Sao Tome and Principe, two small volcanic islands off the coast of Gabon, is Africa's second-smallest country by population and one of its most solidly Christian, a legacy of nearly five centuries as a Portuguese colony built on the labor of enslaved Africans brought to work its cocoa and sugar plantations. Roman Catholicism remains the largest tradition, though Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, along with the locally rooted New Apostolic Church, have grown steadily since the country's 1975 independence, and small numbers of Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses round out an almost entirely Christian religious landscape with only a negligible Muslim or unaffiliated population. The constitution guarantees freedom of religion and establishes no state church, and the country's religious institutions, mostly Catholic parishes dating to the colonial period, have generally operated without government interference through the political instability of the 1990s and 2000s, including several changes of government and a brief 2003 coup that was reversed within a week. Religious observance in Sao Tome and Principe blends closely with the islands' Creole culture, itself a product of Portuguese, West African and Angolan influences carried by the enslaved and free populations who settled the archipelago, and church feast days remain among the country's most widely observed public occasions.
Facts
Law and State
Establishment Status Apostasy or Blasphemy LawSao Tome and Principe criminalizes insulting religion under its 2012-revised Penal Code. Article 264 punishes anyone who publicly mocks or offends another over their beliefs or religious functions in a way that disturbs the public peace, with up to a year in prison or a fine, and Article 267 separately punishes public mockery or vilification of an act of religious worship with up to a year in prison or a fine of as much as one hundred days' income. Documented blasphemy accusations under these articles have been dismissed for lack of evidence rather than pursued to conviction. 4 Registration or Recognition RegimeSourced to the subject's own accountReligious groups are granted autonomy and the right to teach their own religion, but must register with the government. 5 Government
Government Typesemi-presidential republic 2 Sovereignty StatusSovereign UN member state 2 Established Year Status
Legal StatusThe constitution guarantees freedom of religion and worship and establishes no state church. 3 Government type (class)Semi-presidential republic 2 Demographics
Religious CompositionAbout 92 per cent Christian, chiefly Roman Catholic with growing Evangelical and Pentecostal communities, and a small remainder unaffiliated or of other faiths (Pew Research Center, Religious Composition of the World, 2010-2020). 1 Classification
State Funding of ReligionState Neutrality Among Religions 6 Location
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Religion and History in Sao Tome and Principe
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
Sao Tome and Principe, two small volcanic islands off the coast of Gabon, is Africa's second-smallest country by population and one of its most solidly Christian, a legacy of nearly five centuries as a Portuguese colony built on the labor of enslaved Africans brought to work its cocoa and sugar plantations. Roman Catholicism remains the largest tradition, though Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, along with the locally rooted New Apostolic Church, have grown steadily since the country's 1975 independence.
Religious observance in Sao Tome and Principe blends closely with the islands' Creole culture, itself a product of Portuguese, West African and Angolan influences carried by the enslaved and free populations who settled the archipelago, and church feast days remain among the country's most widely observed public occasions, outlasting the political instability of the 1990s and 2000s, including several changes of government and a brief 2003 coup that was reversed within a week.
A Blasphemy Law Never Enforced to Conviction in Sao Tome and Principe
This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
Sao Tome and Principe criminalizes insulting religion under its 2012-revised Penal Code. Article 264 punishes anyone who publicly mocks or offends another over their beliefs or religious functions in a way that disturbs the public peace, with up to a year in prison or a fine, and Article 267 separately punishes public mockery or vilification of an act of religious worship with up to a year in prison or a fine of as much as one hundred days' income. Documented blasphemy accusations under these articles have been dismissed for lack of evidence rather than pursued to conviction.
The constitution guarantees freedom of religion and worship and establishes no state church, so the country presents an unusual combination among this atlas's entries: a written blasphemy law with real criminal penalties sitting alongside an otherwise ordinary freedom-of-religion guarantee, a law that exists on the books without evidence it has ever actually secured a conviction.
Sao Tome and Principe
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Connections
Ancient and Historical Regions
Source United Nations Statistics Division: UN M49 Standard country or area codes for statistical use: geographic regions
Sources
1. Religious Composition of the World, 2010-2020
2. The World Factbook (Central Intelligence Agency)
Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence AgencyGovernment, government type: Sao Tome and PrincipeView the Source 3. International Religious Freedom Report
United States Department of State, Office of International Religious Freedom, US Department of State, 2023View the Source 4. End Blasphemy Laws Project: Sao Tome and Principe Country Page
5. Freedom of Religion in Africa by Country (Wikipedia)
Sao Tome and Principe section, Freedom of religion in Africa by countryQuote, Sao Tome and Principe section, Freedom of religion in Africa by country
It grants religious groups autonomy in and the right to teach their religion; although religious groups must register with the government.
6. The Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edition
Oxford University Press, Oxford University Press- demonym / adjectival form
Entity description, state-funding
The constitution guarantees freedom of religion and establishes no state church
View the Source United Nations Statistics Division: UN M49 Standard country or area codes for statistical use: geographic regions
United Nations Statistics DivisionAncient and Historical Regions: Central Africa, Geographic regions table, Middle AfricaQuote, Ancient and Historical Regions: Central Africa, Geographic regions table, Middle Africa
Middle Africa 017 Angola 024 AGO LDC Cameroon 120 CMR Central African Republic 140 CAF LDC LLDC Chad 148 TCD LDC LLDC Congo 178 COG Democratic Republic of the Congo 180 COD LDC Equatorial Guinea 226 GNQ Gabon 266 GAB Sao Tome and Principe 678 STP SIDS
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