Busan, South Korea, July 26, 2026 (Lusa) - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) on Sunday declared the Portuguese colonial agricultural plantations on the islands of Sao Tome and Príncipe to be World Heritage Sites.

Unesco's annual general assembly, currently taking place in the South Korean city of Busan, has recognised as a World Heritage Site the series of six plantations located on the islands of the African nation, which represent a colonial system dedicated primarily to the production of coffee and cocoa, combining agricultural land, industrial infrastructure, residential areas and social facilities.

These sites, the UN organisation emphasised, illustrate the functioning of a large-scale colonial agro-industrial system, based on migration and the labour of people brought from other regions, from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century, designed to sustain the production of raw materials following the abolition of slavery.

APL/ADB // ADB.

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