Tristan da Cunha, a British Overseas Territory, is the most isolated inhabited island in the world, located in the South Atlantic between South Africa and Uruguay. It is 1,750 miles from South Africa and 2,088 miles from South America. The island has a population of approximately 272 people and its economy is based on fishing, vegetable farming, and a canned shrimp factory. The island has a volcano, Queen Mary’s Peak, and was evacuated in 1961 due to an eruption. The US also detonated an atomic bomb in the area in 1958 as part of Operation Argus.
The most isolated inhabited island in the world is Tristan da Cunha, a dependency of the British Overseas Territory of St. Helena. It is located far out in the South Atlantic, roughly equidistant between Cape Town, South Africa and Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. Tristan da Cunha is located 1,750 miles (2,816 km) from South Africa and 2,088 miles (3,360 km) from South America, making it the most remote inhabited island on the planet. There are numerous islands in the central Pacific that are further away from the landmasses, but are uninhabited. The closest inhabited island to Tristan da Cunha is Saint Helena, 1,350 miles (2,173 km) to the north. The world’s most isolated island overall, Bouvet Island, lies approximately 2,000 miles (3,218 km) to the southeast.
Tristan da Cunha is the largest island in an archipelago made up of two other main islands and a couple of small ones. In order of size, these are Inaccessible Island, Nightingale Island, Central Island and Stoltenhoff Island. All are located approximately 20 miles (32 km) apart, the arrangement of the three largest resembling an isosceles triangle pointing northeastward, with the largest, Tristan da Cunha, serving as the main apex . The two smaller ones are located right next to Nightingale Island. Another, uninhabited Gough Island, lies 245 miles (395 km) to the southeast.
Tristan da Cunha itself is 121 square miles (201 square km) in area, similar to a large city like Paris, although most of the island is mountainous and uninhabited. The only flat area is the location of Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, the capital and only real city. Locally it is known as “the settlement”. Tristan da Cunha has a population of approximately 272 people, with 80 families sharing only eight surnames. Due to the limited size of their gene pool, hereditary health problems, such as asthma and glaucoma, are more common among the inhabitants.
The inhabitants of the island live from fishing and growing vegetables on small plots of land. Its economy is built around its canned shrimp factory and the export of distinctive stamps and coins. Due to the lack of an airstrip, transportation to and from Tristan da Cunha is difficult and must be done by boat. The island is close to the trade route for ships traveling from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Cape Town in South Africa.
The highest point is a volcano, Queen Mary’s Peak, with an elevation of 6,765 feet (2,062m). In 1961 it erupted, pouring lava down one side of the island and forcing the evacuation of all UK residents. Most of the residents returned in 1963 after a Royal Society expedition sent there to investigate reported little damage to the main settlement.
In 1958, as part of Operation Argus, the United States detonated an atomic bomb in the area. This was not made public until May 2006.
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