Tristan da Cunha is a small archipelago located in the South Atlantic Ocean, consisting of the main island of the same name, Gough Island, Inaccessible Island, and the Nightingale Islands. While the latter three islands are uninhabited, Tristan da Cunha has a population of around 250 people, and is the most remote inhabited island in the world.
Geography, geology, and environment
The main island of the archipelago is located around 2,800 km west of the coast of South Africa, the closest continental landmass, while South America is instead more than 3,700 km away. The closest land that is not part of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago is Bouvet Island, an unihabited island governed by Norway located around 2,300 km to the southeast, and itself the most remote island in the world. The closest settlement to Tristan da Cunha is on the island of Saint Helena, more than 2,400 km to the north.
Together with Saint Helena and Ascension Island, two other remote islands in the Atlantic Ocean, Tristan da Cunha forms a British Overseas Territory, which has its capital in Jamestown, on Saint Helena. The main island of the archipelago has an area of 98 km2. 35 km to the southwest of the main island are Inaccessible Island, which has an area of 14 km2, and Nightingale Island, flanked by two rocky islets called Middle Island and Stoltenhoff Island. Gough Island, which has an area of 91 km2, is instead located 400 km southeast of Tristan da Cunha, but it is still considered part of the same archipelago.
Map of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago (left) and its position in the South Atlantic Ocean compared to the United Kingdom (right) (edited from a work by TUBS, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).
The archipelago has a volcanic origin, and was formed by the activity of the so-called Tristan hotspot, a volcanic hotspot located close to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The islands are mostly mountainous, and the only sizable flat area is on the northwestern coast of Tristan da Cunha, where the only settlement in the archipelago, called Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, is located. The rest of the main island is characterized by tall cliffs and the volcanic cone of Queen Mary’s Peak, which reaches an elevation of 2,062 meters above sea level.
Inaccessible Island is instead an extinct volcano slowly eroding into the sea and, as the name suggests, has an inhospitable terrain and steep cliffs that make landing on the island difficult. Meanwhile, the volcano that forms Nightingale Island is still active, and the cliffs are not as tall as those on the nearby islands, so it is accessible to tourists. Gough Island is another rugged volcanic island with tall cliffs, and has a small meteorological station on the southeastern coast, maintained by the personnel of the South African National Antarctic Programme.
The islands have a wet oceanic climate, with little fluctuation in temperature over the year, mostly oscillating between 10 °C and 20 °C on Tristan da Cunha and between 7 °C and 17 °C on Gough Island. The archipelago also experiences heavy rainfall and strong winds throughout the year. The islands have a rich flora and fauna, with Gough and Inaccessible Island being included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites thanks to their biodiversity. The flora of the archipelago is mostly composed of shrubs and grasslands, with various endemic species.
These islands are also among the most important bird colonies in the world, and feature some endemic species and others that only breed in this archipelago. A peculiar bird living here is the Inaccessible Island rail, the smallest flightless bird in the world, measuring 13 to 15.5 cm. Mining and fishing is prohibited around the archipelago (except to local fisheries) and, because of this, the ocean here is one of the most pristine temperate ecosystems in the world. Whales and dolphins can be seen sometimes around the islands, while subantarctic fur seals mostly inhabit Gough Island.
View of Tristan da Cunha.
History
The archipelago was first sighted by Portuguese explorer Tristão da Cunha in 1506, who named the main island after himself. The name was later anglicised to Tristan da Cunha. While some sources report that the Portuguese visited the islands in 1520, the first undisputed landing here was made by the Dutch in 1643. Dutch, French, and British vessels made various expeditions to the archipelago in the 17th and 18th century, but no settlement was established. The British wanted to turn the archipelago into a penal colony, but expeditions to the islands deemed them unsuitable.
In 1810, an American sailor named Jonathan Lambert settled on Tristan da Cunha declaring himself ruler of the archipelago and renaming it Islands of Refreshment. Lambert drowned while fishing just two years later, while the other settlers struggled to survive. The islands were used as a base by American ships during the War of 1812, and this, along with the fact that they could be used by the French as a stepping stone to attack Saint Helena and free Napoleon, prompted the British to occupy the archipelago, officially annexing it in 1816 as a dependency of the Cape Colony in South Africa.
In the same year, the British founded the settlement of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, that was given this name in 1867 after Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, visited the islands. However, the tiny town is still colloquialy known as “The Settlement” or “The Village” by the locals. In 1875 the islands became a direct dependency of the British Crown.
Ever since it was settled, the archipelago remained mainly isolated, with occasional visits and a small population. Meanwhile, a few expeditions and attempts at establishing a settlement on Inaccessible Island were made, with no success. In 1961 the volcano of Queen Mary’s Peak erupted, and all inhabitants were evacuated to England, but they eventually returned on Tristan da Cunha over the following years. Nightingale Island instead experienced a volcanic eruption in 2004. Other disasters that hit the islands include a cyclone in 2001, a fire in 2008, and an oil spill near Nightingale Island in 2011. Since 1922, Tristan da Cunha was a dependency of Saint Helena, but in 2009 the territory was reorganized as Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, giving equal status to the three islands.
Due to its distance to the other islands, the history of Gough Island is slightly different. First sighted by Portuguese explorer Gonçalo Álvares in 1505, the island was rediscovered by British sailor Charles Gough in 1732, when it was erroneously reported as a newly discovered land. Various attempts at settling the island in the 19th century failed, while the early 20th century saw a few scientific expeditions stopping here. The United Kingdom claimed the island in 1938, and it was joined with the territory of Tristan da Cunha. In 1956 a meteorological station was established on Gough Island, which was moved to its current position in 1963. Every year a new team comes from Cape Town, South Africa, to staff the station, maintaining a continual human presence on the island. Gough Island has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995, with the site being extended to Inaccessible Island in 2004.
View of Inaccessible Island (Brian Gratwicke, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0).
Visiting Tristan da Cunha
Visiting Tristan da Cunha is extremely difficult due to the remoteness of these islands. As there is no airstrip in the archipelago, the only way in and out is by boat. To visit Tristan da Cunha, tourists must fill out an application to the local government. Traveling from Cape Town takes between five and ten days, depending on weather conditions and the type of ship. South African research vessels visit the islands multiple times every year, and a passage on these ships can cost various hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Private vessels can anchor in Tristan da Cunha after having received approval.
There isn’t much to do on Tristan da Cunha, but the local authorities organize fishing excursions, walks, and climbs on the volcano. Some souvenirs are sold in the local tourism center, and there are a few places that serve food and drinks and that offer accomodation. The archipelago uses the Pound sterling as currency. On Tristan da Cunha there is no mobile phone network, and only a slow internet connection is provided via satellite. Inaccessible Island and Nightingale Island can be visited as part of guided tours, while only members of the scientific research team of the meteorological station can step foot on Gough Island.
A great moment to visit Tristan da Cunha would be on December 5, 2048, as on that date the small island will be precisely at the center of the path of totality of a solar eclipse.