São Tomé and Príncipe, a two-island nation of approximately 160,000 people, was one of the last countries in Africa to gain independence. Probably uninhabited in the late 15th century, the islands were populated by Portuguese planters and their slaves from Cape Verde and mainland Africa, chiefly Angola. When Portugal relinquished power in 1975, the country's economy was almost entirely dependent upon the exportation of plantation-grown cocoa and coffee.

Poor and in need of allies, the new nation aligned itself with the community of communist countries. The state continued to operate the former Portuguese plantations at vastly reduced capacity. As the cold war ended, the government implemented an International Monetary Fund structural adjustment program, but the newly privatized agricultural and industrial concerns could find few buyers.

São Tomé and Príncipe's circumstances have left the country in extreme poverty, unable to invest in the programs that would induce growth and improve living standards. Now, more than 25 years after independence, São Tomé and Príncipe is largely dependent on foreign assistance, receiving more aid per capita than any other African country.

The country's 1990 constitution established a multiparty political system with protections for freedom of expression and universal human rights. These reforms have made São Tomé and Príncipe one of the most stable democracies in Africa, but poverty remains a crippling problem.

The potential discovery of millions of barrels of oil under the country's territorial waters represents an opportunity to improve living standards. The potential oil revenues also represent a possible threat, even playing a role in the bloodless 2003 coup attempt by members of the military and Saotomean former expatriate soldiers of fortune.

Working closely with many Saotomeans and with others in the international community, the Earth Institute at Columbia University hopes to help São Tomé and Príncipe avoid the "paradox of plenty," which leaves many resource-rich developing nations with greater social ills than their resource-poor neighbors.

For additional material, visit Columbia University's African Studies website on São Tomé and Príncipe.