The Presidential Palace in the City Sao Tom?. It was the Governors Palce until 1975 when Sao Tom? was given its independence. It was built at the turn of the 19th Century. Today it is the location of the President's office. No one lives there. Sao Tom? and Princip? is Africa's second smallest country with a population of 193 000. It consists of two mountainous islands in the Gulf of New Guinea, straddling the equator, west of Gabon.