Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe
Overseas Province of São Tomé and Príncipe Província Ultramarina de São Tomé e Príncipe | |||||||
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1485–1975 | |||||||
Anthem: " Portuguese | |||||||
Head of state | |||||||
• 1470–1481 | Afonso V of Portugal | ||||||
• 1974–75 | Francisco da Costa Gomes | ||||||
Governor | |||||||
• 1485–1490 (first) | João de Paiva | ||||||
• 1974–75 (last) | António Elísio Capelo Pires Veloso | ||||||
Historical era | Imperialism | ||||||
• Established | 1485 | ||||||
• Independence of São Tomé and Príncipe | 12 July 1975 | ||||||
Currency | São Tomé and Príncipe escudo | ||||||
ISO 3166 code | ST | ||||||
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Today part of | São Tomé and Príncipe |
São Tomé and Príncipe islands were a colony of the Portuguese Empire from its discovery in 1470 until 1975, when independence was granted by Portugal.
History
The Portuguese explorers
The first attempt of settlement in the islands began in 1485, when the Portuguese Crown granted to João de Paiva the São Tomé island. However, this attempt was not successful, because the settlers were unable to produce food in the specific conditions and climate that the islands offered, and because of the tropical diseases that affected the settlers.
In the following years, the Portuguese settlers started to import large numbers of slaves from mainland
In the first decade of the 17th century, the competition of
The
Most Portuguese settlers married African women. Europeans never numbered more than 1000 at their peak in the 16th century, and by the 18th century, prosperous and influential local Afro-Portuguese mulatos came to fill important local positions, such as cathedral chapter and the town-hall, into which they had been admitted as early as 1528.[7] Some were indistinguishable from mainland native Africans, and claimed to be brancos da terra, literally, "the land's whites" on account of their ancestry.[8]
In 1753, because of the frequent attacks by
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Portuguese introduced coffee and cocoa in extensive large-scale plantations called roças, thus giving a great boost to the economy. The coffee production cycle ended in the late 19th century, when it was replaced by cocoa as the islands' main production. São Tomé and Príncipe then became a major global cocoa production area for several generations, and in the first decades of the 20th century, it was frequently the world's annual number one cocoa producer.[2]
In 1972, a nationalist political party of
Gallery
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A plantation train in 1910.
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A street in São Tomé, in 1941–1942.
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São Tomé, 1941–1942.
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Marketplace in São Tomé, 1941-1942
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Vila Trindade 1941-1942
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São Tomé landscape
Colonial architecture
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Fort São Sebastião.
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Supreme Court of São Tomé.
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Presidential Palace.
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Residential home.
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Highschool.
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Plantation house of São João dos Angolares
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Cathedral of São Tomé
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Former Misericórdia
Currency
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1970 coin of 50 escudos from São Tomé.
See also
Notes
References
- Jack P. Greene, Philip D. Morgan, Atlantic History: A Critical Appraisal (2008) ISBN 9780199886432
- Richard M. Juang, Noelle Morrissette, Africa and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History (2008) ISBN 9781851094417
- Louis E. Grivetti, ISBN 9781118210222
- Albertino Francisco, Nujoma Agostinho, Exorcising Devils from the Throne: São Tomé and Príncipe in the Chaos of Democratization (2011) ISBN 9780875868486
- Amy McKenna, The History of Central and Eastern Africa (2011) ISBN 9781615303229
- Anthony Disney, A History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire (2009)