Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe was a colony of the Portuguese Empire from the discovery of the islands in 1470 until 1975, when independence was granted by Portugal.
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👉 Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe in the context of Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution (Portuguese: Revolução dos Cravos), code-named Operation Historic Turn (Operação Viragem Histórica), also known as the 25th of April (25 de Abril), was a military coup in Portugal by officers that overthrew the Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974. The coup produced major social, economic, territorial, demographic, and political changes in the European country and its overseas colonies through the Ongoing Revolutionary Process (Processo Revolucionário em Curso). It resulted in the Portuguese transition to democracy and the end of the Portuguese Colonial War. It also had worldwide repercussions by marking the beginning of the third wave of democracy.
The revolution began as a coup organised by the Armed Forces Movement (Portuguese: Movimento das Forças Armadas, MFA), composed of military officers who opposed the regime, but it was soon coupled with an unanticipated popular civil resistance campaign. Negotiations with African independence movements began, and by the end of 1974, Portuguese troops were withdrawn from Portuguese Guinea, which became a UN member state as Guinea-Bissau. This was followed in 1975 by the independence of Cape Verde, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola in Africa and the declaration of independence of East Timor in Southeast Asia. These events prompted a mass exodus of Portuguese citizens from Portugal's African territories (mostly from Angola and Mozambique), creating over a million Portuguese "returned" – the retornados.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe
- 👉 Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe in the context of Carnation Revolution
- Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe in the context of São Tomé and Príncipe
- Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe in the context of Portuguese Africa (disambiguation)
- Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe in the context of Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá
Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe in the context of São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, about 150 km (93.21 mi) apart and about 250 and 225 km (155 and 140 mi) off the northwestern coast of Gabon. With a population of 201,800 (2018 official estimate), São Tomé and Príncipe is the second-smallest and second-least populous African sovereign state after Seychelles.
The islands were uninhabited until Portuguese explorers João de Santarém and Pedro Escobar became the first Europeans to discover them in 1470. Gradually colonized and settled throughout the 16th century, they collectively served as a vital commercial and trade centre for the Atlantic slave trade. The rich volcanic soil and proximity to the equator made São Tomé and Príncipe ideal for sugar cultivation, followed later by cash crops such as coffee and cocoa. The lucrative plantation economy was heavily dependent upon enslaved Africans. Cycles of social unrest and economic instability throughout the 19th and 20th centuries culminated in peaceful independence in 1975 as a one-party communist state, which would remain in place until 1990. São Tomé and Príncipe has since remained one of Africa's most stable and democratic countries. São Tomé and Príncipe is a developing economy with a medium Human Development Index.
Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe in the context of Portuguese Africa (disambiguation)
Portuguese Africa may refer to:
Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe in the context of Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá
The Forte de São João Baptista de Ajudá (in English: Fort St. John the Baptist of Ouidah) is a small restored fort in Ouidah, Benin. Built in 1721, it was the last of three European forts built in that town to tap the slave trade of the Slave Coast. Following the legal abolition of the slave trade early in the 19th century, the Portuguese fort lay abandoned most of the time until it was permanently reoccupied in 1865.
In the aftermath of the creation of the French colony of Dahomey in the 1890s, the French authorities recognized Portuguese sovereignty over the fort due to the adamant insistence of Portugal. The fort was garrisoned by a small detachment of troops from Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe until 1911. After that, only the residente (governor), his assistant and their families inhabited the fort. Portuguese sovereignty was maintained until the fort was seized by the authorities of the newly independent Republic of Dahomey (now Benin) in August 1961.