tober to May)
Terrain:
volcanic, mountainous
Natural resources:
fish
Land use:
arable land:
1%
permanent crops:
20%
meadows and pastures:
1%
forest and woodland:
75%
other:
3%
Irrigated land:
NA sq 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

@Sao Tome and Principe, People

Population:
136,780 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.63% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
35.2 births/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Death rate:
8.88 deaths/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1994 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
63.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1994 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
63.33 years
male:
61.48 years
female:
65.24 years (1994 est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.52 children born/woman (1994 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Sao Tomean(s)
adjective:
Sao Tomean
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)
Religions:
Roman Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, Seventh-Day Adventist
Languages:
Portuguese (official)
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1981)
total population:
57%
male:
73%
female:
42%
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)

@Sao Tome and Principe, Government

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
Digraph:
TP
Type:
republic
Capital:
Sao Tome
Administrative divisions:
2 districts (concelhos, singular - concelho); Principe, Sao Tome
Independence:
12 July 1975 (from Portugal)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 12 July (1975)
Constitution:
new constitution approved March 1990; effective 10 September 1990
Legal system:
based on Portuguese law system and customary law; has not accept