Democratic Republic of area 1,000 sq km/386
sq mi capital Sao Tome physical comprises the
two main islands and several smaller ones,
all of volcanic origin; thickly forested and
fertile head of state and government Manuel
Pinto da Costa from 1975 government one-party
socialist republic political parties Movement
for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe
(MLSTP), nationalistic socialist exports
cocoa, copra, coffee, palm oil and kernels
currency dobra (180.01 = 1 Feb 1989)
population (1989) 114,000; annual growth rate
2.5% language Portuguese religion Roman
Catholic literacy 73% male/42% female (1981)
GNP $31 million (1983); $261 per head of
population chronology 1471 Discovered by
Portuguese. 1522-1973 A province of Portugal.
1973 Granted internal self-government. 1975
Achieved full independence, with Manuel Pinto
da Costa as president. 1984 Formally declared
itself a nonaligned state. 1987 President now
popularly elected. 1988 Unsuccessful coup
attempt against Pinto da Costa.

2.
Country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast
of W Africa. government The 1982 constitution
describes the Movement for the Liberation of
Sao Tome e Principe (MLSTP) as the leading
political force in the nation and the
National People's Assembly as the supreme
organ of the state. It has 40 members, all
MLSTP nominees, elected by people's district
assemblies for a five-year term. The
president is also nominated by the MLSTP and
elected for a five-year term by popular vote.
history The islands were uninhabited until
the arrival of the Portuguese 1471, who
brought convicts and exiled Jews to work on
sugar plantations. Later on slavery became
the main trade, and in the 19th century
forced labour was used on coffee and cocoa
plantations. As a Portuguese colony, Sao Tome
e Principe was given internal self-government
1973. After the military coup in Portugal
1974, the new government in Lisbon formally
recognized the liberation movement, MLSTP,
led by Dr Manuel Pinto da Costa, as the sole
representative of the people of the islands
and granted full independence July 1975. Dr
da Costa became the first president and in
Dec a National People's Assembly was elected.
During the first few years of his presidency
there were several unsuccessful attempts to
depose him and small opposition groups still
operate from outside the country, mainly from
Lisbon. With a worsening economy, da Costa
began to reassess his country's international
links, which had made it too dependent on the
Eastern bloc and, in consequence, isolated
from the West. In 1984 he proclaimed that in
future Sao Tome e Principe would be a
non-aligned state, and the number of Angolan,
Cuban, and Soviet advisers in the country was
sharply reduced. Gradually Sao Tome e
Principe has turned more towards nearby
African states such as Gabon, Cameroon, and
Equatorial Guinea, as well as maintaining its
links with Lisbon. In 1987 the constitution
was amended, making the president subject to
election by popular vote, and in Mar 1988 an
attempted coup against him was foiled.