Flag Description

three horizontal bands of green (top), yellow (double width), and green with two black five-pointed stars placed side by side in the center of the yellow band and a red isosceles triangle based on the hoist side; green stands for the country's rich vegetation, red recalls the struggle for independence, and yellow represents cocoa, one of the country's main agricultural products; the two stars symbolize the two main islands

Background:Discovered and claimed by Portugal in the late 15th century, the islands' sugar-based economy gave way to coffee and cocoa in the 19th century - all grown with African plantation slave labor, a form of which lingered into the 20th century. While independence was achieved in 1975, democratic reforms were not instituted until the late 1980s. The country held its first free elections in 1991, but frequent internal wrangling between the various political parties precipitated repeated changes in leadership and two failed coup attempts in 1995 and 2003. In 2012, three opposition parties combined in a no confidence vote to bring down the majority government of former Prime Minister Patrice TROVOADA. The new government of Prime Minister Gabriel Arcanjo Ferreira DA COSTA is entirely composed of opposition party members with limited experience in governance. New oil discoveries in the Gulf of Guinea may attract increased attention to the small island nation.

Total Area: 964 sq km

Land Area:964 sq km

Water Area:0 sq km

Land Boundries Total:

Border Countries:

Coastline:209 km

Lowest Point:Atlantic Ocean 0 m

Highest Point:Pico de Sao Tome 2,024 m

Population:190,428 (July 2014 est.)

Population Growth Rate:1.89% (2014 est.)

Religion:Catholic 55.7%, Adventist 4.1%, Assembly of God 3.4%, New Apostolic 2.9%, Mana 2.3%, Universal Kingdom of God 2%, Jehovah's Witness 1.2%, other 6.2%, none 21.2%, unspecified 1% (2012 est.)

Literacy(%):0.695

Literacy(%) Male:0.803

Literacy(%) Female:60.1% (2008 est.)

Independence Day:12 July 1975 (from Portugal)

National Holiday:Independence Day, 12 July (1975)

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