Country Guide

These two islands lie almost on the equator in the Gulf of Guinea about 274 km/170 mi from the African coast. Their land area is only 960 sq km/370 sq mi.

The islands have an equatorial type of climate with high temperatures and humidity throughout the year. Rainfall is moderately heavy and the climate is rather cloudy, muggy, and oppressive. The driest months are from June to September and rainfall outside these months is often heavy. The number of sunshine hours is rather low, averaging from four to six hours a day.

The table for São Tomé on São Tomé Island shows weather conditions that are representative of the country as a whole.