Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha | |
---|---|
Overseas territory of the United Kingdom | |
Anthem: "God Save the King" | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Saint Helena colonial charter | 1657 |
Crown colony | 22 April 1834 [1] |
Ascension added | 12 September 1922 |
Tristan da Cunha added | 12 January 1938 |
Current constitution | 1 September 2009 |
Capital | Jamestown 15°56′S05°43′W / 15.933°S 5.717°W |
Largest city | Half Tree Hollow 15°56′0″S5°43′12″W / 15.93333°S 5.72000°W |
Official languages | English |
Demonym(s) | British |
Government | Devolved self-governing dependencies under a constitutional monarchy |
• Monarch | Charles III |
Nigel Phillips | |
Simon Minshull | |
Philip Kendall [2] | |
Julie Thomas | |
Government of the United Kingdom | |
• Minister | Stephen Doughty |
Area | |
• Total | 394 km2 (152 sq mi) |
Highest elevation | 2,062 m (6,765 ft) |
Population | |
• 2016 census | 5,633 [3] (not ranked) |
• Density | 13.4/km2 (34.7/sq mi)(not ranked) |
GDP (nominal) | estimate |
• Total | USD 43,000,000 [4] |
Currency | Saint Helena pound (£) (SHP) (Saint Helena and Ascension) Pound sterling (£) (GBP) (Tristan da Cunha) |
Time zone | UTC±00:00 (GMT) |
Date format | dd/mm/yyyy |
Driving side | left |
Calling code | +290 (Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha) +247 (Ascension) |
UK postcode | STHL 1ZZ (Saint Helena) ASCN 1ZZ (Ascension) TDCU 1ZZ (Tristan da Cunha) |
ISO 3166 code | SH |
Internet TLD | |
Website | www |
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha [5] is a British Overseas Territory located in the South Atlantic and consisting of the island of Saint Helena, Ascension Island, and the archipelago of Tristan da Cunha (including Gough Island). Its name was Saint Helena and Dependencies until 1 September 2009, when a new constitution came into force, giving the three islands equal status as three territories, with a grouping under the Crown.
Of volcanic origin, the islands of Saint Helena, Ascension Island, and Tristan da Cunha were all formerly separate colonies of the English crown, though separately discovered by several Portuguese explorers between 1502 and 1504.
The Portuguese found Saint Helena uninhabited, with an abundance of trees and fresh water. They imported livestock, fruit trees and vegetables, and built a chapel and one or two houses. Though they formed no permanent settlement, the island became crucially important for the collection of food and as a rendezvous point for homebound voyages from Asia. English privateer Francis Drake very probably located the island on the final lap of his circumnavigation of the world (1577–1580). [6] Further visits by other English explorers followed, and, once St Helena's location was more widely known, English warships began to lie in wait in the area to attack Portuguese carracks on their way home from India. In developing their Far East trade, the Dutch also began to frequent the island. They made a formal claim to it in 1633 but did not settle the isle, and by 1651 largely abandoned it in favour of their colony at the Cape of Good Hope.
In 1657, the English East India Company was granted a charter to govern Saint Helena by Oliver Cromwell, [7] and the following year the Company decided to fortify the island and colonise it with planters. The first governor, Captain John Dutton, arrived in 1659, and it is from this date that St Helena claims to be Britain's second oldest remaining colony, after Bermuda. A fort was completed and a number of houses were built. After the Restoration of the British monarchy in 1660, the East India Company received a Royal Charter giving it the sole right to fortify and colonise the island. The fort was renamed James Fort and the town Jamestown, in honour of the Duke of York and heir apparent, later King James II of England and VII of Scotland.
The Kingdom of England became part of the new Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 and then the United Kingdom in 1801; the British Empire grew into a global great power. The island of Saint Helena became internationally known as the British government's chosen place of exile of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was detained on the island from October 1815 until his death on 5 May 1821, and it was made a British crown colony in 1834 by the Government of India Act 1833. [1] Unoccupied Ascension Island was garrisoned by the Royal Navy on 22 October 1815, shortly after which the end of the Age of Sail made its difficult location in the equatorial doldrums less important relative to its strategic importance as a centrally positioned naval coaling station. For similar reasons Tristan da Cunha was annexed as a dependency of the Cape Colony (British South Africa) on 14 August 1816, at the settlement of the Napoleonic Wars. For a short period just previously, Tristan da Cunha had been inhabited by a private American expedition who named the territory the Islands of Refreshment.
The political union between these colonies began to take shape on 12 September 1922, when by letters patent Ascension Island became a dependency of Saint Helena. Lightly populated Tristan da Cunha, even today little more than an outpost with a population of less than three hundred, followed suit on 12 January 1938. The three island groups shared this constitutional relationship until 1 September 2009, when the dependencies were raised to equal status with St. Helena and the territories changed its name from "Saint Helena and Dependencies" to "Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha".
During the Battle of the Atlantic of World War II and the following several years of U-boat warfare in the Atlantic, both Saint Helena and Ascension Island were used by the Allies to base patrolling anti-surface-commerce-raider and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) forces against the Axis powers' naval units. Initially long range naval patrol flying boats were used in the effort, and later in the war during the struggle to improve air coverage over the commercially important sea lanes, air strips were built to support land based aircraft which supplied, augmented and complemented the PBY Catalina patrol planes in the vitally important ASW mission.
The United Kingdom and the United States still jointly operate the airfield (RAF Ascension Island) on Ascension, which also serves as a space-based communications, signals intelligence, and navigation nexus and hub (Ground station). One of only four GPS satellite ground antennas is located there.
The territories stretch across a huge distance of the South Atlantic Ocean with the northernmost island, Ascension, having a latitude of 7° 56′ S of the equator and the southernmost island, Gough Island, at 40° 19′ S. Between Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha is the Tropic of Capricorn. The distance between the northern tip of Ascension Island and the southern tip of Gough Island is 2,263 miles (3,642 km) (an equivalent distance between London and the Dead Sea). The three territories lie in the Western Hemisphere and have the same time zone: Greenwich Mean Time. Daylight saving time is not observed.
Although all three territories were formed by volcanic activity, only the Tristan da Cunha group of islands are volcanically active at the moment.
The highest point of the territories is Queen Mary's Peak on the island of Tristan da Cunha, with an elevation of 2,062 metres (6,765 ft) above sea level. The mountain is listed as an ultra prominent peak.
Because of the massive distance from north to south (over 3,600 km (2,200 mi)), the territories have various climates. Ascension has a warm, arid climate, with temperatures all year long reaching above 20 °C (68 °F). St Helena is more moderate (and arid near the coasts). Tristan da Cunha, being closer to the Antarctic Circle, is much cooler and a lot wetter. The uninhabited southernmost Gough Island is wetter and has freezing winter temperatures.
The territorial waters of the islands extend out to 12 nautical miles (22 km) from their coastal baselines. The Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) extend 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the islands' baselines. Despite their size, the three EEZs do not overlap or touch one another, nor do they reach the EEZs of any other country or territory. The territories have the largest EEZ of any of the British overseas territories (indeed larger than the United Kingdom's) and if included in the ranking of countries by size of EEZ, the territories would be 21st, behind Portugal and ahead of the Philippines. Neither the islands nor their EEZs are the subject of any current international dispute.
Part | km2 | sq mi |
---|---|---|
Ascension Island | 441,658 | 170,525 |
Saint Helena | 444,916 | 171,783 |
Tristan da Cunha | 754,720 | 291,400 |
Total | 1,641,294 | 633,708 |
An application was made in 2008 by the United Kingdom to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to extend the limit of the continental shelf claim of Ascension Island beyond 200 nautical miles (370 km). The Commission recommended in 2010 that the limit not be extended beyond the standard limit, based on scientific surveys. [9]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(June 2014) |
Administratively, each territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha is governed by a council. The Governor of the territory presides over the Saint Helena Legislative Council, and an Administrator on Ascension Island and an Administrator on Tristan da Cunha preside over these two areas' Island Councils. See Constitution section below.
Administrative area | Area km2 | Area sq mi | Population [3] | Administrative centre |
---|---|---|---|---|
Saint Helena | 122 | 47 | 4,534 | Jamestown |
Ascension Island | 88 | 34 | 806 | Georgetown |
Tristan da Cunha | 207 | 71 | 293 | Edinburgh of the Seven Seas |
Main island | 98 | 39 | 293 | |
Inaccessible Island | 14 | 5 | 0 | |
Nightingale Islands | 3.4 | 1.3 | 0 | |
Gough Island | 91 | 35 | 0 | |
Total | 394 | 152 | 5,633 | Jamestown |
The island of St Helena is then further divided into eight districts. [10]
The St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009 (an Order in Council of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom) enacted a new constitution for the territory, which came into effect on 1 September 2009, and elevated Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha from being dependencies of Saint Helena to equal constituent parts. Each constituent part has its own government, however the constitution order states that Governor of Saint Helena is ex officio also the Governor of Ascension and the Governor of Tristan da Cunha. [11] Due to the distance between the three constituent parts of the territory the Ascension and Tristan da Cunha each have an Administrator who represents the Governor when they are off island. Notably the constitution includes (for each territory) the "fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals". [12]
Part | Crown representative | Council |
---|---|---|
Saint Helena | Governor of Saint Helena | Legislative Council of Saint Helena |
Ascension Island | Governor of Ascension Represented by the Administrator of Ascension | Ascension Island Council |
Tristan da Cunha | Governor of Tristan da Cunha Represented by the Administrator of Tristan da Cunha | Tristan da Cunha Island Council |
Saint Helena also has an Executive Council. The Governor of Saint Helena is the British monarch's representative. The three territories share the same Attorney General, and the same Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.
The Royal Saint Helena Police Service is responsible for policing on the islands. [13] Defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom, though no military forces are stationed on either Saint Helena or Tristan da Cunha. The Royal Air Force maintains a staging base at Ascension Island as part of British military forces in the South Atlantic. [14]
Saint Helena has multiple schools, including Prince Andrew School. Ascension has Two Boats School. Tristan da Cunha also has its own school named St. Mary's School.
Most residents of St. Helena belong to the Anglican Communion through the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and are members of the Diocese of St Helena, which has its own bishop and includes Ascension Island.
Catholics are pastorally served by the Missio sui iuris of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, whose office of ecclesiastical superior is vested in the Apostolic Prefecture of the Falkland Islands.
In 1821 a copper halfpenny was struck specifically for use in St. Helena, which subsequently intermingled with British coinage.
Saint Helena used sterling currency as in the United Kingdom until 1976, when it began to issue its own banknotes at par with sterling. In 1984, the territory also began to issue its own coinage for both St. Helena and Ascension Island, with the same sizes as the coinage of the United Kingdom. Also similar to British coinage, Queen Elizabeth II is found on the obverse, but the reverse have quite different designs referring to the territory. Whereas the coins are struck with "Saint Helena • Ascension", the banknotes only say, "Government of St. Helena". Commemorative coins are struck separately for the two entities and say either just "St. Helena" or "Ascencion Island". The Saint Helena pound also circulates on Ascension Island, but not in the other territory, Tristan da Cunha, where UK currency circulates.
The Currency Commissioners, part of the Government of Saint Helena, issue the St Helena pound banknotes and coins. There is no central bank; the currency is pegged to the pound sterling, which is controlled by the Bank of England in London. The Bank of Saint Helena is the territory's only bank. The bank sets its own deposit and lending rates, and has branches in Jamestown on Saint Helena and Georgetown on Ascension Island. Although the bank does not have a physical presence on Tristan da Cunha, the residents of Tristan are entitled to use its services. [15]
Sure South Atlantic provide the telecommunications service in the territories. Saint Helena has the international calling code +290 which, since 2006, Tristan da Cunha shares. Since 2013, telephone numbers have been five digits long, with fixed line numbers beginning with "2" and mobile numbers with "5" or "6". [16] Ascension Island has a separate country code, +247 and also has five-digit numbers on the island, having changed in 2015. [17] Ascension Island also held an extensive broadcast facility for international shortwave transmissions to Africa and South America.
Ascension Island, Tristan da Cunha and Saint Helena all issue their own postage stamps, which provide a significant income. The three territories each have their own Royal Mail postal code:
The Flag of the United Kingdom is used for all official purposes; and each of the three territories has its own flag for official use. Between 2002 and 2013 Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha each had their own separate flags, whilst Ascension Island used the Union Flag, and before 2002 the flag of Saint Helena was used in Tristan da Cunha for all official purposes.
The flag of Saint Helena was adopted on 4 October 1984. It is a defaced (i.e. differentiated) Blue Ensign, i.e. a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the shield from the coat of arms of Saint Helena centred on the outer half of the flag. The shield features a rocky coastline and a three-masted sailing ship, with a Saint Helena plover, also known as a wirebird, atop. It was updated in 2018 to depict a more realistic-looking wirebird.
The flag of Ascension Island was adopted on 11 May 2013. [18] The flag is a blue ensign design, defaced with the coat of arms of Ascension Island. Prior to the adoption of this flag, the island used the Union Flag of the United Kingdom for official purposes.
The flag of Tristan da Cunha was adopted on 20 October 2002, in a proclamation made by the Governor of Saint Helena under a Royal Warrant granted by Queen Elizabeth II. Prior to this, as a dependency of Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha used the flag of Saint Helena for official purposes.
The flag is a blue ensign design, defaced with the coat of arms of Tristan da Cunha – a Tristan longboat above a Naval Crown, with a central shield decorated with four yellow-nosed albatrosses and flanked by two Tristan rock lobsters. Below this is a scroll with the territory's motto, Our faith is our strength.
Each of the three main islands has a harbour or small port, situated in the islands' chief settlements (Georgetown, Jamestown, and Edinburgh). In addition, St. Helena has a 118 m long permanent wharf facility, built as part of the airport project, in Rupert's Bay for bulk, containerised, and general cargos, as well as for passenger landings. [19]
St. Helena Airport received its first scheduled commercial flight on 14 October 2017. [20] Commercial flights, operated by Airlink using an Embraer E190, are scheduled from OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg each Saturday, returning the same day (or Sunday when the extension to Ascension Island is operating).
Commercial flights between St. Helena and Ascension Island operate on the second Saturday of each month, with the aircraft returning to St. Helena on the Sunday, before continuing on to Johannesburg. [21]
There is a military airfield on Ascension Island (RAF Ascension Island), though potholes on the runway resulted in the April 2017 cancellation of all but essential personnel/supply flights as well as emergency medical evacuations. [22] [23] Regular RAF flights connected Ascension with RAF Brize Norton in the UK and RAF Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands, a transport link called the South Atlantic Air Bridge. The flights are mainly to transport military personnel, though the RAF did allow fare-paying civilians to use them. Ascension Island is also used by the US military (which supply the base using MV Ascension) and was a designated emergency landing site for the Space Shuttle program.
The islands of Tristan da Cunha can only be accessed by sea due to the lack of an airport.
Location | ICAO | IATA | Airport name | Runway length |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ascension Island | FHAW | ASI | RAF Ascension Island | 3,054 metres (10,020 ft) |
Saint Helena | FHSH | HLE | Saint Helena Airport | 1,950 metres (6,400 ft) |
Saint Helena has 138 kilometres (86 mi)—118 kilometres (73 mi) paved and 20 kilometres (12 mi) unpaved—of roads. Tristan da Cunha has approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) of paved roads, while Ascension has around 40 kilometres (25 mi) paved. [24] Each island has its own vehicle registration plate system. Traffic drives on the left in all three territories, as in the United Kingdom. Two of the nearest countries to the islands—South Africa and Namibia—also drive on the left.
Saint Helena is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean, about midway between South America and Africa. St Helena has a land area of 122 square kilometres and is part of the territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which includes Ascension Island and the island group of Tristan da Cunha.
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha are British Overseas Territories in the south Atlantic Ocean.
Politics of Saint Helena takes place in a framework of limited self-government as a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, whereby the governor is the head of government. Saint Helena, an island in the southern Atlantic Ocean, is a part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.
Tristan da Cunha, colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately 2,787 kilometres (1,732 mi) from Cape Town in South Africa, 2,437 kilometres (1,514 mi) from Saint Helena, 3,949 kilometres (2,454 mi) from Mar del Plata in Argentina, and 4,002 kilometres (2,487 mi) from the Falkland Islands.
Tristan da Cunha is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha and has a history going back to the beginning of the 16th century. It was settled by men from military garrisons and ships, who married native women from Saint Helena and the Cape Colony. Its people are multi-racial, descended from European male founders and mixed-race and African women founders.
The flag of Saint Helena consists of a Blue Ensign defaced with the shield from the British overseas territory's coat of arms. Adopted in 1984 shortly after the island was granted a new coat of arms, it has been the flag since. Saint Helena's flag is similar to the flags of eight other British Overseas Territories, which are also Blue Ensigns with their respective coats of arms.
The Governor of Saint Helena is the representative of the monarch in Saint Helena, a constituent part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The current governor of Saint Helena has been Nigel Phillips since 13 August 2022.
The governor of Tristan de Cunha is the representative of the monarch in Tristan da Cunha, a constituent part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of the governor is to act as the de facto head of state.
The coat of arms of Saint Helena, part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, was authorised on 30 January 1984.
The Supreme Court of St Helena together with the St Helena Court of Appeal are the Senior Courts of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.
The Governor of Ascension is the representative of the monarch in Ascension Island, a constituent part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. He is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government, his role is to act as the de facto head of state.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Ascension Island:
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Saint Helena:
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Tristan da Cunha:
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about 960 miles (1,540 km) from the coast of Africa and 1,400 miles (2,300 km) from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, of which the main island, Saint Helena, is around 800 miles (1,300 km) to the southeast. The territory also includes the sparsely populated Tristan da Cunha archipelago, 2,000 miles (3,200 km) to the south, about halfway to the Antarctic Circle.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha have gradually evolved over the years. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is banned in the entire territory through the Constitution Order 2009 and same-sex marriage has been legal on the islands since 2017.
The United Kingdom possesses a number of islands in the South Atlantic Ocean and claims a section of the Antarctic continent. These territories are St. Helena with Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and the UK's claimed Antarctic territory, called the British Antarctic Territory. The official currency in these territories is either Pound sterling or a local currency that evolved from sterling and is at a fixed one-to-one parity with sterling.
The politics of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha operate under the jurisdiction of the government of the United Kingdom. The three parts of the territory—Saint Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha—effectively form an asymmetric federacy and collectively constitute one of United Kingdom's fourteen overseas territories.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha since 2017. An ordinance to open marriage to same-sex couples in Saint Helena was passed by the Legislative Council in a 9–2 vote on 19 December 2017. It went into force the following day, and the first same-sex marriage was performed on 31 December 2018. Same-sex couples have also been able to marry in Ascension Island since 1 January 2017 and in Tristan da Cunha since 4 August 2017.
The St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Constitution Order 2009 is a Statutory Instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom direct from the Privy Council of the United Kingdom that made legal provision for a new Constitution for the British Overseas Territory of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Before the Constitution came into force, the territory was formally known as St Helena and Dependencies under the provisions of the St. Helena Constitution Order 1988, which the 2009 Order replaces. The new Constitution gave each of the main islands equal status, ending the status of Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha as dependencies of Saint Helena within the territory. However, it retains a single Governor who is based in Jamestown, a single legal system and Administrators for Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. It came into force on 1 September 2009.