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| Location | |
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| Ensign | |
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| Basic information | |
| Capital | Sao Tome |
| Goverment | Republic |
| Currency | dobra (STD) |
| Area | 1,000 km2 |
| Population | 170,372 (July 2002 estimate) |
| Language | Portuguese (official) |
| Religion | Catholic 80% (Roman Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, Seventh-Day Adventist) |
| Power system | 220V/50Hz (European socket) |
| Phone number | 239 |
| Internet TLD | .st |
| time zone | UTC |
Sao Tome and Principe (Vietnamese pronunciation: Xao Tome and Principe), full name: Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe (Portuguese: República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe) is an island country near Gabon in Africa. São Tomé is the Portuguese name for Saint Thomas.
overview
History
The N'Gola-Angolares have long inhabited the territory of São Tomé and Príncipe. In 1470, the Portuguese arrived and made the island a transit point for the slave trade from West Africa to Brazil and the Americas. In 1485, São Tomé and Príncipe officially became Portuguese colonies. The people continuously revolted against the domination of the Portuguese colonialists. After the Second World War, along with the growing struggle movement in Africa, in September 1960, the Committee for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe, later renamed the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (MLSTP) led by Mr. Manuel Pinto da Costa led the people of São Tomé and Príncipe to fight for independence. On November 26, 1974 in Aler, Portugal and the MLSTP signed an Agreement granting independence to this country on July 12, 1975.
The STP adopted a new Constitution, recognized the multi-party system (August 1990), and elected the National Assembly and the President (March 1991). This is the first multi-party democratic election in the country since independence. Due to the failure of economic policies and the decline in people's living standards, the MLSTP Party lost the election to the Democratic Convergence Party (PCD) of Mr. Daniel Lima Dos Sangtos Daio and became the opposition party.
During the 3 years under the multi-party political regime, the PCD Party failed to improve the socio-economic situation, deepening internal conflicts, and the President twice replaced the Prime Minister position but still could not resolve it. fundamental problems of the crisis. Meanwhile, the people are increasingly dissatisfied due to the difficult life, high unemployment (30%), rising inflation (40%) etc. The above situation of São Tomé and Príncipe has made the role and prestige The credibility of the ruling party PCD decreased. In the National Assembly election (October 1994), the PCD Party won only 15/55 seats, while the MLSTP won 25/55 seats in the National Assembly, becoming the ruling party according to the provisions of the Constitution. This has made it difficult for the President of the PCD Party to run the country.
On August 15, 1995, the military (under the new Constitution is non-partisan) led by two lieutenants Ponte and Q.Deanmaydu with the slogan "Bringing São Tomé and Príncipe out of the socio-economic crisis society and poverty today", arrested President M. Trovoada, Prime Minister C. Gracia and Minister of Defense A. Polino, established the Provisional National Salvation Committee. Due to strong pressure from the international community (UN, US, EU, Angola, Gabon...) threatening to cut off economic aid to São Tomé and Príncipe and through the mediator role of Angolan President Dos Santos , on August 22, 1995, President M.Trovoada and his cabinet returned to power.
São Tomé and Príncipe are members of a community of five Portuguese-speaking countries (Angola, Guinea Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, Mozambique and Cap Vert). The 6th Summit of Francophone Countries, held in Cotonou (Bénin) from 2 to 4 December 1995, admitted São Tomé and Príncipe as associate members of this Conference.
On July 21, 1996, Mr. Manuel Trovoada, the Democratic Convergence Party (PDC), the incumbent President won the election with 52.4% of the vote, continuing his second term (1996-2000), defeating Mr. Manuel Pinto da Costa, leader of the MLPS Party, former President (1975-1991), received only 47.6% of the vote.
On July 21, 2001, in the 3rd multi-party elections, Mr. Fradique De Menezes was elected as the new President of the STP. And on June 22, 2008, the President approved the proposal of the National Assembly to elect Joachim Rafael Blranco as the new Prime Minister of the country.