Demographics of São Tomé and Príncipe

This article is about the demographic features of the population of São Tomé and Príncipe, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Of São Tomé and Príncipe's total population, about 131,000 live on São Tomé and 6,000 on Príncipe. All are descended from various ethnic groups that have migrated to the islands since 1485. 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.

Population

São Tomé and Príncipe's population between 1961 and 2003.

According to the 2010 revison of the World Population Prospects the total population was 165,000 in 2010, compared to only 60,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 40.3%, 55.8% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.9% was 65 years or older .^[1]

	Total population	Population aged 0–14 (%)	Population aged 15–64 (%)	Population aged 65+ (%)
1950	60,000	32.9	63.1	4.0
1955	59,000	32.9	63.1	4.0
1960	64,000	32.9	63.2	4.0
1965	65,000	41.1	56.3	2.6
1970	74,000	46.7	48.4	4.9
1975	82,000	47.0	49.1	3.9
1980	95,000	46.6	48.6	4.8
1985	104,000	46.6	48.8	4.7
1990	116,000	46.6	49.0	4.4
1995	128,000	44.8	50.8	4.4
2000	141,000	42.6	53.1	4.3
2005	153,000	41.6	54.0	4.4
2010	165,000	40.3	55.8	3.9

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in São Tomé & Príncipe not available for recent years. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. ^[1]

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*
1950-1955	3 000	1 000	2 000	47.7	21.0	26.7	6.20	124
1955-1960	3 000	1 000	2 000	47.7	18.5	29.2	6.20	112
1960-1965	3 000	1 000	2 000	47.0	16.8	30.1	6.30	99
1965-1970	3 000	1 000	2 000	42.7	13.1	29.6	6.40	88
1970-1975	3 000	1 000	2 000	40.7	13.2	27.6	6.52	80
1975-1980	4 000	1 000	3 000	41.1	11.0	30.1	6.50	70
1980-1985	4 000	1 000	3 000	40.4	11.5	28.9	6.24	66
1985-1990	4 000	1 000	3 000	38.8	10.7	28.1	5.66	63
1990-1995	5 000	1 000	3 000	37.0	9.8	27.1	5.16	61
1995-2000	5 000	1 000	4 000	35.9	9.2	26.7	4.80	58
2000-2005	5 000	1 000	4 000	34.8	8.8	26.0	4.34	55
2005-2010	5 000	1 000	4 000	32.4	8.2	24.2	3.85	52
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Births and deaths ^[2]

Year	Population	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Rate of natural increase	TFR
2012		5 173	1 287	3 886	27,6	6,9	20,7

Fertility Rate (The Demographic Health Survey) ^[3]

Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and CBR (Crude Birth Rate):

Year	CBR (Total)	TFR (Total)	CBR (Urban)	TFR (Urban)	CBR (Rural)	TFR (Rural)
2008-2009	34,5	4,9 (3,3)	32,4	4,4 (3,0)	36,7	5,5 (3,7)

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 65.25 years
male: 63.84 years
female: 66.7 years (2000 est.)

Nationality

noun: São Toméan(s)
adjective: São Toméan

Ethnic groups

Mestiços, angolares (descendants of Angolan slaves), forros (descendants of freed slaves), serviçais (contract laborers from Angola, Mozambique, and Cape Verde), tongas (children of serviçais born on the islands) and Europeans (primarily Portuguese)

Religions

Christian 97% (Roman Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, Seventh-Day Adventist), Muslim 2%.^[4]

Languages

Portuguese (official)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 73%
male: 85%
female: 62% (1991 est.)

References

1. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
2. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/vitstats/serATab3.pdf
3. http://www.dhsprogram.com/
4. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2010/148715.htm