Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha

These islands are very far from other land.

There are three of them, and they are far from each other too.

Saint Helena lies in the South Atlantic Ocean, about 1,950 kilometers west of the southwest coast of Africa. Ascension Island is about 1,100 kilometers to its northwest, and the Tristan da Cunha islands are about 2,100 kilometers to its south.

Together they make one British overseas territory. Since 2009 the three have been equal parts, each with its own council, sharing one governor who represents the British monarch and lives on Saint Helena.

Britannica places Saint Helena about 1,950 km west of southwestern Africa, with Ascension about 1,100 km to the northwest and the Tristan da Cunha group some 2,100 km to the south. The Tristan group lies about midway between southern Africa and South America; its sixth island, Gough, is about 320 km south-southeast of the others.

The 2009 constitution made Ascension and Tristan da Cunha equal parts of the territory rather than dependencies of Saint Helena. All three share a governor, appointed by the monarch and resident on Saint Helena, but have separate legislatures; administrators represent the governor on Ascension and Tristan. The British Overseas Territories Act of 2002 gave British citizenship to the people of the overseas territories, including these islands.

Jamestown sits in a narrow valley between tall, dark cliffs.

Small boats float in the bay in front of it.

Jamestown is Saint Helena's capital and only port. Ships can land only at James Bay, on the northwest side, and the town fills a narrow valley that runs inland from the bay. In the photo, small boats float in the bay below two steep, dark hillsides, with the town tucked between them.

Napoleon lived his last years at Longwood House, inland. Georgetown is the main settlement on Ascension, and Edinburgh of the Seven Seas is the only settlement on Tristan da Cunha.

Britannica describes James Bay, on Saint Helena's northwestern side, as the island's only practicable landing place; a narrow valley runs 2.4 km inland from it, and Jamestown, the capital, port and only town, lies in that valley. The island also has an airport on Prosperous Bay Plain near the east coast and Longwood House, where Napoleon was confined from 1815 to 1821.

On Ascension, Georgetown is the main settlement and the seat of the administration. On Tristan da Cunha, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, often shortened to Edinburgh, is the only permanent settlement, on the island's largest lowland strip along the north coast; the islands' website calls it the world's most isolated settlement. The photo shows small boats in James Bay below steep volcanic slopes, with Jamestown's houses in the valley.

All these islands were made by volcanoes.

Tristan da Cunha has a tall volcano with a lake shaped like a heart at the top.

Saint Helena is an old volcano that no longer erupts. Cliffs 490 to 700 meters high rise around much of it, and its highest point, Diana's Peak, is 820 meters. The weather is mild, with warm summers and slightly cooler winters.

Ascension is mostly a desert of old craters and lava flows, except on the heights of Green Mountain. Tristan da Cunha is an active volcano. Its summit, Queen Mary's Peak, rises 2,062 meters, and its crater holds a heart-shaped lake.

Saint Helena is volcanic but extinct, with cliffs of 490 to 700 m on its eastern, northern and western sides and a semicircular rim of mountains including Diana's Peak (820 m) and Mount Actaeon (800 m); rainfall ranges from about 200 mm at sea level to more than 760 mm in the center (Britannica). Ascension is mostly a desert of dormant craters and lava flows, except on the heights of Green Mountain (859 m), and it has no surface streams.

Tristan da Cunha, described by its government's website as an active volcanic island, rises to Queen Mary's Peak (2,062 m), a cone of loose ash and cinders whose summit crater holds a heart-shaped lake; the site notes heavy rain has probably lowered the peak by some 200 m through gully erosion. About 1,675 mm of rain falls each year at Edinburgh. In October 1961 an eruption threatened the settlement and the islanders were moved to England; 198 returned in November 1963.

Green sea turtles lay eggs on Ascension's sandy beaches.

Saint Helena has a small bird with long, thin legs called the wirebird.

The wirebird is the only bird found nowhere else that still lives on Saint Helena. It is named for its thin legs, and it appears on the island's flag. Saint Helena also has plants found nowhere else, such as the Saint Helena ebony and redwood.

On Ascension, green turtles come ashore to lay eggs from January to April, and sooty terns nest in large numbers. Since the island's wild cats were removed, seabirds such as boobies and red-billed tropicbirds have begun to return to the island. The tropicbird in the photo was photographed in the Galápagos Islands.

JNCC describes the wirebird, or St Helena plover (Charadrius sanctaehelenae), as the island's only remaining endemic bird, classed as Vulnerable, featured on the flag and estimated at around 545 adults; camera traps showed cats behind over 60% of nest predation events. Britannica names endemic plants such as the St Helena ebony, redwood and black cabbage trees, and small animals such as blushing snails.

On Ascension, green turtles nest from January to April, sooty terns breed in abundance, and after feral cats were eradicated early this century, masked and brown boobies and red-billed tropicbirds began recolonizing the main island (Britannica). In August 2019 a marine protected area covering all of Ascension's 445,000 km² exclusive economic zone was designated, under which commercial fishing and mineral extraction are to be prohibited. Gough and Inaccessible Islands, a UNESCO World Heritage site, hold endemic land birds, plants and invertebrates; Inaccessible's endemic rail is small and flightless. The tropicbird pictured was photographed at Plaza Sur, Galápagos.

Only a few thousand people live on these islands.

They speak English.

About 5,400 people lived across the three island groups in March 2023, most of them on Saint Helena. Saint Helena's statistics office estimated 3,980 residents there in June 2025 (a provisional figure). Tristan da Cunha's website listed about 220 islanders in 2026.

On Saint Helena, English is the language spoken. Britannica describes its people as being of mixed European, mostly British, South and East Asian, and African descent. On Tristan, the first families were soldiers who stayed after 1817, shipwrecked sailors, settlers from Europe and women from Saint Helena.

Estimates for 31 March 2023, mostly from the St Helena Statistics Office (via City Population), give 4,233 on Saint Helena, 894 on Ascension and 264 on Tristan da Cunha, 5,391 in all; the February 2021 census counted 4,439, 1,023 and 260. The Statistics Office's provisional estimate for Saint Helena in June 2025 is 3,980; it cannot yet issue later figures because of a data problem. Tristan's website listed 220 islanders with residency status in October 2026.

Britannica describes Saint Helena's population as of mixed European (mostly British), South and East Asian, and African descent, and English-speaking. Tristan's community grew from three garrison members who stayed in 1817, joined by shipwrecked sailors, European settlers and women from Saint Helena; there were 97 inhabitants by 1886. From the early 1960s, jobs at Ascension's telecommunications center brought Saint Helena workers a degree of prosperity.