St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
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Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha |
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Anthem: "God Save the Queen"
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| Status | British Overseas Territory |
| Capital |
Jamestown 15°56′S 005°43′W / 15.933°S 5.717°W |
| Largest settlement |
Half Tree Hollow 15°56′0″S 5°43′12″W / 15.93333°S 5.72000°W |
| Official languages | English |
| Parts |
 Saint Helena Ascension Island Tristan da Cunha
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| Leaders | |
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• Monarch
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Elizabeth II |
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• Governor
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Lisa Phillips |
| Marc Holland | |
| Alex Mitham | |
| Established as a dependency of the United Kingdom | |
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• St Helena charter granted
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1657 |
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• East India Company rule ended
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22 April 1834 |
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• Ascension added
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12 September 1922 |
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• Tristan da Cunha added
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12 January 1938 |
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• Current constitution
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1 September 2009 |
| Area | |
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• Total
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394 km2 (152 sq mi) |
| Population | |
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• 2016 census
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5,633 |
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• Density
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13.4/km2 (34.7/sq mi) |
| Currency |
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| Time zone | GMT (UTC) |
| Drives on the | left |
| Calling code | |
| ISO 3166 code | SH |
| Internet TLD | |
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Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha 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.
Its name was Saint Helena and Dependencies until 1 September 2009, when a new constitution came into force giving the three islands equal status within the territory. Despite this change, the whole territory is still commonly referred to as simply Saint Helena after its main island. Similarly, the demonym Saint Helenians (or "Saints") and the derived name for the local nationality is commonly understood to include Ascension Islanders and Tristanians, as well.
Administratively, the territory is divided into the same three parts as the territory's geography, namely Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Each is governed by a council. The Governor of the territory presides over the Saint Helena Legislative Council, while he or she is represented by an Administrator on Ascension Island and an Administrator on Tristan da Cunha that preside over these two areas' Island Councils. See Constitution section below.
The island of St Helena is then further divided into eight districts.
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 freshwater. 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. Englishman Sir Francis Drake very probably located the island on the final lap of his circumnavigation of the world (1577–1580). 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 and 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.
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Wikipedia