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50 free Sao Tome and Principe trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Forty-two questions on Sao Tome and Principe, Africa's second-smallest country, two volcanic islands in the Gulf of Guinea that were uninhabited until Portuguese sailors landed in 1470. Geography covers the capital, Pico de Sao Tome, the needle of Pico Cao Grande, the equator on Ilheu das Rolas, the Cameroon Line and the world's smallest ibis. History runs from the deported Jewish children and the first water-powered sugar mill, through the slave depot years, Amador's 1595 revolt, the coffee and cocoa roças that made the islands the world's biggest cocoa producer by 1905, the Batepa massacre, Eddington's 1919 eclipse test of relativity, and independence in 1975 under Manuel Pinto da Costa. Culture and modern rounds cover Portuguese and the Forro, Angolar and Principense creoles, the Angolares of the 1540 shipwreck, the dobra pegged to the euro, the flag's two stars, tchiloli, ussua rhythms, the Voice of America relay, the oil zone shared with Nigeria and the whole-country biosphere reserve of 2025. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the country, its islands and history, and the sentence that establishes it is quoted under each explanation. Suits a pub quiz, an African geography lesson or anyone who has ever eaten single-origin chocolate.
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Q 01Sao Tome and Principe lies in which body of water off Central Africa?
The Gulf of Guinea
The two islands sit roughly 250 and 225 km off Gabon and about 150 km apart.
Q 02Sao Tome and Principe is Africa's second-smallest and second-least populous state after which country?
Seychelles
Its population was about 201,800 in 2018 across roughly a thousand square kilometres.
Q 03The islands were uninhabited until Portuguese explorers arrived on what date in 1470?
21 December
Joao de Santarem and Pero Escobar landed on St Thomas's Day, hence the name; Principe was first called Santo Antao.
Q 04Principe took its royal-sounding name in 1502 because of what?
Its sugar duties were paid to Portugal's crown prince
Its original name was Santo Antao, after Saint Anthony, on whose day it was reached in 1472.
Q 05Sao Tome's early settlers included about 2,000 of what, deported by the Portuguese crown?
Jewish children
Sephardic Jewish children aged eight and under were taken from Iberia to work the sugar plantations after the 1493 settlement.
Q 06Which crop drove Sao Tome's 16th-century boom after a water-powered mill was introduced in 1515?
Sugar
By 1506 the island reportedly had more cane fields than Madeira; the mills ran on enslaved African labour.
Q 07The greatest slave revolt on Sao Tome, in July 1595, was led by whom?
Amador
He recruited 5,000 slaves and destroyed 60 of the island's 85 sugar mills before the militia beat them after three weeks; he was executed.
Q 08By 1905 Sao Tome had become the world's largest producer of what?
Cocoa
Coffee and cocoa were introduced in the early 19th century; cocoa still makes up about half of exports.
Q 09The plantation estates whose managers wielded near-total power over African workers were called what?
Rocas
Lisbon abolished slavery in 1876 but forced 'contract' labour continued, exposed by Scientific American in 1897.
Q 10Which physicist observed the May 1919 solar eclipse from Principe to test general relativity?
Arthur Eddington
His photographs of bent starlight, taken near the Sundy plantation, made Einstein world-famous.
Q 11The 1953 killing of hundreds of native forros by the colonial administration is remembered as what?
The Batepa massacre
Forros feared being forced into contract labour; the anniversary on 3 February is officially observed.
Q 12Sao Tome and Principe became independent on 12 July of which year?
1975
The Carnation Revolution had toppled the dictatorship in Lisbon the previous year; the MLSTP negotiated the handover in Algiers.
Q 13Who was the country's first president, and also the designer of its flag?
Manuel Pinto da Costa
He led the MLSTP; the flag is nearly identical to the party's, with two black stars for the two islands.
Q 21In 2025 UNESCO extended a biosphere reserve to make Sao Tome and Principe the first country to be what?
Designated in its entirety
Principe had been a biosphere reserve since 2012, including its islets and the Tinhosas.
Q 22What is the currency of Sao Tome and Principe?
The dobra
Introduced in 1977 to replace the escudo, it was redenominated in 2018 and is pegged to the euro at 24.5 to one.
Q 23Since 2010 the national currency has been pegged to which currency?
The euro
A 2009 deal with the former colonial power fixed the rate.
Q 14How many black stars appear on the yellow band of the flag?
Two
Green, yellow and red are the Pan-African colours; the red hoist triangle recalls the struggle for independence.
Q 15Sao Tome and Principe was among the first African countries to do what in 1990?
Undertake democratic reform and legalise opposition parties
The 1991 elections were free and non-violent; exiled ex-premier Miguel Trovoada came home to win the presidency.
Q 16What is the highest point in the country?
Pico de Sao Tome
It rises 2,024 metres; Principe's summit reaches 948 metres.
Q 17Pico Cao Grande, the needle-like landmark of southern Sao Tome, is what kind of formation?
A volcanic plug
The 'Great Dog Peak' rises over 300 metres above the surrounding forest to a summit 663 metres above sea level.
Q 18The equator passes through which islet just south of Sao Tome?
Ilheu das Rolas
Visitors can straddle the line at a marker; the main island lies about 40 km north of it.
Q 19The islands sit on which volcanic chain, shared with Bioko, Annobon and a famous mainland peak?
The Cameroon Line
Both islands formed about 30 million years ago in the Oligocene from deep-water eruptions.
Q 20Sao Tome and Principe is home to the world's smallest species of which bird?
Ibis
It also has the world's largest sunbird and giant begonias; endemic mammals are limited to a shrew and some bats.
Q 24Which creole language is spoken by more than a third of Sao Tomeans alongside Portuguese?
Forro
Portuguese is spoken by over 98 percent; Angolar (6.6 percent) and Principense (1 percent) are the smaller creoles.
Q 25The Angolares of Sao Tome are said to descend from Angolan slaves who survived what in 1540?
A shipwreck
They now make their living from fishing; the forros are descendants of slaves freed at abolition.
Q 26What is the capital and largest city of the country?
Sao Tome
Sitting on Ana Chaves Bay, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities, with a 16th-century cathedral and the 1566 Fort Sao Sebastiao.
Q 27Fort Sao Sebastiao in the capital, built in 1566, was converted to house what?
The National Museum
The city's cathedral dates from the 16th century too but was largely rebuilt in the 19th.
Q 28Principe has been an autonomous region since 1995, coterminous with which district?
Pague
Sao Tome island has six districts; the two provinces created in 1977 were abolished under the 1990 constitution.
Q 29Sao Tome and Principe's National Assembly has how many members?
55
They serve four-year terms and meet twice a year; the president is limited to two consecutive five-year terms.
Q 30In 2001 the country agreed to explore for oil jointly with which neighbour in a shared development zone?
Nigeria
The zone was split into nine blocks; ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil and Dangote won the first in 2004.