For more information see the Sao Tomé and Príncipe profile.

The Democratic Republic of Sao Tomé and Príncipe is a nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of Africa. It consists of two larger and several smaller islands. Eighty percent of the people are descendants of African slaves. The nation is impoverished, with most people making a living by subsistence agriculture. Cocoa is the major export.

Sao Tomé & Príncipe was settled by the Portuguese in 1493. becoming It becameindependent from Portugal in 1975 as a Marxist republic. A multi-party democracy was instituted in 1991. The republic is a secular state with religious freedom.