Tristan da Cunha, colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of
volcanic islands in the south
Atlantic Ocean. It is the
most remote inhabited
archipelago in the world, lying approximately 1,732 miles (2,787 km) off the coast of
Cape Town in
South Africa, 1,514 miles (2,437 km) from
Saint Helena and 2,487 miles (4,002 km) off the coast of the
Falkland Islands.
The territory consists of the inhabited island, Tristan da Cunha, which has a diameter of roughly 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) and an area of 98 square kilometres (38 sq mi); the wildlife reserves of
Gough Island and
Inaccessible Island; and the smaller, uninhabited
Nightingale Islands. As of October 2018, the main island has 250 permanent inhabitants, who all carry
British Overseas Territories citizenship. The other islands are uninhabited, except for the
South African personnel of a weather station on Gough Island.
Tristan da Cunha is a
British Overseas Territory with its own constitution. There is no
airstrip on the main island; the only way of travelling in and out of Tristan is by boat, a six-day trip from
South Africa.
