Sao Tome and Principe Population and Language
The majority of the population is of African origin. The largest group is called Forros and originates from the population mix between Portuguese colonizers and the first slaves brought to the island.
The African element of the population was strengthened during the 19th century when the plantation owners at São Tomé recruited so-called contract workers from Portuguese colonies in southern Africa.
- COUNTRYAAH.COM: Key populations estimated size and data of Sao Tome and Principe, including population density of how many people per square mile. Also included are facts for population and language.
A special group is Angolan, descendants of slaves from Angola who survived a shipwreck in the 16th century. They speak a bantu language and lived for a long time in isolation in the southern part of São Tomé, but are now integrated into society.
The family ties to the island’s first residents have led some in the frost to see their own group as an elite and take a condescending attitude towards other groups, especially towards the descendants of the contract workers, called tongas.
After the Portuguese liberation in 1975, most Portuguese left the country, but nearly 20,000 live. A larger group constitutes mestiҫos, ie descendants of Portuguese and Africans. In this case, the folk mix has taken place in modern times, unlike in the case of frost, see above.
Migrant values dominate among immigrants. There are also relatively many Angolans and Mozambicans on the islands.
The population is unevenly distributed. Only around 4 percent of the country’s residents, around 8,000, live on Príncipe – the rest live on the main island. 36,000 Tomeans live abroad, mainly in Portugal but also in Angola and Gabon. The country also has about 5,000 migrants from abroad. They come from Angola, Cape Verde and Portugal.
Portuguese is the official language. Otherwise, mixed languages are spoken based on Portuguese.
FACTS – POPULATION AND LANGUAGE
Population
Miseries, blacks and Europeans (mainly Portuguese)
Number of residents
204 327 (2017)
Number of residents per square kilometer
213 (2017)
Percentage of residents in the cities
72.0 percent (2017)
Nativity / birth
33.8 per 1000 residents (2016)
Mortality / mortality
6.7 per 1000 residents (2016)
POPULATION GROWTH
2.2 percent (2017)
fertility rate
4.5 number of births per woman (2016)
Percentage of women
50.2 percent (2017)
Life expectancy
67 years (2016)
Life expectancy for women
69 years (2016)
Life expectancy for men
64 years (2016)
Language
Portuguese is the official language; otherwise, mixed languages are spoken based on Portuguese.