World Heritage Identification Number: 1750
World Heritage since: 2026
Category: Cultural Heritage
WHE Type: Infrastructure & Industry
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe
Continent: Africa
UNESCO World Region: Africa
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The Roças of Sao Tome and Principe: A Legacy of Colonial Agriculture and Forced Migration
The Roças of Sao Tome and Principe, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2026, offer a unique insight into the colonial agricultural system that shaped the islands' landscape and history for centuries. This serial property encompasses six distinct roças (plantations), each with its own character and purpose, scattered across the islands of Sao Tome and Principe.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
The serial property comprises six geographically separate roças (Portuguese colonial agricultural plantations) located on the islands of Sao Tome and Principe: Monte Café, Agua Izé, Diogo Vaz, Sao Joao, Sundy, and Belo Monte. Together, they represent a planned colonial plantation system dedicated primarily to coffee and cocoa production, combining agricultural land, industrial infrastructure, residential areas, and social facilities within highly structured spatial layouts. The property illustrates the operation of a large-scale colonial agro-industrial system, based on forced migration and labour, from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, to sustain global commodity production after the abolition of slavery.Encyclopedia Record: São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, 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 islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, about 81 nautical miles apart and about 135 and 121 nautical miles off the northwestern coast of Gabon. With a population of 201,800, São Tomé and Príncipe is the second-smallest and second-least populous African sovereign state after Seychelles.Additional Site Details
Area: 72.9 hectares
Number of Components: 6
Coordinates: 0.3006111111 , 6.6397222222
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© CRAterre. Used with permission.
