São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa.

It consists of two archipelagos around the two main islands: São Tomé and Príncipe, located about 140 kilometres apart. São Tomé, the sizable southern island, is situated just north of the equator.

Both islands are part of an extinct volcanic mountain range.It was named in honour of Saint Thomas by Portuguese explorers who arrived at the island on his feast day on the western shores of the island, a small village called Anobom.