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

_#_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)

_#_Organized labor: NA

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe

_#_Type: republic

_#_Capital: Sao Tome

_#_Administrative divisions: 2 districts (concelhos,
singular--concelho); Principe, Sao Tome

_#_Independence: 12 July 1975 (from Portugal)

_#_Constitution: 5 November 1975, approved 15 December 1982

_#_Legal system: based on Portuguese law system and customary law; has
not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

_#_National holiday: Independence Day, 12 July (1975)

_#_Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers
(cabinet)

_#_Legislative branch: unicameral People's National Assembly
(Assembleia Popular Nacional)

_#_Judicial branch: Supreme Court

_#_Leaders:

Chief of State--President Miguel TROVOADA (since 4 April 1991);

Head of Government--Prime Minister Daniel Lima Dos Santos DAIO
(since 21 January 1991)

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

_#_Suffrage: universal at age 18

_#_Elections:

President--last held 3 March 1991 (next to be held March
1996);
results--Miguel TROVOADA was elected without opposition in Sao Tome's
first multiparty presidential election;

National People's Assembly--last held 20 January 1991 (next to be
held January 1996);
results--PCD-GR 54.4%, MLSTP 30.5%, CODO 5.2%, FDC 1.5%, other 8.3%;
seats--(55 total) PCD-GR 33, MLSTP 21, CODO 1; note--this was the first
National Assembly multiparty election in Sao Tome

_#_Member of: ACP, AfDB, CEEAC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD,
ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

_#_Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Joaquim Rafael BRANCO;
Chancery (temporary) at 801 Second Avenue, Suite 1504, New York, NY
10017; telephone (212) 697-4211;

US--Ambassador Keith L. WAUCHOPE in