Príncipe - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Príncipe

Map of São Tomé and Príncipe with Príncipe near the top
Geography
Location	São Tomé and Príncipe
Coordinates	1°37′N 7°24′E / 1.617°N 7.400°E / 1.617; 7.400
Area	136 km2 (53 sq mi)
Highest elevation	948 m (3110 ft)
Highest point	Pico de Príncipe
Districts	1 (Pagué)
Capital city	Santo António
Demographics
Demonym	Príncipean or Principean
Population	5,000
Pop. density	36.8/km2 (95.3/sq mi)
Additional information
Area code: 00239-19x-xxxx?

Príncipe is the northern and smaller of the two major islands of the country of São Tomé and Príncipe. It is in the sea to the west of Africa. It has an area of 136 square kilometres (53 sq mi). Close to 5,000 people live there. The island is a heavily eroded volcano over three million years old. It is surrounded by other smaller islands including Ilheu Bom Bom, Ilhéu Caroço, Tinhosa Grande and Tinhosa Pequena. Príncipe rises in the south to 948 metres (3,110 ft) at Pico de Príncipe, in a part of the Obo National Park that is covered with trees. The north and centre of the island were formerly plantations, most of them formed by Portuguese colonialists using slave labor. These concentrated initially on producing sugar and later on cocoa, becoming the world's greatest cocoa producer.^[1] Since independence these plantations have since largely gone back to being forest.

Príncipe was the site where Einstein's Theory of Relativity was experimentally proved successful by Arthur Stanley Eddington and his team during the total solar eclipse of May 29, 1919.