São Tomé: Capital city of and Príncipe
São Tomé is the capital city of São Tomé and Príncipe.
It is the largest city in the country. The city has a population of 56,166 people. Its name is Portuguese for "Saint Thomas." São Tomé is important as a port. It is located on Ana Chaves Bay in the north east of São Tomé Island.
São Tomé | |
|---|---|
 Presidential Palace of São Tomé e Príncipe | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
 Location on São Tomé Island | |
| Coordinates: 0°20′10″N 6°40′53″E / 0.33611°N 6.68139°E | |
| Country | São Tomé and Príncipe |
| Province | São Tomé Province |
| District | Água Grande |
| Area | |
| • Total | 7 sq mi (17 km2) |
| • Density | 500/sq mi (180/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (WAT) |
| Area code | +239-11x-xxxx through 14x-xxxx |
History
The city was founded by Portugal in 1485. It is centred on a sixteenth century cathedral. Another early building is Fort São Sebastião. It was built in 1575 and is now the São Tomé National Museum. In 1599, the city as well as the islands were captured by the Dutch for two days and again in 1641 for a year. São Tomé was the colony's capital until 1753. It has been the national capital since 1852.
São Tomé is known for its role in the forced conversion of Jews during the Inquisition. When King Manuel I of Portugal wanted to force the Jews to convert, he took away their children and had them sent to this remote island.
Areas of interest
Features of the town include the Presidential Palace, the Fisherman's Church, and a cinema. The city is also home to two markets, a radio station, a hospital, and an international airport. São Tomé also serves as the center of the island's road and bus networks.
References
Other websites
- Open Directory Project - Sao Tome and Principe Archived 2006-04-24 at the Wayback Machine directory category
This article uses material from the Wikipedia Simple English article São Tomé, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license ("CC BY-SA 3.0"); additional terms may apply (view authors). Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
®Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wiki Foundation, Inc. Wiki Simple English (DUHOCTRUNGQUOC.VN) is an independent company and has no affiliation with Wiki Foundation.