São Tomé and Principe0.17° N, 6.59° E
No land border at all — every neighbor is across water, along 209 km of coast, the 136th longest on Earth.
land borders 0 km · 164th/230 · coastline 209 km · 136th/229
CIA World Factbook · 2026-02-01 · ranks computed across the countries in this atlas that carry the value
geometry: Natural Earth 1:50m · EPSG:6933 equal-area
Each line is every country in this atlas that carries the value, ordered smallest to largest. The line down the middle is the world median; the mark on each line is this country.
Portuguese discoverers named Sao Tome after Saint Thomas the Apostle on 21 December 1470 (or 1471), the saint's feast day. Principe is a shortening of the original Portuguese name "Ilha do Principe" ("Isle of the Prince"), referring to Prince Alphonso of Portugal.
Source: CIA World Factbook · 2026-02-01 · text generated from this source, approved by a person
Mestico, Angolares, and Forros are among the islands' people; Angolares descend from Angolan slaves, while Forros descend from freed slaves. Servicais are contract laborers from Angola, Mozambique, and Cabo Verde, and Tongas are children of servicais born on the islands. Europeans, primarily Portuguese, and Asians, mostly Chinese, are also part of the population. Religions include Catholic, Adventist, Assembly of God, New Apostolic, Mana, Universal Kingdom of God, and Jehovah's Witness, alongside people reporting no religion or unspecified affiliations.
Sao Tome, the capital city, contains a share of the nation's population, while Santo Antonio is the largest town on Principe. The northern areas of both islands have the highest population densities.
Source: CIA World Factbook · 2026-02-01 · text generated from this source, approved by a person
Government takes the form of a semi-presidential republic. Its legal system is a mixed system of civil law based on the Portuguese model and customary law. The constitution was approved 5 November 1975. Independence from Portugal came on 12 July 1975. Independence Day, 12 July (1975), is the national holiday.
Source: CIA World Factbook · 2026-02-01 · text generated from this source, approved by a person
Three horizontal bands are green at the top, double-width yellow in the middle, and green at the bottom. The yellow band has two five-pointed black stars in its center and a red isosceles triangle based on the left side. The flag uses the colors of the Pan-African movement. Green stands for the country's rich vegetation, red for the struggle for independence, and yellow for cocoa, one of the country's main agricultural products. The two stars symbolize the main islands. A palm tree is the national symbol.
Source: CIA World Factbook · 2026-02-01 · text generated from this source, approved by a person
CIA World Factbook
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