Everything about Tristan Da Cunha totally explained
Tristan da Cunha is a group of remote
volcanic islands in the south
Atlantic Ocean, 2816 km (1750 miles) from
South Africa and 3360 km (2088 miles) from
South America. It is a dependency of the
British overseas territory of
Saint Helena, 2173 km (1350 miles) to the north. The territory consists of the main island, Tristan da Cunha (area: 98 km², 38 sq mi ), as well as several uninhabited islands:
Inaccessible Island and the
Nightingale Islands.
Gough Island (area: 91 km², 35 sq mi ), situated 395 km (245 mi) south east of the main island, is also considered part of the territory. Tristan da Cunha is the
most remote archipelago in the world.
History
The islands were first sighted in 1506 by a
Portuguese sailor,
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. The first
survey of the archipelago was made by the
French frigate L'Heure du Berger in 1767.
Soundings were taken and a rough survey of the
coastline was made. The presence of water at the large waterfall of Big Watron and in a lake on the north coast were noted, and the results of the survey were published by a
Royal Navy hydrographer in 1781. The first permanent settler was
Jonathan Lambert, from
Salem,
Massachusetts,
United States, who arrived at the islands in 1810. He declared the islands his property and named them the
Islands of Refreshment. His rule was short lived, as he died in a boating accident 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 wouldn't be able 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 as a base, as they'd during the
War of 1812. Attempts to colonize
Inaccessible Island failed.
The islands were occupied by a British military
garrison, 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 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 island. 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. A second
Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of
Queen Elizabeth II, visited the islands in 1957 as part of a world tour onboard the royal yacht
Britannia.
On
12 January 1938, by
Letters Patent, the islands were declared a dependency of
St Helena.
During
World War II, the islands were used as a
Royal Navy station.
Atlantic Isle was established to monitor
German shipping movements in the South
Atlantic Ocean. The first
Administrator was appointed by the
British Government during this time.
In 1958, as part of
Operation Argus, the
United States Navy exploded an
atomic bomb 200 kilometres high in the upper atmosphere, 115 kilometres southeast of the island.
In 1961, a volcanic eruption forced the evacuation of the entire population to wooden huts in the disused Pendell Army Camp in
Merstham,
Surrey,
England before moving to a more permanent site at a former
Royal Air Force station in
Calshot near
Southampton,
England, living mainly in a road called Tristan Close. In 1962, a
Royal Society expedition went to the island to assess the damage, and reported that the settlement
Edinburgh of the Seven Seas had only been marginally affected. Most families returned in 1963 led by Willie Repetto (head of the ten-person island council) and Allan Crawford (the former island welfare officer).
In 2005 the island was given a
United Kingdom post code (TDCU 1ZZ) to make it easier for the residents to order goods online.
On 13 February 2008, fire destroyed the fishing factory and the two generators that supply power to the island. Backup generators were used to power the hospital and give power for part of the day to the rest of the island. As of 28 February, the backup generator is still being used. Power is on during day and early evening and candlelight is used the rest of the time. This fire was devastating to the island because fishing is a mainstay of the economy. The Royal Engineers from the British Army are working on the harbour to help maintain it as everything comes and goes by boat.
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 Island Council, made up of eight elected and three appointed members. 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 isn't inconsistent with local law, insofar as it's suitable for local circumstances and subject to such modifications as local circumstances make necessary.
Geography
The name "Tristan da Cunha" is also used for the
archipelago, which consists of the following islands (areas given in km²):
- the main island Tristan da Cunha and its surrounding islands
- Tristan da Cunha, the main island and largest (area: 98 km², 38 sq mi)
- Inaccessible Island (area: 14 km², 5.5 sq mi)
- Nightingale Islands (area: 3.4 km², 1.3 sq mi)
- Gough Island (Diego Alvarez) (area: 91 km², 35 sq mi)
Inaccessible Island and the Nightingale Islands are located 35 km (22 mi) southwest of the main island, while Gough Island is located 395 km (245 mi) SSE. The main island is quite mountainous; the only flat area is the location of the capital, Edinburgh on the Northwestern coast (sometimes known as "Edinburgh of the Seven Seas"). The highest point is a volcano called Queen Mary's Peak (2,062 m, 6,765 ft); it's covered by snow in winter. The climate is marine subtropical with small temperature differences between summer and winter and between day and night. The other islands of the group are uninhabited, except for Gough Island Weather Station on the namesake 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. Tristan da Cunha is the nesting place of Tristan Albatrosses.
Tristan da Cunha is thought to have formed by a long-lived center of upwelling
magma called the
Tristan hotspot.
Economy
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 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
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 factory, which was rebuilt a short time later. The crayfish farmers 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 isn't permitted direct access to
European Union markets. Recently the decline in interest in Tristan crayfish in the United States has meant that the islanders have had to borrow from their reserves. The islands' financial problems may cause delays in updating communication equipment and improving education on the island.
On Wednesday, 13 February 2008, the Fishing Factory was destroyed by fire and along with it the island's only source of power. Emergency power was restored for a limited period, and the island was awaiting the visit of insurance loss adjusters to investigate the source and cause of the fire. The cost to the Island's economy wasn't immediately known.
Demographics
The islands have a population of 271 people. The main settlement is
Edinburgh of the Seven Seas (known locally as "The Settlement"). The main religion is
Christianity, with denominations of
Anglican and
Roman Catholic. There are instances of health problems because of
endogamy, including
asthma and
glaucoma, largely because of the inevitable marriages among distantly related couples, for example marriages between second degree cousins, that comes with having such a small
gene pool.
The remote location of the islands makes transport to the outside world difficult. There is no airport, and the islands can only be reached by boat. Fishing boats from South Africa regularly service the islands. The
RMS Saint Helena formerly connected the islands to South Africa, and the United Kingdom via
Saint Helena and
Ascension Island, but she no longer calls at Tristan da Cunha.
Society
On Tristan da Cunha the population of 271 people shared just seven surnames: Glass, Green, Hagan, Lavarello (a typical
Ligurian surname), Repetto (another typical Ligurian surname), Rogers and Swain. There are 80 families on the island.
Health care is free, but with just one resident
doctor from
South Africa and five nurses, the delivery and surgery are limited and serious injury can mean necessitating sending signals to 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 availed 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.
Television didn't arrive on the island until 2001, and the sole channel available is the
British Forces Broadcasting Service from the
Falkland Islands. Education is rudimentary; children leave school at fifteen, and although it's possible to take
GCSEs a year later, results are poor.
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.
Viral outbreak
On
4 December 2007 the BBC World News reported an outbreak of an acute viral strain which causes Viral Induced Asthma. This outbreak was compounded by Tristan's lack of suitable medical supplies. The British Coast Guard in Falmouth are co-ordinating international efforts to get appropriate medicines to Tristan in order to treat the virus. Tristan’s elderly population and the very young are most at risk. However, telephone contacts with islanders indicate that only four elderly people are now hospitalized.
Further Information
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