Demographics of São Tomé and Príncipe
Demographic features of the population of São Tomé and Príncipe include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.
| Demographics of São Tomé and Príncipe | |
|---|---|
Population pyramid of Sao Tome and Principe in 2020 | |
| Population | 217,164 (2022 est.) |
| Growth rate | 1.48% (2022 est.) |
| Birth rate | 28.19 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) |
| Death rate | 6.2 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) |
| Net migration rate | -7.19 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) |
| Age structure | |
| 0–14 years | 39.77% |
| 65 and over | 2.87% |
| Nationality | |
| Nationality | Sao Tomean |
Of São Tomé and Príncipe's total population of some 201,800, about 193,380 live on São Tomé and 8,420 on Príncipe. All are descended from various ethnic groups that have migrated to the islands since 1485. 70% of the people on São Tomé and Príncipe are black and 30% of the people are mixed race, mostly black and white. Six groups are identifiable:
- Luso-Africans, or mixed-heritage, descendants of Portuguese colonists and African slaves brought to the islands during the early years of settlement from Benin, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Angola (these people also are known as filhos da terra or "children of the land");
- Angolares, reputedly descendants of Angolan slaves who survived a 1540 shipwreck and now earn their livelihood fishing;
- Forros, descendants of freed slaves when slavery was abolished;
- Serviçais, contract laborers from Angola, Mozambique, and Cape Verde, living temporarily on the islands;
- Tongas, children of servicais born on the islands; and
- Europeans, primarily Portuguese.
- Asians, mostly Chinese minority, including Macanese people of mixed Portuguese and Chinese blood from Macau.
Although a small country, São Tomé and Príncipe has four national languages: Portuguese (the official language, spoken by 95% of the population), and the Portuguese-based creoles Forro (85%), Angolar (3%) and Principense (0.1%). French is also learned in schools, as the country is a member of Francophonie.
In the 1970s, there were two significant population movements—the exodus of most of the 4,000 Portuguese residents and the influx of several hundred São Toméan refugees from Angola. The islanders have been absorbed largely into a common Luso-African culture. Almost all belong to the Roman Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, or Seventh-day Adventist churches, which in turn retain close ties with churches in Portugal. There is a small but growing Muslim population.