Ascension Island: discovery history, location and territorial affiliation

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Ascension Island is not a favorite tourist destination. It would be more correct to say that tourists on this small piece of land are a rarity. Even lovers of "wild" recreation do not come here, they do not favor expensive hotels and crowded beaches. This will seem strange to many, because the geographical location of the island is very interesting. But the nature of the island is simple and unpretentious, there is simply no riot of colors and exotic plants here. The tourist infrastructure is not developed. So what are tourists to do there? And anyway, what do we know about this place?

Location of the island

Ascension Island is volcanic. Location - south of the Atlantic Ocean. On the maps you can see that it is located about halfway from South America to Africa. From Ascension Island to the West African coast - about 1600 km.

The area of the island is not large at all, it is about 91 km. The coastline is without strong breaks, but with a large number of small bays and bays. AtThe coast has many underwater rocks and shallows.

The story that began with the discovery

What is interesting about Ascension Island? The history of its discovery began in 1501. It was then that the Portuguese Juan da Nova discovered an unknown land on his way. The traveler sailed to India and did not want to waste time exploring a desert island. The only thing he did was display his find in the ship's logbook.

In 1503, an uninhabited island was in the way of another Portuguese - Alphonse d'Albuquerque. "Rediscoverer" was more curious. He landed on a new island, examined its territory and named it in honor of the Christian holiday of the Ascension of the Lord.

For centuries after its discovery, Ascension Island remained officially uninhabited. Pirates sometimes came here to replenish fresh water supplies. By the way, the source was found by the robbers, who crashed near the island. It was the ship of the famous British pirate William Dampier.

Settling the island

Permanent residents on the island appeared in 1815. During this period, Great Britain decided to equip Ascension Island with a small military outpost. It was assumed that the garrison would be very small, but even with it there were financial problems. There was simply no money in the corresponding budget item. Then the British went to the trick. In the documents, they began to call the island "HMS Ascension", and the funding of the garrison flowed from another budget item.

In 1821, the military base on Ascension Island was expanded, British ships began to enter here. In addition, patrol ships were replenished here, which prevented the slave traders from delivering "human goods".

In the last century, a space observation base was placed on the territory of Ascension Island. To date, the staff of this base is the population of the island. The average number, according to data from a decade ago, is slightly more than 1,000 people who serve one of the antennas of the satellite navigation system.

Territorial affiliation

In fact, Ascension Island is part of the British Overseas Territories. This term appeared in 2002 and replaced the term "British Dependent Territories". This overseas territory unites Saint Helena, Ascension Island and the Tristan da Cunha archipelago. Education is subject to the authority of the British Crown, but has self-government and wide autonomy.

The administrative center of the overseas territory is located on the island of Saint Helena. The autonomy is so wide that each member of the formation has its own emblems and flags. Ascension Island and nearby territories (Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha) are not officially part of the UK. However, this country is their main economic partner. And the development of education is entirely due to the ingenuity of the British government. All symbols of the overseas territories are approved and approved by the British Crown.

Description: coat of arms of the islandAscension flag

Until 2012, Ascension Island used the symbols of the United Kingdom when necessary. Although one part of this formation, namely the island of St. Helena, the flag and coat of arms appeared in 1984. Tristan da Cunha had an official coat of arms in 2002.

Since 2012, the flag of Ascension Island has been a blue panel with the flag of Great Britain at the flagstaff. In the opposite corner is the coat of arms of Ascension Island. It is an image of one of the attractions of the island - the Green Mountain. On the sides are depicted two green turtles holding a shield with images of three albatrosses against the background of the ocean and sky. The design of the coat of arms was developed taking into account the wishes of the inhabitants of the island. In honor of the approval of the flag and coat of arms, the British Mint minted a commemorative coin "The New Emblem of Ascension Island".

Note to the tourist: climate and nature

Despite the military base and the lack of tourist infrastructure, guests of the island will find something to see. The main attraction is the space tracking station. Small tourist groups are allowed here by special order. The rest of the guests admire the majestic antennas from afar. There is a small military museum on the island, worthy of the attention of tourists.

Guests arrive on the island by RAF aircraft once a week and by Royal Mail ship once a month. The main stream of tourists is private yachts that come to replenish supplies.

OnOn the island, you can climb to the highest point - Green Mountain. Here, despite the volcanic rocks, flowers and ferns have grown. Many of the plants and insects are found only in this part of the world, which may be of interest to connoisseurs. The coast is inhabited by large sea green turtles and birds.