Political overview of São Tomé and Príncipe

The Republic of Sao Tome and Principe is a lower middle income, developing small island state with a fragile economy. It is highly vulnerable to shocks. Made up of two main islands and four islets on the equator in the Gulf of Guinea, it lies 350 km off the west coast of Africa. Covering just 1,001 sq. km, this Portuguese speaking country has 197,900 people and income per head of US $1,670 in 2014. Cocoa, coffee, and palm oil exports are the cornerstone of the economy, though tourism is increasing. Annual growth in gross domestic product (GDP) has typically exceeded 4 percent since 2012. Sixty-eight percent of the people live in poverty, of whom 22 per cent in extreme poverty. Income per head has been falling since the mid-1990s, which, compounded by weak cocoa prices, has spurred rural-urban migration. Half the country is covered by primary forest, of which 30,000 ha, or almost a third, is protected. Elsewhere agroforestry dominates, with crops varying according to altitude. Farmers grow taro and cocoyam at lower levels, bananas, cacao and oil palm at mid-level and fruit and breadfruit trees at altitude.