São Tomé and Príncipe: Map & History

History

The islands making up São Tomé and Príncipe were formed approximately 30 million years ago due to volcanic activity in deep water along the Cameroon Line. Over time, interactions with seawater and periods of eruption have engendered a wide variety of different igneous and volcanic rocks on the islands with complex assemblages of minerals.

The islands of São Tomé and Príncipe were uninhabited when the Portuguese arrived 21 December 1470. The first Europeans to put ashore were João de Santarém and Pêro Escobar. Portuguese navigators explored the islands and decided that they would be good locations for bases to trade with the mainland.

Economy

Since the 19th century, 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 54% of agricultural exports. In the early 1900s, São Tomé and Príncipe was the world's largest exporter of cocoa and popularly known as the "Chocolate Islands". Other export crops include copra, palm kernels, and coffee.

Domestic food-crop production is inadequate to meet local consumption, so the country imports most of its food. As of 1997, an estimated 90% of the country's food needs were met through imports.

Culture

São Toméans are known for ússua and socopé rhythms, while Príncipe is home to the dêxa beat. Portuguese ballroom may have played an integral part in the development of these rhythms and their associated dances.

Tchiloli is a musical dance performance that tells a dramatic story. The danço-Congo is similarly a combination of music, dance, and theatre.

São Tomé and Príncipe's Portuguese-language literature and poetry is considered some of the richest in Lusophone Africa. Other literature from the country has been written in Forro Creole, English and Caué Creole. Francisco José Tenreiro is considered one of the country's most influential writers. Other notable literary figures include Manuela Margarido, Alda Espírito Santo, Olinda Beja and Conceição Lima.

Geography

The islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, situated in the equatorial Atlantic and Gulf of Guinea about 160 and 130 nautical miles (300 and 240 km; 180 and 150 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 coast of Gulf of Guinea. Both islands formed about 30 million years ago during the Oligocene era, due to volcanic activity beneath deep water along the Cameroon Line.