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TransportationAirports World Ranking: 205
2 (2012)
Airports - with paved runways
Total 2
1,524 to 2,437 m 1 914 to 1,523 m 1 (2012) Roadways World Ranking: 201
Total 320 km
Paved 218 km Unpaved 102 km (2000) Merchant marine World Ranking: 138
Total 3
By type Bulk carrier 1, cargo 2 Foreign-owned 2 (China 1, Greece 1) (2010) Ports and terminals
Sao Tome
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Sao Tome And Principe (Sao Tome):
 
GPS points from Sao Tome And Principe (Sao Tome)
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Discovered and claimed by Portugal in the late 15th century, the islands' sugar-based economy gave way to coffee and cocoa in the 19th century - all grown with plantation slave labor, a form of which lingered into the 20th century. While independence was achieved in 1975, democratic reforms were not instituted until the late 1980s. The country held its first free elections in 1991, but frequent internal wrangling between the various political parties precipitated repeated changes in leadership and two failed coup attempts in 1995 and 2003. The recent discovery of oil in the Gulf of Guinea promises to attract increased attention to the small island nation.
