Africa · Middle Africa
How to draw São Tomé and Príncipe from memory
São Tomé and Príncipe comes in 2 separate pieces on the map. The main body is roughly as wide as it is tall; sketch that first, then place the smaller pieces relative to it. Its border sits in the middle of the difficulty range — enough straight sections to anchor you, enough detail to punish a careless stroke.
- Difficulty
- medium
- Population
- 215 k
- Code
- STP
Draw São Tomé and Príncipe
Practice · draw from memory
São Tomé and Príncipe
A four-step strategy for São Tomé and Príncipe
- 01
Start by fixing the overall footprint. São Tomé and Príncipe is close to square overall, so a lopsided sketch loses points fast.
- 02
Anchor one unmistakable feature — the straightest border section or the sharpest cape — and draw outward from it in a single continuous stroke.
- 03
Finish the main landmass completely, then add the remaining 1 piece as separate strokes. Scoring counts total covered area, so an unclosed island can hurt more than a missing one.
- 04
Submit, read the nine-sector grid, and redraw immediately. The sector readout names the region you under-drew, and a second attempt typically gains 10–20 points.
Top scores for São Tomé and Príncipe
Nobody has submitted a score for São Tomé and Príncipe yet. Draw it above and you are first on this board.
Full leaderboard →Quick facts
- Continent
- Africa
- Subregion
- Middle Africa
- Outline pieces
- 2
- Detail score
- 3.27
Three things that go wrong when people sketch São Tomé and Príncipe
Each one is measured off the outline the game scores, not copied from a reference atlas: the proportions, the straight sections and the way the shape breaks into pieces are all properties of the coordinates your stroke gets compared against.
15% of the country is not the mainland
The outline is made of 2 separate pieces, and the largest one carries only 85% of the area. Sketched without the rest, the shape is short by that much even when the mainland is perfect — place the outlying piece first, then draw the mainland around it.
The east edge is a ruler line, not a coast
About 16% of the perimeter runs in one unbroken direction along the east. Rivers and capes do not do that; a border was drawn on a map. Straighten it deliberately — a wobbly line there throws the whole bounding box.
Both ends are pinched
The widest slice across the centre is 1.7× broader than either the northern or the southern edge. Place the two narrow ends early and the bulge between them cannot come out wrong.
Answer key: the real shape of São Tomé and Príncipe
- Box on the canvas
- 262 × 440 units
- Width to height
- 0.60 : 1
- Separate landmasses
- 2
- Longest straight run
- 16% of the perimeter, along the east
- Coast against silhouette
- 1.13× the wrapping outline
Open it after you have drawn São Tomé and Príncipe at least once. Seeing the shape first replaces the recall the score is meant to measure with tracing, and tracing always scores higher than remembering.
Why São Tomé and Príncipe is scored this way
Country Drawing does not compare your sketch to a picture of São Tomé and Príncipe. It scales and centres both your stroke and the real border into the same box, fills them, and measures how much of the two shapes overlap relative to their combined area. That means you are never punished for drawing São Tomé and Príncipe small, off to one side, or rotated slightly — only for getting the shape itself wrong. The nine-sector grid then splits the real border into a 3×3 mesh and reports coverage per cell, which is how it can tell you that you lost the whole eastern edge rather than just handing you a number.
São Tomé and Príncipe by the numbers
São Tomé and Príncipe covers 964 km², which makes it the 168th largest of 190 countries in the game and the 53rd largest in Africa. The capital is São Tomé at about 1°N, 7°E, and it sits in Middle Africa. It shares no land border at all, so every metre of the outline you have to draw is coastline.
Next to São Tomé and Príncipe: regional peers
Size is what the outline has to fill, so comparing countries of the same region side by side is the fastest way to get the proportions into your head before you draw.
| Country | Area | Population | Capital | Pieces | vs São Tomé and Príncipe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| São Tomé and Príncipethis page | 964 km² | 215 k | São Tomé | 2 | — |
 Angola | 1,246,700 km² | 31.8 m | Luanda | 1 | 1293× |
 Cameroon | 475,442 km² | 25.9 m | Yaoundé | 1 | 493× |
 Central African Republic | 622,984 km² | 4.7 m | Bangui | 1 | 646× |
 Chad | 1,284,000 km² | 15.9 m | N'Djamena | 1 | 1332× |
 DR Congo | 2,344,858 km² | 86.8 m | Kinshasa | 1 | 2432× |
 Equatorial Guinea | 28,051 km² | 1.4 m | Malabo | 2 | 29× |
 Gabon | 267,668 km² | 2.2 m | Libreville | 1 | 278× |
 Republic of the Congo | 342,000 km² | 5.4 m | Brazzaville | 1 | 355× |
Draw these next
Countries near São Tomé and Príncipe share border conventions and coastline styles, which makes them the most useful follow-up practice.
Working through one country at a time is slow. Take the blank map of africa and label the whole region from memory — it shows you which neighbours you have never actually seen.
São Tomé and Príncipe drawing questions
How big is São Tomé and Príncipe?
São Tomé and Príncipe covers 964 km², ranking 168th of 190 countries here by land area and 53rd in Africa. Small enough to lie inside a square roughly 31.0 km on a side.
What is the capital of São Tomé and Príncipe?
The capital is São Tomé at about 1°N, 7°E. The game scores the shape of the border rather than the position of any city, so the capital and its coordinates are here to help you place São Tomé and Príncipe on a blank map.
Is São Tomé and Príncipe hard to draw?
It is rated medium, and carries more outline detail than 63% of the 190 borders in this game. The shape has to be placed as 2 landmasses, with about 16% of the perimeter running dead straight along the east.
Does São Tomé and Príncipe border any country?
São Tomé and Príncipe has no land borders: every metre of its outline is coastline, which is why it rates as medium.