The Loneliest Place on Earth - Tristan Da Cunha

The little known Tristan da Cunha is quite possibly14 th August 1816. A garrison aboard HMS
the remotest inhabited place on earth. While partsFalmouth took possession of the island on behalf
of the Amazon and New Guinea are home toof King George III. From the military garrison
tribes that have had little to no contact with thegrew tiny population that also came to include
outside world, these places and people arewhalers and various other settlers. Today only six
relatively easy to get to compared to the tinysurnames survive on the Island, which has to
island of Tristan da Cunha and its hardy locals.make you wonder what goes on between the
This volcanic island is home to 250 Britishresidents.
residents living in literally the middle of nowhere.To get to the islands from Australia would mean
Like England is to Australia, its a small and coldhoping a flight to South Africa and then hitching a
island that's a mission to get to.ride on one of the fishing boats that are the
The islands tourism board uses the slogan "farislands life line (or via a private boat). Despite semi
from the maddening crowd". This is a bit of anregular contact with these and other boats there,
understatement. So where is it?as you would expect, constant shortages of
Tristan da Cunha sits in the South Atlantic 2,816essentials like medical supplies.
kilometres from the nearest land, South Africa,Tristan'slocation means that the ocean conditions
and 3,360 kilometres (2,090 mi) from Southare often so bad that no boats can land for
America. It is part of the British overseasmonths on end. If that all sounds appealing then a
territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristanvisit here will means you will have bragging rights
da Cunha.when someone argues that they have been
First spotted by the Portuguese in the 1500's, the'everywhere'. Everywhere would rarely include this
island was formally annexed by the British on theforgotten island.