If a few days ago we showed you the best island in the world, Providenciales, today we want to talk to you again about another island territory that, although it has some things in common with this place belonging to the Turks and Caicos Islands, it has many others that differentiate it. We are talking about the Island of Tristan da Cunha , also known as Isla de Acuña, considered the most inaccessible inhabited island on the planet.
Belonging to the United Kingdom, this overseas territory is located in the Atlantic Ocean, specifically 2,816 kilometers from Cape Town , which translates into 6 or 7 days sailing. Yes! Yes! As you are reading it! Would you like to know more details about this curious place located in the middle of the ocean? Well, be very attentive to what we tell you below!
Location
As we told you, Tristan da Cunha is a British overseas archipelago made up of the island of the same name and the uninhabited islands of Inaccessible and Nightingale, located 40 and 38 kilometers respectively. Together with Gough Island and Gonçalo Alvares Island, it forms part of the island of Santa Helena, the closest inhabited territory (2,173 kilometers to the north). The only town in Tristan da Cunha is Edinburgh of the Seven Seas . But the remoteness is not the only factor that makes this island a practically inaccessible place. And it is also necessary to bear in mind that it is surrounded by high cliffs. In addition, they do not have an airport, so you can only get here by boat.
History
As we mentioned at the beginning, Tirstan da Cunha is the most inaccessible inhabited place in the world. And we do not say it, but it is registered as such in the Guinness Book of Records. Despite this fact, this island has been inhabited since 1816, when it was annexed by the British Crown to prevent the French from using it as a base. Of course, since it was discovered in 1506 by the Portuguese Tristao da Cunha until then, the territory was used by ships to make a stopover on their journeys.
Population
Since it was annexed by the United Kingdom, Tristan da Cunha has had a stable population of about 280 inhabitants. Of course, at the beginning of the 60s the entire population had to be evicted due to the eruption of the Pico de la Reina María, which is the largest birthday on the island. After two years had passed, most of the inhabitants returned to their homes. Currently 268 people live here, divided into 80 families . We have been struck by the fact that most of the marriages are made up of inhabitants of the same island, so there are only 8 different surnames in the entire territory. As a consequence, some pathologies are frequent, such as glaucoma or asthma. Of course, other diseases that occur in the rest of the world do not exist here, such as colds.
An energy efficient town
The inhabitants of Tristan da Cunha are mainly dedicated to agriculture and fishing, although they also act as guides and sell souvenirs to tourists who rarely come to the place. Of course, they enjoy a grocery store, a local radio station, a cafe, a pub, a soccer field, a golf course, a swimming pool, a tennis court and a video store. In addition, it appears that to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the town, the inhabitants want to build energy-efficient houses. Then we leave you with our gallery , where you will find more images of this curious island located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Do not miss it!
