 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 Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main 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.

The islands were uninhabited until their discovery by Portuguese explorers in the 15th century. Gradually colonized and settled by Portugal throughout the 16th century, they collectively served as a vital commercial and trade center for the Atlantic slave trade. The rich volcanic soil and close proximity to the equator made São Tomé and Príncipe ideal for sugar cultivation, followed later by cash crops such as coffee and cocoa; the lucrative plantation economy was heavily dependent upon imported African slaves. Cycles of social unrest and economic instability throughout the 19th and 20th centuries culminated in peaceful independence in 1975. São Tomé and Príncipe has since remained one of Africa's most stable and democratic countries.

São Tomé

São Tomé is the capital city of São Tomé and Príncipe and is by far the nation's largest town. Its name is Portuguese for "Saint Thomas". The population of its agglomeration is 56,945 (2008 est.).

History

São Tomé was founded by Alvaro Caminha in 1493. The Portuguese came to São Tomé in search of land to grow sugar. The island was uninhabited before the arrival of the Portuguese sometime around 1470. São Tomé was right on the equator and wet enough to grow sugar in wild abundance. Its proximity to the African Kingdom of Kongo provided an eventual source of slave labourers to work the sugar plantations. São Tomé is centred on a sixteenth-century cathedral. Another early building is Fort São Sebastião, built in 1575 and now the São Tomé National Museum. In 1599, the city as well as the islands were taken by the Dutch for two days and again in 1641 for a year. It was the capital of the Portuguese colony of São Tomé and Príncipe and, since São Tomé and Príncipe's independence in 1975, capital of the sovereign nation.

São Tomé Province

São Tomé Province is one of the two provinces of São Tomé and Príncipe.

Administrative divisions

Islands

The main island of the province is São Tomé Island.

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Provinces of São Tomé and Príncipe

São Tomé and Príncipe is divided into 2 provinces:

São Tomé Province (Capital: São Tomé)– The province is made up of the equatorial Atlantic island of São Tomé; it has an area of 859 square kilometres and is home to an overwhelming majority of the nation's citizens with a Census population in 2012 of 179,814 out of the total 187,356.

Príncipe Province (Capital: Santo António)– This province covers the smaller island of Príncipe. Its area is approximately 142 square kilometers and the population at the 2012 Census was 7,542.

Note: Príncipe has had self-government since April 29, 1995

The provinces are further divided into seven districts, six on São Tomé and one on Príncipe.

See also

References

Tom

Tom or TOM may refer to:

People

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Fictional characters

Tom (pattern matching language)

Tom is a programming language particularly well-suited for programming various transformations on tree structures and XML based documents. Tom is a language extension which adds new matching primitives to C and Java as well as support for rewrite rules systems. The rules can be controlled using a strategy language.

Tom is good for:

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External links

Tom (animated TV series)

Tom or Tom the greatest friend was a children's television cartoon first broadcast in 2007 and produced by the Cromossoma (The Triplets) which was subsequently broadcast in several European countries. The show followed the adventures of the titular character, "Tom", who was the last remaining dinosaur, as he traveled around the world with the circus ran by his friends. The series followed their travels to different countries and landmarks including the Eiffel Tower and the canals of Venice, whilst also following the attempts of two bungling criminals; Weedon and Hatch, to kidnap Tom for their boss, the equally inept Mr Carter.

The show was unique in that it used a blend of both 2D and 3D animation. The show primarily employed 2D animation for the characters and scenes, however 3D models were utilised for chase sequences and occasional landscape shots.