São Tomé, situated about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the equator, had a climate wet enough to grow sugarcane in wild abundance.

In 1497, 2,000 Jewish children, eight years old and under, were taken from the Iberian peninsula, to receive catholic education, following the national policy of conversion to Catholicism.

The island of São Tomé was the main center of sugar production in the sixteenth century; it was overtaken by Brazil by 1600.

The city is also home to schools, and middle schools, high schools, one polytechnic, two markets, three radio stations, the public television station TVSP, several clinics and hospitals, the country's main airport - São Tomé International Airport (with direct regular scheduled flights to Angola, Gabon, Ghana and Portugal as well as occasional domestic flights to Príncipe), and many squares (praças).

São Tomé also serves as the centre of the island's road and bus networks The town is well known for the tchiloli playing.

São Tomé features a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen As), although it is not far above a semi-arid climate (BSh) due to the influence of the cold Benguela Current, which makes even the wettest months drier than would be expected for such a low latitude but at the same time makes the city very cloudy and foggy even during the almost rainless dry season mid-year.