Sao Tome and Principe

Airports

total: 2 usable: 2 with permanent-surface runways: 2 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 0 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 2

Highways

total: 300 km paved: 200 km unpaved: 100 km note: roads on Principe are mostly unpaved and in need of repair

Merchant marine

1 cargo ship (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,096 GRT/1,105 DWT

Ports

Sao Tome, Santo Antonio

Telecommunications

minimal system; broadcast stations - 1 AM, 2 FM, no TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth station

Branches

Army, Navy, National Police

Defense expenditures

$NA, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males age 15-49 32,560; fit for military service 17,136

Agriculture

accounts for 25% of GDP; dominant sector of economy, primary source of exports; cash crops - cocoa (85%), coconuts, palm kernels, coffee; food products - bananas, papaya, beans, poultry, fish; not self-sufficient in food grain and meat

Budget

revenues: $10.2 million expenditures: $36.8 million, including capital expenditures of $22.5 million (1989 est.)

Currency

1 dobra (Db) = 100 centimos

Economic aid

recipient: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $8 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-89), $89 million

Electricity

capacity: 5,000 kW production: 10 million kWh consumption per capita: 80 kWh (1991)

Exchange rates

dobras (Db) per US$1 - 129.59 (1 July 1993), 230 (1992), 260.0 (November 1991), 122.48 (December 1988), 72.827 (1987), 36.993 (1986)

Exports

$5.4 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: cocoa 78%, copra, coffee, palm oil partners: Netherlands, Germany, China, Portugal

External debt

$163.6 million (1992)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Imports

$31.5 million (f.o.b., 1992 est.) commodities: machinery and electrical equipment 44%, food products 18%, petroleum 11% partners: Portugal, Japan, Spain, France, Angola

Industrial production

growth rate 1% (1991); accounts for 7% of GDP

Industries

light construction, shirts, soap, beer, fisheries, shrimp processing

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

27% (1992 est.)

National product

GDP - exchange rate conversion - $50 million (1990)

National product per capita

$450 (1990)

National product real growth rate

1.5% (1992 est.)

Overview

The economy has remained dependent on cocoa since the country gained independence nearly 15 years ago. Since then, however, cocoa production has gradually deteriorated because of drought and mismanagement, so that by 1987 output had fallen to less than 50% of its former levels. As a result, a shortage of cocoa for export has created a serious balance-of-payments problem. Production of less important crops, such as coffee, copra, and palm kernels, has also declined. The value of imports generally exceeds that of exports by a ratio of 4:1. The emphasis on cocoa production at the expense of other food crops has meant that Sao Tome has to import 90% of food needs. It also has to import all fuels and most manufactured goods. Over the years, Sao Tome has been unable to service its external debt, which amounts to roughly 80% of export earnings. Considerable potential exists for development of a tourist industry, and the government has taken steps to expand facilities in recent years. The government also implemented a Five-Year Plan covering 1986-90 to restructure the economy and reschedule external debt service payments in cooperation with the International Development Association and Western lenders.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Area

total area: 960 sq km land area: 960 sq km comparative area: slightly less than 5.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Climate

tropical; hot, humid; one rainy season (October to May)

Coastline

209 km

Environment

current issues: deforestation; soil erosion and exhaustion natural hazards: NA international agreements: party to - Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Climate Change

International disputes

none

Irrigated land

NA sq km

Land boundaries

0 km

Land use

arable land: 1% permanent crops: 20% meadows and pastures: 1% forest and woodland: 75% other: 3%

Location

Western Africa, in the Atlantic Ocean, 340 km off the coast of Gabon straddling the equator

Map references

Africa, Standard Time Zones of the World

Maritime claims

measured from claimed archipelagic baselines exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

Natural resources

fish

Terrain

volcanic, mountainous

Administrative divisions

2 districts (concelhos, singular - concelho); Principe, Sao Tome

Capital

Sao Tome

Constitution

new constitution approved March 1990; effective 10 September 1990

Digraph

TP

Diplomatic representation in US

Sao Tome and Principe has no embassy in the US, but does have a Permanent Mission to the UN, headed by First Secretary Domingos AUGUSTO Ferreira, located at 122 East 42nd Street, Suite 1604, New York, NY 10168, telephone (212) 697-4211

Executive branch

chief of state: President Miguel TROVOADA (since 4 April 1991); election last held 3 March 1991 (next to be held NA March 1996); results - Miguel TROVOADA was elected without opposition in Sao Tome's first multiparty presidential election head of government: Prime Minister Noberto Jose D'Alva COSTA ALEGRE (since 16 May 1992) cabinet: Council of Ministers; appointed by the president on the proposal of the prime minister

Flag

three horizontal bands of green (top), yellow (double width), and green with two black five-pointed stars placed side by side in the center of the yellow band and a red isosceles triangle based on the hoist side; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia

Independence

12 July 1975 (from Portugal)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Legal system

based on Portuguese law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legislative branch

unicameral

Member of

ACP, AfDB, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), INTERPOL, IOM (observer), ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

Names

conventional long form: Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe conventional short form: Sao Tome and Principe local long form: Republica Democratica de Sao Tome e Principe local short form: Sao Tome e Principe

National People's Assembly

(Assembleia Popular Nacional) elections last held 20 January 1991 (next to be held NA January 1996); results - PCD-GR 54.4%, MLSTP 30.5%, CODO 5.2%, FDC 1.5%, other 8.4%; seats - (55 total) PCD-GR 33, MLSTP 21, CODO 1; note - this was the first multiparty election in Sao Tome and Principe

National holiday

Independence Day, 12 July (1975)

Political parties and leaders

Party for Democratic Convergence-Reflection Group (PCD-GR), Daniel Lima Dos Santos DAIO, secretary general; Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe (MLSTP), Carlos da GRACA; Christian Democratic Front (FDC), Alphonse Dos SANTOS; Democratic Opposition Coalition (CODO), leader NA; other small parties

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Type

republic

US diplomatic representation

ambassador to Gabon is accredited to Sao Tome and Principe on a nonresident basis and makes periodic visits to the islands

Birth rate

35.2 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Death rate

8.88 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Ethnic divisions

mestico, angolares (descendents of Angolan slaves), forros (descendents of freed slaves), servicais (contract laborers from Angola, Mozambique, and Cape Verde), tongas (children of servicais born on the islands), Europeans (primarily Portuguese)

Infant mortality rate

63.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)

Labor force

21,096 (1981); most of population engaged in subsistence agriculture and fishing; labor shortages on plantations and of skilled workers; 56% of population of working age (1983)

Languages

Portuguese (official)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 63.33 years male: 61.48 years female: 65.24 years (1994 est.)

Literacy

age 15 and over can read and write (1981) total population: 57% male: 73% female: 42%

Nationality

noun: Sao Tomean(s) adjective: Sao Tomean

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)

Population

136,780 (July 1994 est.)

Population growth rate

2.63% (1994 est.)

Religions

Roman Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, Seventh-Day Adventist

Total fertility rate

4.52 children born/woman (1994 est.)