Tristan da Cunha

This article is about the island in St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. For the Portuguese explorer, see Tristão da Cunha.

Tristan da Cunha
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Our faith is our strength"
Anthem: God Save the Queen
Location of Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic Ocean.
Capital and largest city		Edinburgh of the Seven Seas 37°4′S 12°19′W
Official languages		English
Demonym		Tristanian
Government		British overseas territory
-	Monarch	Elizabeth II
-	Governor	Mark A. Capes
-	Administrator	Sean Burns
-	Chief Islander	Ian Lavarello
Part of St Helena, Ascension & Tristan da Cunha
-	First inhabited	1810
-	Dependency of Cape Colony (to UK)	14 August 1816
-	Dependency of St Helena	12 January 1938
-	Current constitution	1 September 2009
Area
-	Total	207 km2 80 sq mi
-	Main island	98 km2
Population
-	2010 census	264
-	Density	1.3/km2 3.4/sq mi
Currency		Pound sterling (£) (GBP)
Time zone		GMT (UTC+0)
Drives on the		left
Calling code		+290
Internet TLD		nonea
a.	.sh or .uk can be used.

Tristan da Cunha (pron.: /ˈtrɪstən də ˈkuːnə/) is a remote volcanic group of islands in the south Atlantic Ocean and the main island of that group. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying 2,816 kilometres (1,750 mi) from the nearest land, South Africa, and 3,360 kilometres (2,088 mi) from South America. The territory consists of the main island of Tristan da Cunha itself, which measures about 11.27 kilometres (7.0 mi) across and has an area of 98 square kilometres (37.8 sq mi), along with the uninhabited Nightingale Islands and the wildlife reserves of Inaccessible Island and Gough Island.

Tristan da Cunha is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. This includes Saint Helena 2,430 kilometres (1,510 mi) to its north and equatorial Ascension Island even further north. The island has a permanent population of 275 (2009 figures).

History

Main article: History of Tristan da Cunha

Discovery

The islands were first sighted in 1506 by Portuguese explorer Tristão da Cunha, although rough seas prevented a landing. He named the main island after himself, Ilha de Tristão da Cunha, which was later anglicised to Tristan da Cunha Island.

In 1643 the crew of the Heemstede, captained by Claes Gerritsz. Bierenbroodspot made the first recorded landing. The first survey of the archipelago was made by the French frigate L'Heure du Berger in 1767.

19th century

Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, Tristan da Cunha

The first permanent settler was Jonathan Lambert, from Salem, Massachusetts, United States, who arrived at the islands in December 1810. He declared the islands his property and named them the Islands of Refreshment. Lambert's rule was short-lived, as he died in 1812.

In 1816 the United Kingdom formally annexed the islands, ruling them from the Cape Colony in South Africa. This is reported to have primarily been a measure to ensure that the French would be unable to use the islands as a base for a rescue operation to free Napoleon Bonaparte from his prison on Saint Helena. The occupation also prevented the United States from using Tristan da Cunha as a base, as they had during the War of 1812.

The islands were occupied by a garrison of British Marines, and a civilian population was gradually built up. Whalers also set up on the islands as a base for operations in the Southern Atlantic. However, the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, together with the gradual move from sailing ships to coal-fired steam ships, increased the isolation of the islands, as they were no longer needed as a stopping port for journeys from Europe to the Far East.

In 1867, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and second son of Queen Victoria, visited the islands. The main settlement, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, was named in honour of his visit. Lewis Carroll's youngest brother, the Rev. Edwin H. Dodgson, served as an Anglican missionary and school teacher in Tristan da Cunha in the 1880s.

20th century

On 12 January 1938, by Letters Patent, the islands were declared a dependency of Saint Helena. Prior to this, passing ships stopped irregularly at the island for a period of mere hours.

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During World War II, the islands were used as a top secret Royal Navy weather and radio station codenamed HMS Atlantic Isle, to monitor U-boats (which were required to maintain radio contact) and German shipping movements in the South Atlantic Ocean. The first Administrator was appointed by the British government during this time.

The second Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, visited the islands in 1957 as part of a world tour on board the royal yacht Britannia.

In 1958, as part of Operation Argus, the United States Navy exploded an atomic bomb 200 kilometres (124 mi) high in the upper atmosphere about 160 kilometres (99 mi) southeast of the main island.

The 1961 eruption of Queen Mary's Peak forced the evacuation of the entire population via Cape Town to England. The following year a Royal Society expedition went to the islands to assess the damage, and reported that the settlement of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas had been only marginally affected. Most families returned in 1963.

21st century

On 23 May 2001, the islands experienced an extratropical cyclone that generated winds up to 193 kilometres per hour (120 mph). A number of structures were severely damaged and a large number of cattle were killed, prompting emergency aid from the British government.

In 2005, the islands were given a United Kingdom post code (TDCU 1ZZ) to make it easier for the residents to order goods online.

The St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009 ended the "dependency" status of Ascension and Tristan da Cunha on St Helena.

On 4 December 2007 an outbreak of an acute virus-induced flu was reported. This outbreak was compounded by Tristan's lack of suitable and sufficient medical supplies.

Tristan da Cunha on 6 February 2013, as seen from the International Space Station

On 13 February 2008, fire destroyed the fishing factory and the four generators that supplied power to the island. On 14 March 2008, new generators were installed and uninterrupted power was restored. This fire was devastating to the island because fishing is a mainstay of the economy.

On 16 March 2011, the freighter MS Oliva ran aground on Nightingale Island, spilling tons of heavy fuel oil into the ocean, leaving an oil slick threatening the island's population of rockhopper penguins. Nightingale Island has no fresh water, so the penguins were transported to Tristan da Cunha for cleaning.

A total solar eclipse will pass over the island on 5 December 2048. The island is on the centre line for nearly two and a half minutes of totality.[2]

Environment

Geography

Main article: Geography of Tristan da Cunha

Map of Tristan da Cunha group (including Gough Island).

Tristan da Cunha

Tristan da Cunha is thought to have been formed by a long-lived centre of upwelling mantle called the Tristan hotspot. Tristan da Cunha is the main island of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, which consists of the following islands:

• Tristan da Cunha, the main island and largest, area: 98 square kilometres (37.8 sq mi), (37°6′44″S 12°16′56″W)
• Inaccessible Island, area: 14 square kilometres (5.4 sq mi)
• Nightingale Islands, area: 3.4 square kilometres (1.3 sq mi)
  • Nightingale Island, area: 3.2 square kilometres (1.2 sq mi)
  • Middle Island, area: 0.1 square kilometres (24.7 acres)
  • Stoltenhoff Island, area: 0.1 square kilometres (24.7 acres)
• Gough Island (Diego Alvarez), area: 68 square kilometres (26.3 sq mi)^{[citation needed]}

Inaccessible Island and the Nightingale Islands are located 35 kilometres (21.7 mi) southwest of the main island, while Gough Island is located 395 kilometres (245.4 mi) south-southeast. The main island is quite mountainous; the only flat area is the location of the capital, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, on the northwest coast. The highest point is a volcano called Queen Mary's Peak 2,062 metres (6,765.1 ft); it is covered by snow in winter. The other islands of the group are uninhabited, except for the weather station on Gough Island, which has been operated by South Africa since 1956 (since 1963 at its present location at Transvaal Bay on the southeast coast), with a staff of six.

Climate

The archipelago has a wet oceanic climate with pleasant temperatures but consistent moderate to heavy rainfall and very limited sunshine, due to the persistent westerly winds. The number of rainy days is comparable to the Aleutian Islands at a much higher latitude in the northern hemisphere, while sunshine hours are comparable to Juneau, Alaska 20° further from the equator. Frost is unknown below elevations of 500 metres (1,600 ft) and summer temperatures are similarly mild, never reaching 25 °C (77 °F).

Climate data for Tristan da Cunha
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	23.7 (74.7)	24.4 (75.9)	24.4 (75.9)	22.4 (72.3)	20.3 (68.5)	18.7 (65.7)	17.5 (63.5)	17.3 (63.1)	17.1 (62.8)	18.4 (65.1)	20.4 (68.7)	21.8 (71.2)	24.4 (75.9)
Average high °C (°F)	20 (68)	21 (70)	20 (68)	18 (64)	17 (63)	15 (59)	14 (57)	14 (57)	14 (57)	15 (59)	17 (63)	19 (66)	17 (63)
Average low °C (°F)	16 (61)	17 (63)	16 (61)	15 (59)	13 (55)	11 (52)	11 (52)	10 (50)	10 (50)	11 (52)	13 (55)	15 (59)	13 (55)
Record low °C (°F)	10.9 (51.6)	11.8 (53.2)	10.3 (50.5)	9.5 (49.1)	7.4 (45.3)	6.3 (43.3)	4.8 (40.6)	4.6 (40.3)	5.1 (41.2)	6.4 (43.5)	8.3 (46.9)	9.7 (49.5)	4.6 (40.3)
Rainfall mm (inches)	93 (3.66)	113 (4.45)	121 (4.76)	129 (5.08)	155 (6.1)	160 (6.3)	160 (6.3)	175 (6.89)	169 (6.65)	151 (5.94)	128 (5.04)	127 (5)	1,681 (66.17)
Avg. rainy days	18	17	17	20	23	23	25	26	24	22	18	19	252
% humidity	79	77	75	78	78	79	79	79	78	79	79	80	78.3
Mean monthly sunshine hours	139.5	144.0	145.7	129.0	108.5	99.0	105.4	105.4	120.0	133.3	138.0	130.2	1,498
Source #1: Climate and Temperature.
Source #2: Worldwide Bioclimatic Classification System (extremes)

Flora and fauna

Gough Island, Tristan da Cunha

Many of the flora and fauna have a broad circumpolar distribution in the South Atlantic and South Pacific Oceans. Thus many of the species that occur in Tristan da Cunha appear as far away as New Zealand. For example, the plant species Nertera depressa was first collected in Tristan da Cunha, but has since been recorded in occurrence as far distant as New Zealand.

Tristan is primarily known for its wildlife. The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because there are 13 known species of breeding seabirds on the island and two species of resident land birds. The seabirds include Northern Rockhopper Penguins, Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatrosses, Sooty Albatrosses, Atlantic Petrels, Great-winged Petrels, Soft-plumaged Petrels, Broad-billed Prions, Grey Petrels, Great Shearwaters, Sooty Shearwaters, Tristan Skuas, Antarctic Terns and Brown Noddies. Tristan and Gough Islands are the only known breeding sites in the world for the Atlantic Petrel.

The endemic Tristan Thrush or Starchy occurs on all of the northern islands and each has its own subspecies, with Tristan birds being slightly smaller and duller than those on Nightingale and Inaccessible. The endemic Inaccessible Island Rail, the smallest extant flightless bird in the world, is only found on Inaccessible Island. In 1956 eight Gough Moorhens were released at Sandy Point on Tristan, and have subsequently colonised the island.

Society

Politics and law

Executive authority is vested in the Queen, who is represented in the territory by the Governor of Saint Helena. As the Governor resides permanently in Saint Helena, an Administrator is appointed to represent the Governor in the islands. The Administrator acts as the local head of government, and takes advice from the Tristan da Cunha Island Council, made up of eight elected and three appointed members. The most senior councillor, or Chief Islander, is, as of 2013, Ian Lavorello. He lit the island's beacon celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

Policing in Tristan da Cunha is undertaken by one full-time police officer and three special constables.

Tristan da Cunha has its own legislation, but the law of Saint Helena applies to the extent that it is not inconsistent with local law, insofar as it is suitable for local circumstances and subject to such modifications as local circumstances make necessary.

Economy

Tristan da Cunha

Location of Tristan da Cunha in the Atlantic Ocean

Main article: Outline of Tristan da Cunha

All Tristan families are farmers, owning their own stock. All land is communally owned. Livestock numbers are strictly controlled to conserve pasture and to prevent better-off families from accumulating wealth. No outsiders are allowed to buy land or settle on Tristan.

The islands' main source of foreign income is the lobster factory and the sale of postage stamps and coins to overseas collectors. Most people have dual occupations, often working for the local government. Many inhabitants have plots of land (at the patches) on which they grow potatoes.

The 1961 volcanic eruption destroyed the Tristan da Cunha canned crayfish (spiny lobster) factory, which was rebuilt a short time later. The crayfish catchers and processors work for the South African company Ovenstone, which has an exclusive contract to sell crayfish to the United States and Japan. Even though Tristan da Cunha is a UK overseas territory, it is not permitted direct access to European Union markets. Recent economic conditions have meant that the islanders have had to draw from their reserves. The islands' financial problems may cause delays in updating communication equipment and improving education on the island.

The fire of 13 February 2008 (see History) has resulted in major temporary economic disruption.

Although Tristan da Cunha is part of the same overseas territory as Saint Helena, it does not use the local Saint Helena pound. Instead, the island uses the United Kingdom issue of the pound sterling. The Bank of Saint Helena was established on Saint Helena and Ascension Island in 2004. This bank does not have a physical presence on Tristan da Cunha, but residents of Tristan are entitled to its services. There are occasionally commemorative coins minted for the island.

Education

Education is rudimentary; children leave school at age 16, and although they can take GCSEs a year later, few do. The school on the island is the St. Mary's School, which has children from ages 4 to 16. The current facility, which opened in 1975, has five classrooms, a kitchen, a stage, a computer room, and a craft and science room. The Tristan Song Project is an ongoing collaboration between St Mary's School and amateur composers in England, led by music teacher Tony Triggs. It began in 2010, and involves St Mary's pupils writing poems and Tony Triggs providing musical settings by himself and his pupils. A desktop publication called 'Rockhopper Penguins and Other Songs' (2010) embraced most of the songs completed that year and funded a consignment of guitars to the School.

Demographics

Housing in Tristan da Cunha

The islands have a population of 264. The main settlement is Edinburgh of the Seven Seas (known locally as "The Settlement"). The only religion is Christianity, with denominations of Anglican and Roman Catholic. The current population is thought to have descended from 15 ancestors, eight males and seven females, who arrived on the island at various times between 1816 and 1908. The male founders originated from Scotland, England, The Netherlands, the United States and Italy and share just eight surnames: Glass (Scottish), Green (Dutch), Hagan (Irish), Lavarello (Italian, a typical Ligurian surname), Patterson (Scottish), Repetto (Italian, another typical Ligurian surname), Rogers (English) and Swain (English). There are 80 families on the island. Tristan da Cunha's isolation has led to an unusual, patois-like dialect of English. Bill Bryson documents some examples of the island's dialect in his book, The Mother Tongue.

Health

There are instances of health problems attributed to endogamy, including glaucoma. In addition, there is a very high incidence of asthma among the population and research by Dr. Noe Zamel of the University of Toronto has led to discoveries about the genetic nature of the disease. Three of the original settlers of the island were asthma sufferers.

Health care is funded by the government, but there is just one resident doctor from South Africa and only five nurses. Thus delivery and surgery are limited, and serious injury can necessitate communicating with passing fishing vessels, so that the injured person can be transferred to Cape Town. As of late 2007 IBM and Beacon Equity Partners, co-operating with Medweb, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the government of Tristan da Cunha on "Project Tristan", has supplied the island doctor with access to long distance tele-medical help, making it possible to send EKG and X-ray pictures to doctors in other countries for instant consultation. This system has been limited owing to the poor reliability of internet connections and absence on the Island of qualified technicians to service fibre optic links between the hospital and Internet centre at the administration buildings.

Communications

Transport

The remote location of the islands makes transport to the outside world difficult. Lacking an airport, the islands can be reached only by sea. Fishing boats from South Africa service the islands eight or nine times a year. The RMS Saint Helena used to connect the main island to St Helena and South Africa once each year during its January voyage, but has only done so twice in the last few years, in 2006 and 2011. There is no direct service to Ascension Island and the United Kingdom, without flying from Cape Town to London or travelling on the RMS St Helena from Cape Town to St Helena. The March voyage of the RMS St Helena goes to Ascension and Portland from St Helena. The harbour at Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is called Calshot Harbour, and is named after the place in Hampshire where the islanders temporarily stayed during the volcanic eruption.

Telecommunications

Television did not arrive on the island until 2001, with the introduction of the British Forces Broadcasting Service's BFBS 1 and 2 channels, which were replaced by BBC One and Two in 2013. Although Tristan da Cunha shares the +290 code with St Helena, residents have access the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Telecommunications Network, provided by Global Crossing. This uses a London 020 numbering range, meaning that numbers are accessed via the UK telephone numbering plan.

In literature

• Hervé Bazin's novel Les Bienheureux de la Désolation (1970) describes the 1961 forced exile of the population to England, and their subsequent return.
• Edgar Allan Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838), Chapter 15, has a detailed history and description.
• Zinnie Harris's play Further Than the Furthest Thing (2000) is inspired by events on the island, notably the 1961 volcanic eruption and evacuation of the islanders.
• Raoul Schrott's novel Tristan da Cunha oder die Hälfte der Erde (2003) is almost entirely set on Tristan da Cunha and Gough islands, and chronicles the history of the archipelago.
• Robert A. Heinlein's book Tramp Royale (about a world trip in 1953-54, unpublished until 1992) devoted an entire chapter to his (almost) visit to Tristan da Cunha, arguably the most remote human settlement on earth. He talked to islanders but could not go ashore owing to the uncertain weather.
• In Primo Levi's novel The Periodic Table, one of the chapters ("Mercurio") is a fictional tale set on Tristan da Cunha, named "Desolation Island".
• In Jules Verne's novel In Search of the Castaways, one of the chapters is set on Tristan da Cunha, and a brief history of the island is mentioned. The island also appears briefly in one of the chapters of Verne's novel The Sphinx of the Ice Fields, which he wrote as an unauthorized sequel to Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket.
• Tristan da Cunha is the site of a top-secret nuclear disarmament conference in Fletcher Knebel's 1968 political thriller Vanished which was adapted into a 1971 two-part NBC made-for-TV movie starring Richard Widmark.
• The DJ ATB recorded a number "Tristan Da Cunha", inspired by the island, in the music album "Trilogy".
• A chapter of Simon Winchester's book Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire (1985) describes his brief visit to the island. Reprinted in 2003, its new foreword states that Winchester has been banned from Tristan da Cunha due to his writing about the war-time romance of one of the local women.
• The South African poet Roy Campbell wrote an elegiac poem dedicated to the isle of Tristan de Cunha in 1927.

See also

• Outline of Tristan da Cunha

Further reading

Guides

• A Short Guide to Tristan da Cunha by James Glass and Anne Green, Tristan Chief Islanders (2005, Whitby Press, 12 pages).
• Field Guides to the Animals and Plants of Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island Edited by Peter Ryan (2007, RSPB Publication, 168 pages).
• Gough Island: A Natural History by Christine Hanel, Steven Chown and Kevin Gaston (2005, Sun Press, 169 pages).

Culture

• Tristan da Cunha: History, People, Language by Daniel Schreier and Karen Lavarello-Schreier (2003, Battlebridge, 88 pages).
• Rockhopper Copper: The life and times of the people of the most remote inhabited island on Earth by Conrad Glass MBE, Tristan Police Officer (2005, Polperro Heritage Press, 176 pages).
• Recipes from Tristan da Cunha by Dawn Repetto, Tristan Tourism Co-ordinator (2010, Tristan Books, 32 pages).
• Corporal Glass's Island: The Story of Tristan da Cunha by Nancy Hosegood (1966, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 192 pages, with several pages of photographs).

External links

• Tristan da Cunha
• Tristan Times

Videos of the island

• Return to Trista Da Cunha, Global Nomad, National Geographic (2012).
• A Day on Tristan Da Cunha, Global Nomad, National Geographic (2011).
• Tristan da Cunha: The story of Asthma Island, part 1 and part 2, BBC Four (2008).
• TRISTAN DA CUNHA - Life on the island in 1963 (1963).
• TRISTAN DA CUNHA - Life of an islander in 1963 (1963).