The capital is tristan da cunha. Tristan da Cunha: The most remote corner of the Earth

Islands of Tristan da Cunha ... Wikipedia

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha ... Wikipedia

Tristan da Cunha: Tristan da Cunha (islands) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean. Cunha, Tristan and the famous Portuguese navigator ... Wikipedia

- (Tristan da Cunha) a group of 4 volcanic islands in the South Atlantic approx. UK ownership. The area itself large island 117 km & sup2. Population of St. 300 people (1988). The main town of Edinburgh. Fishing, hunting ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (Tristan da Cunha) about in the south. parts of the Atlantic Ocean, owned by Great Britain. Before issue. own brands in 1952 used. stamps of the islands of St. Helena and the Ascension, as well as South American and Great Britain. A series prepared in 1946 by the local authorities ... ... Big philatelic dictionary

- (Tristan da Cunha), a group of 4 volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. UK ownership. The area of ​​the largest island is 117 km2. population over 300 people (1988). Basic locality Edinburgh. Fishing, ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Tristan da Cunha- (Tristan da Cunha), a group of 4 volcanic islands, in the South Atlantic Ocean (37 ° 06 "S and 12 ° 01" W). Administratively (since 1938) as part of British possession. The area is 209 km2 (including the largest and most inhabited ... ... Encyclopedic reference book "Africa"

- (Tristan da Cunha, after the Portuguese navigator Tristão da Cunha, who discovered these islands) a group of 4 volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean (37 ° 06 S and 12 ° 01 W). Belongs to Great Britain. Square… … Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (Tristan da Cunha) an island in the South Atlantic Ocean, owned by the British. 37 ° 6 S latitude, 12 ° 2 W e. The shape of the island is round, the surface is 116 sq. km, 61,000 inhabitants. Consists of one cone-shaped mountain at 2300 or 2540 m in height, steep ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

Tristan da Cunha Islands Saint Helena Great Britain ... Wikipedia

Books

  • Winter is over. Stories, Andrey Kalinin. The book is for those who are looking for their own way and believe that any winter ends sooner or later. 14 stories about a wide variety of people: from the first number on the Forbes list to a young resident of the island ...

The island of Tristan da Cunha is the most remote inhabited island in the world. The nearest land - the island of Saint Helena - is more than 2 thousand kilometers, to the nearest coast of the African continent - more than 2700 kilometers. The island has a permanent population of 272 and is the only island in the archipelago with a permanent population.

Tristan da Cunha is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena. Along with Easter Island, it is one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth. Located 2816 km from South Africa, 3360 km from South America and 2161 km south of Saint Helena.

Tristan da Cunha is a group of small volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean within the British dependent territory of St. Helena. The islands are located within 37 ° 6'S and 12 ° 1'W. total area islands - approximately 202 sq. km. On Tristan da Cunha, the largest (98 sq. Km) and the only inhabited island of the whole group (population in 1988 - 313 people), at an altitude of 2060 m there is a volcano, which was silent until 1961, when its eruption. Most of the inhabitants of the island are descendants of British soldiers who were stationed in Tristan da Cunha during Napoleon's imprisonment on St. Helena, some are descendants of whaling sailors who once settled on the islands. The inhabitants of the islands are engaged in agriculture, fishing and animal husbandry. Since 1942, the island has hosted a British radio and weather station. Until 1948, there was no organized form of government on the islands. In 1950 the first governor of St. Helena was appointed, and in 1952 general elections were held for the Island Council. Other islands in this group are Gough, Inaccessible (Inaccessible) and Nightingale (Nightingale). The islands were discovered in 1506 by Portuguese sailors under the leadership of Admiral Tristro Cunha and were annexed by Great Britain in 1816. During the volcanic eruption in 1961, all the inhabitants of the islands were evacuated, but later, in 1963, they returned to their homes.

Tristan Da Kanha is home to a population of 270 highly isolated people, with an economy based in the fishing industry. The climate of the islands is temperate oceanic, rainy and windy. On Gough Island, the average monthly temperature ranges from + 9 ° C to 14.5 ° C, on northern islands- from +11 ° C to 17.5 ° C. Annual precipitation ranges from 2000 mm in the north to 2500 mm on Gough Island.

The islanders often find themselves hostages of Atlantic storms: wind gusts of almost 190 km per hour, once were so strong that they lifted cows and sheep into the air, and they fell into the ocean and died there ...

The island of Tristan da Cunha is the only island in the archipelago with a permanent population. The main settlement of the island is Edinburgh of the Seven Seas in the northwestern part of the island. Other settlements are not permanent and represent scientific bases and meteorological stations. The population of the island is about 300 people. Tristan da Cunha is a volcanic island that appeared about a million years ago. The island has highest point archipelago - Queen Mary (Queen Mary) peak, 2055 meters above sea level. In winter, the top of the mountain is covered with snow. Queen Mary is a volcano that has erupted several times since the discovery of the island. The island of Tristan da Cunha has a rocky coast and mountainous relief, there are numerous ravines that locals called "gorges" ("gulches"). The only territory of the island adapted for permanent human life is the northern and northwestern parts. There you can also dock from the sea without much risk.

And this is the "breakfast" of the inhabitants of this island - Tristan Lobster's Authentic Tails - they say it's delicious!

The island now has a mini market, radio station, cafe, video store and swimming pool. Tristan is connected to the world by one telephone and fax at the Governor's Department, and is visited once a year by the only mail ship in the world. This ship brings not only mail, but also canned food, videos, books and magazines, and medicines.

Not only people live on the island, here is the albatross chick:

And also penguins:

Some more photos of the inhabitants of this remote island

In continuation, read also about the wildest places on Earth, which also includes the island of Tristan da Cunha.

Rare travelers make it to this island in the South Atlantic Ocean. There is no airport here, and the nearest country, South Africa, is 2816 kilometers away.

Topics more interesting story island, which was first described by the Portuguese Tristan da Cunha in 1506. True, he did not dare to land ashore. In 1810, the first permanent settlers arrived here from Salem, Massachusetts. Four men, led by Jonathan Lambert, named the place Refreshing Island. Three of them died by 1812, and the only survivor, Thomas Curry, remained on the island and took up farming.

The remoteness of the island from the continents.

View of Tristan da Cunha from the ocean.

In 1815, the British annexed the island of Tristan da Cunha. All due to the fact that in the neighborhood - on the island of St. Helena (located 2161 km away) - Napoleon languished in prison. The British were afraid of rescue operations, in addition, the islands were of strategic importance on the way to Indian Ocean(The Suez Canal would only be dug by 1869).

Now the island is considered part of the British overseas territory of St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (there are 14 such territories in total - from the famous Gibraltar and Falkland Islands to Pitcairn and Anguilla). The island belongs to the UK, but is not part of it. The queen has never set foot on the island, and it is an extremely difficult task to step foot on this island for someone other than its inhabitant. Fishing boats from South Africa come here only a few times a year. They are equipped with seats for passengers.

Island flag

City map

As of 2016, the island is inhabited by 268 inhabitants from only seven families (the island even has a family tree posted on it). There is not much work here, so many government positions have been created for residents: police, customs, environmental, environmental and agricultural services. And every inhabitant of the island of Tristan da Cunha is a farmer who owns his own potato field. To keep everyone's standard of living average, a family is allowed a maximum of two cows. Nobody pays taxes on the island, while the population receives royalties from the sale of seafood.

The only settlement bears the beautiful name of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas. The locals, however, call it simply The Settlement.

Edinburgh view of the Seven Seas

An ordinary house in Tristan da Cunha

In 2005, the UK gave the island its own postcode (TDCU 1ZZ) to make it easier for residents to order online. Truth, cellular there is no. From 1998 to 2006, 64 kilobits of Internet was available through a satellite phone, but the high cost and disgusting quality of work forced the residents of the island to abandon it. Now the Internet is only in cafes, and this is perhaps the most remote Internet cafe in the world from civilization.

Television is present on two BBC channels, so news reaches the inhabitants of the island somewhat faster than in 1919. Then a passing ship (the first since 1909) informed them about the results of the First World War.

Local

Bus stop

Read more:
Report at the "Vinsky Forum" for 2013
Tristan da Cunha Island. Wikipedia
Tristan da Cunha Island. Official site

“… Another day passed, and at dawn the voice of the sailor on duty was suddenly heard.
“Earth!” He shouted.
A telescope appeared from the hatch. Jacques Paganel pointed his instrument in the indicated direction, but did not see anything like the ground there.
“Look at the clouds,” John Mangles advised him.
"Indeed," said Paganel, "something like a cliff looms out there."
"This is Tristan da Cunha" - announced John Mangles ... "

Captain Grant's Children by Jules Verne

Have you ever heard of Tristan da Cunha? If not, don't be discouraged, because the people living on it have probably never heard of you either. The Tristan da Cunha archipelago, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, is the most remote inhabited place on the planet. Its closest "neighbor" is the island of St. Helena, located 2430 kilometers from the archipelago, known as a place of exile and recent years life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Tristan da Cunha consists of several islands - Tristan itself, the largest and only inhabited island, the Nightingale Island and the Inaccessible Island, Gough and many small islets. The coast of South Africa is more than 2,800 kilometers from here, and all ten to London!

The history of the islands begins in 1506, when the Portuguese navigator Tristan da Cunha saw them through a telescope and left his name here forever. For various reasons, Tristan did not manage to walk along the skeletons, so they were the first to set foot on the "most remote land" only in 1767, and they were the French. Despite this, he named the island by his own name - Tristan da Cunha. The first settler of the island was the American Jonathan Lambert, who landed in January 1811. He called himself the ruler of the island and renamed it "The Island of Rest".

When the English governor of the Cape Good Hope learned that the island had already been colonized, he offered Lambert the protectorate of England. Lambert agreed and raised the British flag over Tristan. However, two years later, Lambert died in a shipwreck, and the island was screwed into its former name.

In 1815, on Saint Helena, an equally lonely piece of land thousands of miles to the north, the British settled Napoleon. And to protect the possible sea routes of his escape from there, it was decided to place a garrison on Tristana da Cunha. The small, curving American colony took this as a gift from heaven, and recognized the sovereignty of Great Britain over this island.

In 1821 Napoleon died and the garrison was transferred to the Cape of Good Hope.

The main island of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago is the only island with a permanent population. Center - village Edinburgh of the seven seas(Edinburgh of the Seven Seas) with a population of about 300 (2005). But the residents just call him settlement(Settlement). And the local residents use their ceremonial name as rarely as their surnames, of which there are only seven or eight: almost all families have long become related to each other. Neither give nor take - Noah's ark. The most ancient families on the island are Glass (immigrants from the United States, since 1816 on the island), Svoin (immigrants from England, since 1826), Green (from Holland since 1836), Rogers (from the United States since 1836), Hagan ( USA, 1849), Repetto and Lavarello (both families from Italy since 1892).

Other settlements are just scientific bases and meteorological stations.

Today, Tristan da Cunha is a British overseas colony, which until now did not demand independence, but all because the inhabitants of the island value their historical connection with Great Britain. The island is governed by the Governor of Saint Helena, who appoints an Administrator to represent him in the archipelago.

Well, okay, people do not live on continents, but these islands are so far from sea routes that ships do not go there more often than once a month. The rest of the time, all 300 residents of the only city of the islands "Edinburgh of the Seven Seas" are left to their own devices, and they are excellent at coping with the elements, and with illness, and with work and unemployment. Just kidding - they have no unemployment.

Most of the residents are engaged in farming, the rest serve government facilities - meteorological stations and some other towers inherited from Mother Britain. But what is interesting is that the land is constantly redistributed among members of the community in order to avoid accidental enrichment of a random family due to the accidental seizure of the best plot. Since all Tristans are distant and close relatives, they decide their affairs in a family way, without the involvement of any "committees on the rights of black-browed and red-cheeked", and they get it extremely charming. The island is ruled by an elected Chief Islander and eleven members of the Council, no more General Courts and Memorial Chambers are envisaged. But the islanders are so peaceful and benevolent people that litigation between them is from the realm of complete fantasy.

All tourists who want to go to Tristan da Cunha must first obtain permission from the Administrator and the Council and take with them a police clearance certificate (translated into English). To do this, you need to write a letter to the Administrator's secretary [email protected] and indicate when you plan to arrive, where you intend to stay and what the purpose of your visit is. You must also have medical insurance with you, which will cover the costs of medical treatment and evacuation to Cape Town, and sufficient funds. After the Board has granted you permission, the Administrator's secretary will contact you to help you book your boat tickets from Cape Town.

A visa is not required, but all tourists must have a passport, which will be stamped upon arrival. In addition, a tax must be paid: for passengers cruise liners£ 30 and for fishing boats £ 20. Finally, you need to know that the import of food and alcohol is very strictly controlled here. For example, tourists are allowed to bring only 4 liters of beer with them.

Tristana da Cunha has no airport or sea harbor (in 1961 it was destroyed by the eruption of the Queen Mary Peak volcano).

You can get here only through the port, which is used by fishing boats, ferries and scientific expeditions. Travel to the island from the nearest big city- The capital of South Africa Cape Town takes six days one way. Currently, Ovenstone, which owns several fishing vessels - Edinburgh, MV Baltic Trader and SA Agulhas, transports tourists along the Cape Town - Tristan da Cunha - Cape Town route. The flight schedule can be found on the website. On average, the cost of a round-trip ticket is about a thousand US dollars.

Tristan da Cunha is a volcanic island. The people of Tristan da Cunha are firmly attached to their homeland. When in 1961 the volcano severely damaged the fish factory and the local atmosphere, the people were evacuated to Britain and the island of St. Elena, that nearby (some thousand kilometers is a mere trifle). It would seem that civilization will inevitably swallow provincials with its tenacious advantages. But no, as soon as the military island repaired, the entire population returned to their "most remote from the whole world" at home. And, perhaps, they can be understood - they have peace and grace there, a piece of paradise on Earth, albeit without excesses, but also without racial hatred, terrorism, crime, corruption and other "benefits" of the modern world.

Only a small part of the island is available for life, in the north side of which is the capital of the archipelago - "Edinburgh of the Seven Seas", and the locals like to call it simply "The Settlement". Currently, Tristana da Cunha is home to 261 people who proudly consider it their home. All of them are descendants of American, Italian, Dutch settlers. There is a ban on the settlement of new residents on the island, so the population here fluctuates slightly. Hence, another problem arises - for more than 200 years a closely related incest took place on the island, which still leads to serious genetic diseases. Recently, marriages between close relatives (cousins) were officially banned, and now residents are faced with another problem: many have to wait several years for their future husband or wife to "grow up". However, this is a common misfortune for all such societies.

The official language in Tristana da Cunha is English, but there are several dialects here that evolved from the fact that the first settlers did not originally speak English language... Tristans profess Christianity (Anglicanism and Catholicism). The island has telephones, television and Internet access.

A few words about the economy. The main source of income for the residents is the lobster and lobster fishing and processing factory, which closely cooperates and sells its products to Japan and the USA, although now the turnover with the Americans has dropped significantly, complicating the already difficult life of the inhabitants of Tristan. In addition, Tristan da Cunha sells coins and postage stamps all over the world, which are very rare and highly sought after by collectors. The local currency is the British pound sterling. Credit cards are not accepted and travelers checks and foreign currencies (euros, dollars, South African rand) can be exchanged at the local treasury.

All land is in common use. Nobody can buy it here, not even Bill Gates and Roman Abramovich. All families are engaged in farming, growing vegetables and raising livestock. By the way, livestock numbers are strictly controlled in order to preserve pastures and prevent individual families from accumulating wealth. In other words, there is complete equality.

The island has a school, post office, museum, café, two churches, a supermarket and a tourist center. The local health center provides free medical care to all residents, many of whom suffer from the same genetic diseases caused by the aforementioned incest. And most importantly, there is no crime, corruption, or murder on the island. Complete idyll, isn't it?

You need to book accommodation on the island in advance by contacting the Administrator's secretary (it is worth noting that you will often contact him, all communication with the "outside world" for Tristans goes through him). He can advise you and help you with your booking. Two types of accommodation are available for tourists - in a home family with full board(cost - 40 pounds / night), three meals a day, laundry and guest house(there are six of them on the island), which can be booked for any period (cost £ 20 / night + meals).

In local tourist center you can buy a postcard and send it to friends. But you will be immediately told that delivery may take several months. Although the Russians, probably, should not be very upset, because we have long been accustomed to the "super-fast" work of the Russian Post.

Tristan da Cunha offers tourists a number of activities and excursions that can be specially organized by local guides. All inquiries should be directed to Tourism Coordinator Dawn Repetto by email [email protected]

Three of the most popular tourist attractions in Tristana da Cunha can be distinguished. The first is the conquest of the summit of the Queen Mary Peak volcano. All excursions that take place outside the Edinburgh Seven Seas border require the obligatory presence of a local guide (for the safety of tourists and wildlife). The second is the crested penguins (Rockhopper penguins), which make their nests on the rocks and coastal slopes, and after the traditional January molt return to the sea.

The third, and perhaps the most unique, is a trip to neighboring uninhabited islands archipelago. For example, on a fishing boat, you can visit the Nightingale Island or the Inaccessible Island, but again, you must first coordinate the excursion with the Tristan administration. You can also go to Gough Island, which, like the Inaccessible, was declared a wildlife sanctuary by UNESCO in 1995. This island was discovered by the navigator Gough in 1731. It belongs to the British maritime domain, but the only inhabitants of the island are members of the South Atlantic meteorological station. SANAP, which, in agreement with the British government, was stationed here in 1956.

There are no organized tours in Tristan da Cunha, no hotels, no airport, no nightclubs and expensive restaurants, and no normal permanent transport links... However, it is one of the most unusual places for independent travelers who are determined to discover something new and unknown. Many who come here decide to stay for a long time (for several months), realizing that they have found something that they previously lacked so much. Most importantly, remember that a trip to Tristan da Cunha must be planned in advance, not two or three months in advance, but at least a year in advance.

Such increased attention to these islands during that period was by no means accidental. They were favorably located on the routes connecting the Old World and India and, moreover, were under the protectorate of England, which made them very popular. But the heyday of Tristan da Cunha came to an end with the construction of the Suez Canal. The settlers who settled on the island did not want to return to mainland under no pretext, so that some of them were "attached" for scientific research, and the rest are engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing and handicrafts.

You can go there for tourist purposes only to expand your geographic horizons - there is absolutely nothing to look at. Of the entire area of ​​the island, a small piece of land in the north is suitable for life, the rest is a volcano that has reminded of itself four times over the past 100 years. In addition to Tristan da Cunha, there are three smaller islands in the archipelago and many hillocks above sea level, which the language cannot be called an island. So - everything that except Tristan has no permanent residents.

Tristan is still registered with Britain, but this is more nominally, just so as not to be "without a passport" and not to produce another unknown independent island state.

The social structure of the island is real communism. At the very beginning of the colony, corporal Grasse formulated something like a constitution. Its positions were determined by the ideas of the French Revolution: freedom, equality, fraternity. And here it is still accepted. The whole community will build a house for newlyweds here. If the harvest is bad, the neighbors will share theirs. Among the applicants for a job, the one who previously earned less gets a job. Health care and education are free.

For the past 60 years, the island has been governed by a council of 10 people and a head of the council, which is also approved by the governor of the British island of St. Helena. Since the commune on the island is tiny, local politics are at a glance: representatives of the most ancient families of settlers on the island hold the reins of government (in fact, the island is a very simplified model of countries of the resettlement type). Of the 11 members of the council, the head is a representative of the Lavarello clan, in the council there are 4 representatives of the Repetto clan, 3 - the Green clan, 1 - the Rogers clan, 2 - the Glass clan. In total, conditional “Italians” out of 11 places have 5, “Americans” - 3, Dutch - 3 places. As we see, there was no place for the "Englishmen".

However, according to local political scientists, the current rise in the influence of the Italian clans is a purely temporary phenomenon. Jan Lavarello became the first member of his clan to be appointed chairman of the council.

It is not customary to evade community work. It is always there: to fix the road, help in building a house, crush the lava, from which bricks will then be made. The entire list of community-related work is drawn up by the UK manager.

Few things can catch the Council, and indeed all the rest of the inhabitants of the island, by surprise, because for any conceivable situation they have an iron rule in reserve: to remember how the older generations of settlers acted in such cases. Tradition is what all actions are based on here. Why build a new restaurant building on the island? It would be better to leave everything as it is: how many years have we lived without a restaurant, and why is it needed now? Why build a new government building? After all, the old is still quite good. What's the use of a satellite phone? After all, if something happened - the ship from Cape Town, at best, will only arrive here in a week. In 1906, a volcanic eruption occurred, resulting in the death of livestock and potato plantations. People were relocated to Cape Town. As can be seen from these facts, all external relations of the island have long been closed on the support of the authorities from another British colony, Cape of Good Hope (now the province of South Africa).


sources
http://www.mirmarok.ru/prim/view_article/461/, http://ttolk.ru/?p=8785
http://www.terra-z.ru/archives/14313
http://59travel.ru/blog/index/node/id/1758-arhipelag-tristan-da-kunya/ Link to the article from which this copy was made -

    Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha ... Wikipedia

    This term has other meanings, see Tristan da Cunha. Islands of Tristan da Cunha ... Wikipedia

    - (Tristan da Cunha) about in the south. parts of the Atlantic Ocean, owned by Great Britain. Before issue. own brands in 1952 used. stamps of the islands of St. Helena and the Ascension, as well as South American and Great Britain. A series prepared in 1946 by the local authorities ... ... Big philatelic dictionary

    Tristan da Cunha: Tristan da Cunha (islands) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean. Cunha, Tristan and the famous Portuguese navigator ... Wikipedia

    - (Tristan da Cunha) a group of 4 volcanic islands in the South Atlantic approx. UK ownership. The area of ​​the largest island is 117 km & sup2. Population of St. 300 people (1988). The main town of Edinburgh. Fishing, hunting ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    - (Tristan da Cunha), a group of 4 volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. UK ownership. The area of ​​the largest island is 117 km2. population over 300 people (1988). The main town of Edinburgh. Fishing, ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    Tristan da Cunha- (Tristan da Cunha), a group of 4 volcanic islands, in the South Atlantic Ocean (37 ° 06 "S and 12 ° 01" W). Administratively (since 1938) as part of British possession. The area is 209 km2 (including the largest and most inhabited ... ... Encyclopedic reference book "Africa"

    - (Tristan da Cunha, after the Portuguese navigator Tristão da Cunha, who discovered these islands) a group of 4 volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean (37 ° 06 S and 12 ° 01 W). Belongs to Great Britain. Square… … Great Soviet Encyclopedia

    - (Tristan da Cunha) an island in the South Atlantic Ocean, owned by the British. 37 ° 6 S latitude, 12 ° 2 W e. The shape of the island is round, the surface is 116 sq. km, 61,000 inhabitants. Consists of one cone-shaped mountain at 2300 or 2540 m in height, steep ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

    Tristan da Cunha Islands Flag of the Islands Coat of arms of the islands ... Wikipedia

Books

  • Winter is over. Stories, Andrey Kalinin. The book is for those who are looking for their own way and believe that any winter ends sooner or later. 14 stories about a wide variety of people: from the first number on the Forbes list to a young resident of the island ...