- published: 24 Aug 2014
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Tomé is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is bordered by Coelemu to the north, Ránquil and Florida to the east, Penco to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The local economy is based mainly on textile manufacturing and fishing industry.
The 8.8 magnitude 27 February 2010 earthquake greatly affected Tome, Constitucion, Concepcion, Talcahuano.
According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Tomé spans an area of 494.5 km2 (191 sq mi) and has 52,440 inhabitants (25,263 men and 27,177 women). Of these, 45,959 (87.6%) lived in urban areas and 6,481 (12.4%) in rural areas. The population grew by 6.4% (3,156 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.
The commune includes the localities of Rafael, Menque, Cocholgüe, Punta de Parra and Dichato.
São Tomé is the capital city of São Tomé and Príncipe and is by far the nation's largest town. Its name is Portuguese for "Saint Thomas". The population of its agglomeration is 56,945 (2008 est.).
São Tomé was founded by Alvaro Caminha in 1493. The Portuguese came to São Tomé in search of land to grow sugar. The island was uninhabited before the arrival of the Portuguese sometime around 1470. São Tomé was right on the equator and wet enough to grow sugar in wild abundance. Its proximity to the African Kingdom of Kongo provided an eventual source of slave labourers to work the sugar plantations. São Tomé is centred on a sixteenth-century cathedral. Another early building is Fort São Sebastião, built in 1575 and now the São Tomé National Museum. In 1599, the city as well as the islands were taken by the Dutch for two days and again in 1641 for a year. It was the capital of the Portuguese colony of São Tomé and Príncipe and, since São Tomé and Príncipe's independence in 1975, capital of the sovereign nation.