(1665) 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. Príncipe was settled in 1500 under a similar arrangement. Attracting settlers proved difficult, however, and most of the earliest inhabitants were "undesirables" sent from Portugal, mostly
Sephardic Jews. 2,000 Jewish children, eight years old and under, were taken from the Iberian peninsula for work on the sugar plantations. In time, these settlers found the volcanic soil of the region suitable for agriculture, especially the growing of sugar.
Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe By 1515, São Tomé and Príncipe had become slave depots for the coastal slave trade centered at
Elmina. The cultivation of sugar was a labour-intensive process, and the Portuguese began to enslave large numbers of Africans from the continent. In the sugar boom's early stages, property on the islands had little value, with farming for local consumption. While the economy relied mainly on the transit of slaves, many foodstuffs were already imported. When the local landowner Álvaro Borges died in 1504, his cleared land and domesticated animals were sold for only 13,000 réis, about the price of three slaves. According to
Valentim Fernandes around 1506, São Tomé had more sugarcane fields than
Madeira "from which they already produce molasses," but the island lacked facilities for industrial sugar production. "The fields are expanding and the sugar mills, too. At this time, only two sugar mills are here and another three are being built, counting the mill of the contractors, which is large. Similarly, the necessary conditions exist, such as streams and timber, to be able to build many more. And the [sugar] canes are the biggest I have ever seen in my life." Sugar
plantations were organized with slave labor, and by the mid-16th century, the Portuguese settlers had turned the islands into Africa's foremost exporter of sugar. Slaves in São Tomé were brought from the
Slave Coast of West Africa, the Niger Delta, the island of Fernando Po, and later from the Kongo and Angola. In the 16th century, the enslaved were imported from and exported to Portugal,
Elmina, the
Kingdom of Kongo, Angola, and the Spanish Americas. In 1510, reportedly 10,000 to 12,000 slaves were imported by Portugal. In 1516, São Tomé received 4,072 slaves with the purpose of re-exportation. Throughout the early to mid-sixteenth century, São Tomé traded in slaves intermittently with Angola and the Kingdom of Kongo. In 1525 São Tomé began trafficking slaves to the Spanish Americas, mainly to the Caribbean and Brazil. From 1532 to 1536, São Tomé sent an annual average of 342 slaves to the
Antilles. Prior to 1580, the island accounted for 75 percent of Brazil's imports, mainly slaves. In 1517, another decree freed the male slaves who had originally arrived on the island with the first colonists. with constant political instability. of the
Dutch West India Company in 1641 At first, slavery in São Tomé was less strict. In the mid-16th century, an anonymous Portuguese pilot noted that the slaves were employed as couples, built their own accommodations, and worked autonomously once a week on the cultivation of their own food supply. However, this more relaxed slave system did not last long following the introduction of plantations. Throughout, slaves frequently ran away to the inhospitable mountain forests of the island's interior. Between 1514 and 1527, five percent of slaves that were imported to São Tomé escaped, often to starve, though 1531–1535 saw major food shortages even in the plantations. By 1593, the governor declared the maroon forces almost completely extinguished. Nevertheless, maroon populations kept settlers away from the southern and western regions. The greatest slave revolt occurred in July 1595, when the government was weakened by disputes between the bishop and the governor. A native slave named
Amador recruited 5,000 slaves to raid and destroy plantations, sugar mills, and settler houses. Two hundred slaves were killed in combat, and Amador and the other rebel leaders were executed, By 1905, São Tomé had become the world's largest producer of cocoa, which remains the country's most important crop. The
roças system, which gave the plantation managers a high degree of authority, led to abuses against the African farm workers. Although Portugal officially abolished slavery in 1876, the practice of forced paid labour continued.
Scientific American documented in words and pictures the continued use of slaves in São Tomé in its 13 March 1897 issue. Observations of the
solar eclipse of 29 May 1919 in Príncipe by Sir
Arthur Eddington provided one of the first successful tests of
Albert Einstein's
general theory of relativity. In the early 20th century, an internationally publicized controversy arose over charges that
Angolan contract workers were being subjected to forced labour and unsatisfactory working conditions. Sporadic labor unrest and dissatisfaction continued well into the 20th century, culminating in an outbreak of riots in 1953 in which several hundred African laborers were killed in a clash with their Portuguese rulers. The anniversary of this "
Batepá Massacre" remains officially observed by the government.
Independence of
São Tomé By the late 1950s, when other emerging nations across the African continent demanded their independence, a small group of São Toméans formed the
Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (MLSTP), which eventually established its base in nearby
Gabon. Picking up momentum in the 1960s, events moved quickly after the overthrow of the
Caetano dictatorship in Portugal in April 1974. The new Portuguese regime was committed to the dissolution of its overseas colonies. In November 1974, its representatives met with the MLSTP in Algiers and worked out an agreement for the transfer of sovereignty. After a period of transitional government, São Tomé and Príncipe achieved independence on 12 July 1975, choosing as the first president the MLSTP Secretary General
Manuel Pinto da Costa. In 1990, São Tomé became one of the first African countries to undergo
democratic reform, and changes to the constitution—including the legalization of opposition political parties—led to elections in 1991 that were non-violent, free, and transparent.
Miguel Trovoada, a former prime minister who had been in exile since 1986, returned as an independent candidate and was elected president. Trovoada was re-elected in São Tomé's second multiparty presidential election in 1996. The
Party of Democratic Convergence won a majority of seats in the
National Assembly, with the MLSTP becoming an important and vocal minority party. Municipal elections followed in late 1992, in which the MLSTP won a majority of seats on five of seven regional councils. In early legislative elections in October 1994, the MLSTP won a plurality of seats in the assembly. It regained an outright majority of seats in the November 1998 elections.
21st century In the 2001 presidential elections the candidate backed by the
Independent Democratic Action party,
Fradique de Menezes, was elected in the first round and inaugurated on 3 September. Parliamentary elections were held in March 2002. For the next four years, a series of short-lived opposition-led governments was formed. In July 2003, the army seized power for one week, complaining of corruption and that forthcoming oil revenues would not be divided fairly. An accord was negotiated under which President de Menezes was returned to office. In March 2006, the
cohabitation period ended, when a propresidential coalition won enough seats in National Assembly elections to form a new government. In the 30 July 2006
presidential election, Fradique de Menezes easily won a second five-year term in office, defeating two other candidates,
Patrice Trovoada (son of former president Miguel Trovoada) and independent
Nilo Guimarães. Local elections, the first since 1992, took place on 27 August 2006 and were dominated by members of the ruling coalition. On 12 February 2009, a''
coup d'état ''was attempted to overthrow President Fradique de Menezes. The plotters were imprisoned, but later received a pardon from President de Menezes.
Evaristo Carvalho became the
President of São Tomé and Príncipe in the
2016 elections, after winning over the incumbent President
Manuel Pinto da Costa. President Carvalho is also vice president of the Independent Democratic Action party (ADI).
Patrice Emery Trovoada became prime minister in 2014; he is also the leader of the Independent Democratic Action party (ADI). In December 2018,
Jorge Bom Jesus, the leader of the Movimento de Libertação de São Tomé e Príncipe-Partido Social Democráta (MLSTP-PSD), was sworn in as new prime minister. In September 2021, the candidate of the centre-right opposition Independent Democratic Action (ADI),
Carlos Vila Nova, won the
presidential election.'',
Caué District, São ToméIn September 2022, the opposition Independent Democratic Action (ADI), led by former prime minister
Patrice Trovoada, won
the election over the ruling Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe/Social Democratic Party (MLSTP/PSD) of Prime Minister Jorge Bom Jesus. In November of the same year, the government and military thwarted
an attempted coup d'état, after Patrice Trovoada was appointed prime minister of São Tomé and Príncipe by Carlos Vila Nova.
Ilza Amado Vaz briefly served as Trovoada's successor from 9 January 2025 until
Américo Ramos appointment on 12 January. ==Geography==