São Tomé and Príncipe is a small island country composed of an archipelago located in the Gulf of Guinea of the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. The nation's main islands are São Tomé Island and Príncipe Island, for which the country is named. These are located about 300and, respectively, off the northwest coast of Gabon in Central Africa.
São Tomé and Príncipe constitute one of Africa's smallest countries, with 2090NaN0 of coastline. Both are part of an extinct volcanic mountain range, which also includes the island of Bioko in Equatorial Guinea to the northeast and Mount Cameroon on the mainland coast further northeast. São Tomé is 50-1NaN-1 long and 30-1NaN-1 wide and the more mountainous of the two islands. Its peaks reach 20240NaN0 - Pico de São Tomé. Principe is about 300NaN0 long and 60NaN0 wide, making it the smaller of the two. Its peaks reach 9480NaN0 - Pico de Príncipe. This makes the total land area of the country 10010NaN0, about five times the size of Washington, D.C. Both islands are crossed by swift streams radiating down the mountains through lush forest and cropland to the sea. Both islands at a distance of 150-1NaN-1. The equator lies immediately south of São Tomé Island, passing through an islet Ilhéu das Rolas.
The Pico Cão Grande (Great Dog Peak) is a landmark volcanic plug peak, located at in southern São Tomé. It rises dramatically over 300-2NaN-2 above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 6630NaN0 above sea level.
At sea level, the climate is tropical - hot and humid with average yearly temperatures of about 271NaN1 and little daily variation. At the interior's higher altitudes, the average yearly temperature is 20C, and nights are generally cool. Annual rainfall varies from 50001NaN1 on the southwestern slopes to 10001NaN1 in the northern lowlands. The rainy season runs from October to May.
Between 1950 and 2010, São Tomé and Príncipe experienced an increase of 1.5 °C in average annual temperature due to climate change.[1] The country is considered highly vulnerable to its impacts. Climate change is projected to lead to an increased number of warm days and nights, hotter temperatures and increased precipitation.[2] Sea level rise and saltwater intrusion will be major issues for the islands and climate change will have major impacts on agriculture in the country.[3] The government began developing a National Adaptation Plan in 2022 to implement climate adaptation efforts, with support from the United Nations Environment Programme.[4]
See main article: Wildlife of São Tomé and Príncipe, List of mammals of São Tomé and Príncipe and List of birds of São Tomé and Príncipe.
The two islands are oceanic islands which have always been separate from mainland Central Africa and so there is a relatively low diversity of species, restricted to those that have managed to cross the sea to the islands. However the level of endemism is high with many species occurring nowhere else in the world.
Maritime claims:
This is a list of the extreme points of São Tomé and Príncipe, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.