r-based economy gave way to coffee and cocoa in the
19th century - all grown with plantation slave labor, a form of which
lingered into the 20th century. Although independence was achieved in
1975, democratic reforms were not instituted until the late 1980s. The
first free elections were held in 1991.

Geography Sao Tome and Principe

Location: Western Africa, islands in the Gulf of Guinea, straddling
the Equator, west of Gabon

Geographic coordinates: 1 00 N, 7 00 E

Map references: Africa

Area: total: 1,001 sq km water: 0 sq km land: 1,001 sq km

Area - comparative: more than five times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries: 0 km

Coastline: 209 km

Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines territorial
sea: 12 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

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

Terrain: volcanic, mountainous

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point:
Pico de Sao Tome 2,024 m

Natural resources: fish, hydropower

Land use: arable land: 2% permanent crops: 41% other: 57% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 100 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion and exhaustion

Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution signed, but not
ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: the smallest country in Africa; the two main islands
form part of a chain of extinct volcanoes and both are fairly mountainous

People Sao Tome and Principe

Population: 170,372 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 47.7% (male 41,159; female 40,125) 15-64
years: 48.3% (male 39,701; female 42,586) 65 years and over: 4% (male
3,115; female 3,686) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.18% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 42.3 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 7.32 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: -3.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03
male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female 65 years and over:
0.85 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 47.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth: 67.45 years (2002 est.)