Country profile
São Tomé and Príncipe
República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe
Africa · Sub-Saharan Africa
ST · STP
- Capital
- São Tomé
- Population
- 209,607
- Area
- 964 km²
- Democracy index
- 85
- Regime type
- Robust Democracy
Events
Ballots from São Tomé and Príncipe
The latest elections, referendums, and opinion polls from São Tomé and Príncipe. Community totals are not official results.
Archived(1)1 published ballot
Classification
Democracy profile
The score and regime label are assigned by Porto Voto using our in-house democracy index and classification framework, not ratings from governments or external agencies.
Democracy index
85/100
Regime type
Robust Democracy
Sao Tome and Principe remains a stable parliamentary democracy characterized by peaceful and competitive multi party elections, with a strong record of power transfers between major political parties. The national governance framework adheres to constitutional standards, ensuring that civil liberties, freedom of the press, and the rule of law are consistently upheld by independent institutions. While the country encounters economic constraints typical of a small island state, the political environment remains open and transparent, fostering high levels of public confidence in democratic processes. The judiciary maintains its role as a neutral arbiter, and political discourse remains vibrant, effectively ensuring that the nation sustains its status as one of the most reliable and resilient democratic systems in the region.
Last evaluation:
How we classify regimes →World Factbook
Country background
A concise introduction to São Tomé and Príncipe, together with notes on how power and law are organized, to put local ballots in context.
Portugal discovered and colonized the uninhabited Sao Tome and Principe islands in the late 15th century, setting up a sugar-based economy that gave way to coffee and cocoa in the 19th century -- all grown with African slave labor, a form of which lingered into the 20th century. While independence was achieved in 1975, democratic reforms were not instituted until the late 1980s. The country held its first free elections in 1991, but frequent internal wrangling among the various political parties precipitated repeated changes in leadership and failed, non-violent coup attempts in 1995, 1998, 2003, and 2009.
In 2012, three opposition parties combined in a no-confidence vote to bring down the majority government of former Prime Minister Patrice TROVOADA, but legislative elections returned him to the office two years later. President Evaristo CARVALHO, of the same political party as TROVOADA, was elected in 2016, marking a rare instance in which the same party held the positions of president and prime minister. TROVOADA resigned in 2018 and was replaced by Jorge BOM JESUS.
Carlos Vila NOVA was elected president in 2021. TROVOADA began his fourth stint as prime minister in 2022, after his party's victory in legislative elections.