!!!Sao Tome and Principe: Government
||Country name|''conventional long form'': Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe \\ ''conventional short form'': Sao Tome and Principe \\ ''local long form'': Republica Democratica de Sao Tome e Principe \\ ''local short form'': Sao Tome e Principe \\ ''etymology'': Sao Tome was named after Saint THOMAS the Apostle by the Portuguese who discovered the island on 21 December 1470 (or 1471), the saint's feast day; Principe is a shortening of the original Portuguese name of "Ilha do Principe" (Isle of the Prince) referring to the Prince of Portugal to whom duties on the island's sugar crop were paid \\ 
||Government type|semi-presidential republic
||Capital|Sao Tome[{GoogleMap location='Sao Tome' zoom='6'}] \\ ''geographic coordinates'': 0 20 N, 6 44 E \\ ''time difference'': UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) \\ 
||Administrative divisions|2 provinces; Principe, Sao Tome
||Independence|12 July 1975 (from Portugal)
||National holiday|Independence Day, 12 July (1975)
||Constitution|approved 5 November 1975; revised several times, last in 2006 (2016)
||Legal system|mixed legal system of civil law base on the Portuguese model and customary law
||International law organization participation|has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt
||Citizenship|''citizenship by birth'': no \\ ''citizenship by descent only'': at least one parent must be a citizen of Sao Tome and Principe \\ ''dual citizenship recognized'': no \\ ''residency requirement for naturalization'': 5 years \\ 
||Suffrage|18 years of age; universal
||Executive branch|''chief of state'': President Evaristo CARVALHO (since 3 September 2016) \\ ''head of government'': Prime Minister Patrice Emery TROVOADA (since 29 November 2014) \\ ''cabinet'': Council of Ministers proposed by the prime minister, appointed by the president \\ ''elections/appointments'': president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 7 July 2016 and second round held on 7 August 2016 (next to be held in July 2021); prime minister chosen by the National Assembly and approved by the president \\ ''election results'': Evaristo CARVALHO elected president; percent of vote - Evaristo CARVALHO (ADI) 49.8%, Manuel Pinto DA COSTA (independent) 24.8%, Maria DAS NEVES (MLSTP/PSD) 24.1%; note - first round results for CARVALHO were revised downward from just over 50%, prompting the 7 August runoff; however, on 1 August DA COSTA withdrew from the runoff, citing voting irregularities \\ 
||Legislative branch|''description'': unicameral National Assembly or Assembleia Nacional (55 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 4-year terms) \\ ''elections'': last held on 12 October 2014 (next expected in October 2018) \\ ''election results'': percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ADI 33, MLSTP-PSD 16, PCD-GR 5, other 1 \\ 
||Judicial branch|''highest court(s)'': Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal Justica (consists of 5 judges); Constitutional Court or Tribunal Constitucional (consists of 5 judges, 3 of whom are from the Supreme Court) \\ ''judge selection and term of office'': Supreme Court judges appointed by the National Assembly; judge tenure NA; Constitutional Court judges nominated by the president of the republic and elected by the National Assembly for 5-year terms \\ ''subordinate courts'': Court of First Instance; Audit Court \\ 
||Political parties and leaders|Democratic Movement of Forces for Change or MDFM (Fradigue Bandeira Melo DE MENEZES) \\ Independent Democratic Action or ADI (Patrice TROVOADA) \\ Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe-Social Democratic Party or MLSTP-PSD (Aurelio MARTINS) \\ Party for Democratic Convergence or PCD (Leonel Mario D'ALVA) \\ other small parties
||Political pressure groups and leaders|Association of Sao Tome and Principe NGOs or FONG''other'': the media \\ 
||International organization participation|ACP, AfDB, AOSIS, AU, CD, CEMAC, CPLP, EITI (candidate country), FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NAM, OIF, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (observer)
||Diplomatic representation in the US|''chief of mission'': Ambassador Carlos Filomeno Azevedo Agostinho das NEVES (since 3 December 2013) \\ ''chancery'': 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1807, New York, NY 10017 \\ ''telephone'': (1) (212) 651-8116 \\ ''FAX'': (1) (212) 651-8117 \\ 
||Diplomatic representation from the US|the US does not have an embassy in Sao Tome and Principe; the US Ambassador to Gabon is accredited to Sao Tome and Principe on a nonresident basis and makes periodic visits to the islands
||Flag description|three horizontal bands of green (top), yellow (double width), and green with two black five-pointed stars placed side by side in the center of the yellow band and a red isosceles triangle based on the hoist side; green stands for the country's rich vegetation, red recalls the struggle for independence, and yellow represents cocoa, one of the country's main agricultural products; the two stars symbolize the two main islands \\ ''__note__'': uses the popular Pan-African colors of Ethiopia \\ 
||National symbol(s)|palm tree; national colors: green, yellow, red, black
||National anthem|''name'': "Independencia total" (Total Independence) \\ ''lyrics/music'': Alda Neves DA GRACA do Espirito Santo/Manuel dos Santos Barreto de Sousa e ALMEIDA \\  \\ ''__note__'': adopted 1975 \\