São Tomé and Príncipe

São Tomé and Príncipe

This small, island nation in the Gulf of Guinea off the west coast of Africa presently has a population of around 163,000. Although inhabited by indigenous people before their arrival, it was Portuguese explorers that claimed discovery of the island group between 1471 and 1472, later establishing the first settlement in 1493. Cultivation of sugar was achieved largely with slave labor imported from the African continent, although the islands became more successful as a transit point for slaves heading into the Western Hemisphere. By the 19th century, coffee and cocoa had replaced sugar as the primary cash crops, and continued to be worked by forced labour even after the abolishment of slavery by the Portuguese crown in 1876, and well into the 20th century.

In the late 1950s, the Movimento de Libertação de São Tomé e Príncipe (Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe) or MLSTP began pushing for independence. Following the overthrow of the Caetano dictatorship in Portugal in 1974, the MLSTP assumed control the nation was granted independence in July 1975. The country has embraced a multiparty, democratic system of government since 1990, and was one of the first African nations to do so. Although there was a short-lived assumption of power by the Army in July 2003, and a failed coup d'etat attempt in February 2009, the country has remained free of the usual trappings of African politics into the present day. The country is officially known as the the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe.

The Forças Armadas de São Tomé e Príncipe (FASTP) are the armed forces of this nation. Formed in 1968, the FASTP is composed of four main branches: the Exército (Army), Guarda Costeira (Coast Guard), Guarda Presidencial (Presidential Guard) and the National Guard. The country maintains strong ties to Portugal, Angola, and Brazil, with frequent exchanges taking place for the training of FASTP personnel. In recent years, the United States has also become involved in training elements of the armed forces.

Camouflage Patterns of São Tomé and Príncipe

• Under Portuguese colonial administration, native African troops wore the same vertical lizard pattern camouflage uniforms as regular Portuguese military personnel. The use of these patterns would continue for the next couple of decades, into the early 2000s.

• There has been some use of a copy of French "lizard" pattern by the armed forces beginning in the early 2000s. At least two different patterns have been observed, one a clear copy of the original French, and one having more purple overtones, similar in some ways to the vertical designs developed in Brazil.

• More recently we have seen the adoption of a DPM type camouflage, probably also influenced by, if not supplied by, Portugal.