Posted
on September 6, 2013
I'm
going to go out on a limb here and guess that Sao Tome and Principe
do not have the largest military in the world. This island nation off
the coast of Africa is the second smallest nation in Africa and the
smallest Portuguese-speaking country in the world (by population).
Today
I am NOT going to tell about European colonizers killing off or
conquering the native people of a particular place—because nobody
lived on these islands before the Portuguese arrived in the late
1400s.
But
of course (as in all human history) there were some sordid bits in
the islands' history. Apparently it was difficult to attract settlers
to the islands, so “undesirables”—mostly Jews—were sent from
Portugal. And since the islands were suited to growing sugar, and
sugar cultivation needs a lot of labor, soon the settlers began to
import slaves from mainland Africa.
Sigh!
Eventually,
of course, slavery was outlawed. Along the way, two new cash crops
were introduced: coffee and cocoa. By 1908, Sao Tome had become the
world's largest producer of cocoa, and it is still the nation's #1
crop.
The
islands are volcanic in nature, so you get cool landforms such as theGreat Dog Peak (Pico Cao Grande), which is a volcanic plug
that is often covered in mist.
A volcanic plug is formed when lava cools and solidifies inside the vent of a volcano. Often, the softer rock of the volcano itself erodes away—leaving a "plug" of rock sticking up toward the sky.
Check
out the photos of the 10 most awesome volcanic plugs in the
world. (My husband and I traveled to one of these just a bit more than a month ago and really enjoyed seeing it. The one we saw is the only one on this list in the U.S.!)
Check
out these photos of
some of the other natural beauties of Sao Tome and Principe.
(Remember, not only are they islands, they are tropical islands!)
Also
on this date:
Check
out my Pinterest pages on September
holidays, September
birthdays,
and historical
anniversaries in September.
And
here are my Pinterest pages on October
holidays, October
birthdays,
and historical
anniversaries in October.
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