Rivers & Waterfalls

The rivers and streams of the archipelago have a peculiar morphology, forming a radial type of hydrographic network. This network comprises springs in the mountains in the centre of the islands and more than 200 watercourses, averaging a length between 5 and 27 km, which feed the different hydrographic basins and a large number of aquifers. Most of these rivers originate from the Obô forest, to the southwest and south of the islands, and their flows are very sensitive to abundant rainfall. The main rivers on the island of São Tomé are: Iô Grande (the largest in the country), Do Ouro, Contador, Lembá, Quija, Manuel Jorge and Abade, and in Príncipe Island, the Papagaio River.