São Tomé and Príncipe

AfricaCapital city: Sao TomeCapital metro: São ToméPresident: Carlos Vila NovaPrime Minister: Américo Ramos
2026 population
210K
Rank #195 globally
Area
964 km² (372 sq mi)
Metros tracked
1
84% of population in metros
Composite score
1.0
Rank #192 globally

population: Census (2024) · indicators as of 2026-09-05 · 1 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography1 metro

São Tomé and Príncipe metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
1 polygons

Hover for rank, click to open the metro page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 1 tracked metro
1 metros
#1394São Tomé★ Capital▲ Largest
1.0
🗂️ Administrative subdivisions

4 entries listed under São Tomé and Príncipe across 2 types. Click any to see its metros and footprint.

4 total

Autonomous Regions (1)

📋 At a glance
Official language
Portuguese
Legislature
Asamblea Nacional de Santo Tomé y Príncipe
Demonym
Santomean
Time zone
UTC±00:00
Driving side
Right
Calling code
+239
Internet TLD
.st
ISO 3166
ST
Established
1975
Highest point
Pico de São Tomé (2,024 m (6,640 ft))
National anthem
Independência total

Facts via Wikidata.

💹 Economy and developmentLower middle income
Human Dev. Index
#139 / 191
0.637
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#186 / 193
$981M
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#129 / 193
$4.1k
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#146 / 190
$6.4k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#131 / 192
$3.8k
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#133 / 194
69.9 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
19.1 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#78 / 194
69%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
2.0%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#41 / 193
240/km²
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#160 / 193
0.8%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#62 / 175
0.74
V-Dem · 2025
Gini index
#128 / 166
40.7
World Bank · 2017
Internet users
#137 / 193
59%
World Bank · 2024
Inflation
#163 / 185
11.0%
World Bank · 2025
CO₂ per capita
#41 / 192
0.6 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
#146 / 186
11%
Ember · 2023

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations3 full memberships

Political & Economic

Regional

Subregional

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History31 leaders · click to expand

marks a leader associated with atrocities or defiance of law, systemic subversion of democratic institutions, or a criminal conviction. Convictions arising from political persecution, and annulled convictions, are excluded. denotes a monarch. These are editorial designations, applied per entry rather than derived automatically.

Américo Ramos✦ Current

2025Present

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 5m

Ilza Amado Vaz

20252025

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 0m

Patrice Trovoada

20222025

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2y 1m

Carlos Vila Nova✦ Current

2021Present

President

Tenure: 4y 9m

Jorge Bom Jesus

20182022

Prime Minister

Tenure: 3y 11m

Evaristo Carvalho

20162021

President

Tenure: 5y 0m

Patrice Trovoada

20142018

Prime Minister

Tenure: 3y 11m

Gabriel Costa

20122014

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2y 0m

Manuel Pinto da Costa

20112016

President

Tenure: 5y 0m

Patrice Trovoada

20102012

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2y 3m

Joaquim Rafael Branco

20082010

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2y 1m

Patrice Trovoada

20082008

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 4m
Show all 31 leaders

Tomé Vera Cruz

20062008

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 9m

Maria do Carmo Silveira

20052006

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 10m

Damião Vaz d'Almeida

20042005

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 8m

Maria das Neves

20022004

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 11m

Gabriel Costa

20022002

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 6m

Evaristo Carvalho

20012002

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 6m

Fradique de Menezes

20012011

President

Tenure: 10y 0m

Guilherme Posser da Costa

19992001

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2y 8m

Raul Bragança Neto

19961999

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2y 1m

Armindo Vaz d'Almeida

19951996

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 10m

Carlos Graça

19941995

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 2m

Evaristo Carvalho

19941994

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 3m

Norberto Costa Alegre

19921994

Prime Minister

Tenure: 2y 1m

Miguel Trovoada

19912001

President

Tenure: 10y 5m

Daniel Daio

19911992

Prime Minister

Tenure: 1y 3m

Celestino Rocha da Costa

19881991

Prime Minister

Tenure: 3y 0m

Miguel Trovoada

19751979

Prime Minister

Tenure: 3y 8m

Manuel Pinto da Costa

19751991

President

Tenure: 15y 7m

Leonel Mário d'Alva

19741975

Prime Minister

Tenure: 0y 6m
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#184 · 0.0%
3%5%8%10%2000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)
São Tomé and Príncipe · share of world power, 1975–2026

The powerline is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
231k
#188 in the world
Since 1800
10×
from 23k
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.00%
0.00% in 1800
61k123k184k245k18001850190019502000
São Tomé and Príncipe · people, 1800–2023 · dashed to 2026 is projected

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for São Tomé and Príncipe: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
after 2100
still growing at 2100
2050
365k
95% band 267k to 499k
2100
534k
95% band 182k to 1.6m
2100 against 2025
2.22×
median still rising in 2100
431k861k1.3m1.7m1950197520002025205020752100

Tap or drag across the chart to read any year: the estimate to 2023, then the UN median, its bands and the scenarios.

estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
3k born · 2k died · -306 net migration
TFR 6.23 · life expectancy 39.1 · median age 23.7
1960
3k born · 1k died · -860 net migration
TFR 6.24 · life expectancy 43.6 · median age 23.3
1970
3k born · 1k died · -279 net migration
TFR 6.47 · life expectancy 56.3 · median age 15.7
1980
4k born · 1k died · -770 net migration
TFR 6.39 · life expectancy 59.4 · median age 16.2
1990
5k born · 1k died · -727 net migration
TFR 5.83 · life expectancy 60.7 · median age 16.2
2000
6k born · 1k died · -3k net migration
TFR 5.16 · life expectancy 61.2 · median age 16.8
2010
7k born · 1k died · -2k net migration
TFR 4.77 · life expectancy 63.9 · median age 17.7
2020
6k born · 1k died · 0 net migration
TFR 3.83 · life expectancy 68.0 · median age 18.5
Show all 16 decades
2030
7k born · 1k died · -724 net migration
TFR 3.26 · life expectancy 71.0 · median age 20.7
2040
8k born · 2k died · -775 net migration
TFR 2.87 · life expectancy 72.6 · median age 22.8
2050
8k born · 2k died · -754 net migration
TFR 2.59 · life expectancy 74.2 · median age 24.8
2060
8k born · 2k died · -724 net migration
TFR 2.39 · life expectancy 75.8 · median age 27.4
2070
8k born · 3k died · -814 net migration
TFR 2.25 · life expectancy 77.3 · median age 30.1
2080
7k born · 3k died · -752 net migration
TFR 2.13 · life expectancy 78.8 · median age 32.7
2090
7k born · 4k died · -746 net migration
TFR 2.05 · life expectancy 80.2 · median age 35.1
2100
7k born · 5k died · -779 net migration
TFR 1.97 · life expectancy 81.6 · median age 37.3

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

🏆 National Teams

São Tomé and Príncipe on the international stage. Click a card for the full record.