Transport in São Tomé and Príncipe relies primarily on road infrastructure for local needs and airports and sea travel for international needs.

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main isla ...

does not have railways.

Seaports

In 1999 the country's merchant marine fleet included 9 ships (1,000 GT or over) totaling 43,587 GT/—four

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

s, one

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

, one refrigerated cargo ship and three

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

ships. On São Tomé Island, there are

seaports A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

in São Tomé by

Ana Chaves Bay Ana Chaves Bay () is a bay on the northeast coast of São Tomé Island in São Tomé and Príncipe. The capital city of São Tomé and its port are situated by the bay. It stretches from the Ponta Oque del Rei in the north to Ponta São Sebastião ...

, another in Neves which is not only fishing but a fuel port which was constructed in 2012 and near Porto Alegre which is the only two ferry ports. On Príncipe, there is a seaport in

Santo António Santo António (Portuguese for Saint Anthony), also known as Santo António do Príncipe, is the main settlement of the island of Príncipe in São Tomé and Príncipe. It lies on the north east coast. It is the capital of the Autonomous Region ...

. There is the tiny ferry port at

Ilhéu das Rolas Ilhéu das Rolas (also: ''Ilheu Gago Coutinho'') is an islet in the African island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe. It lies on the Equator, off the southern tip of São Tomé Island, separated by Canal das Rolas. Its maximum elevation is . I ...

which is the only port of any size founded outside the two main islands.

Air services

São Tomé and Príncipe are served by two airports, for São Tomé (and its surrounding islets), it is the

São Tomé International Airport São Tomé International Airport () is an international airport located on São Tomé Island, from the city of São Tomé. It is the main airport serving São Tomé and Príncipe. Facilities The airport is at an elevation of above mean sea ...

. There are two paved runways in total: one in the 1,524 to 2,437 m range and the other in the 914 to 1,523 m range. For Príncipe, it is the

Príncipe Airport Príncipe Airport is an airport on the island of Príncipe, located north of Santo António, the island's capital. It is the only airport on Príncipe and one of the three airports serving São Tomé and Príncipe. It was built in 1968 during P ...

which has recently been paved during its modernisation which began in 2012 and finished in October 2015. The paved runway is 1,750 m. São Tomé's airport is the only international airport which offers flights to parts of Africa, mainly the west and the central portions. Airline companies includes STP Airways, the national airline and

Africa's Connection STP Africa's Connection STP is an airline based in São Tomé. In 2014 it operated scheduled and charter services to Central and West Africa. According to the airline's webpage it operated 3 Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL ut ...

, the latter operates STP Airways.

Road networks

As for 2006, there were

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

s in São Tomé and Príncipe, paved roads and unpaved roads. The nation has the highway network (commonly as routes), it consists of three primary highways, the EN1 (São Tomé-Guadalupe-Neves), the EN2 (São Tomé-Santana-São João dos Angolares-Porto Alegre) and the EN3 (São Tomé-Monte Café). It also has secondary roads, some of them area the ES1, ES2 and the ES3. Príncipe has no route numbers.

Bus services

Its bus services are served with minibuses, as to that part of Africa, it is dominant.

References

* * Junta de Investigações do Ultramar
''Topographic Map, 1:25000.''
Ministério das Colónias, 1958. {{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Sao Tome And Principe