» Tristan da Cunha Island, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas

There you are iconic a view of the "most remote inhabited island in the world" Tristan da Cunha with the characteristic volcanic cone, cloud and albatross in the foreground - as it is depicted in illustrations for Jules Verne's books and T-shirts "I've been to Tristan da Cunha and all I' ve got this lousy t-shirt" (only the bird needs to be made bigger)

Of course, Tristan da Cunha is only the second farthest from other human habitation after, but the absence of an airport completely changes the situation: the fastest way to get there is by ship, which happens once every 2 months

Any post about Tristan da Cunha should contain a piece of a map of the South Atlantic with infographics with distances to and - to show what it is far away island:

The capital of Edinburgh of the seven seas is the first and only city on the island, 260 people, about 100 houses. Top right - Queen Mary Peak, highest mountain throughout the South Atlantic. A small, not yet very overgrown hill to the left of the city is their home volcano, which tried to destroy the city in 1961, but destroyed only a bay with a port suitable for entry by ocean-going ships. Since then, the landing on Tristan da Cunho has been a great adventure: no ship is larger than a longboat or a small yacht in new port will not fit

As soon as an ocean ship stops at a roadstead, it is attacked by the zodiacs of the islanders. Today is a very, very nice day, so the ship lowered the ramp

It sways with waves, and at the highest point the ladder hangs 2-3 meters above the water, and at the bottom it plunges under the water, but it’s easy to disembark: 2 sailors RMS they carefully grab the pensioner by the armpits, wait for a lull and quietly throw him to two Tristan boatmen in the zodiac

They say it's worse to get into a boat using a rope ladder and climbing belay, and another 30% passenger ships(one of those with a schedule, and after Tristan must go somewhere further) stay at Tristan’s for a couple of days and move on: the weather does not allow disembarking passengers at all

Suitcases are passed between the ship and the zodiacs one at a time on ropes

Calshot Harbor

Great Britain annexed Tristan da Cunha to its own (right there, in the South Atlantic, about 3,200 kilometers away), but direct sea communication between the islands is rare and the governor of St. Helena appears on the island once every 3-5 years. This is exactly our case: the governor is with us on RMS and therefore, in the passenger list there are not only the usual titles of reservation systems - MR, MRS, DOC - but also GOV. No cell phone service, not even Digicel

Edinburgh of the Seven Seas

Edinburgh of the Seven Seas on the left, 1961 Volcano on the right:

Edinburgh of the Seven Seas:

The recognizable central square with its shield and sign, replicated in a million photographs, was ruined by an electrical cabinet - they are building street lighting in the city and nothing is spared, nothing

All other human cities will be north of Edinburgh, but signs point east - blown away by the prevailing wind

Edinburgh lives in conditions of a constant strong, mournful wind from west to east or vice versa - Muscovites would have been blown off their feet long ago, but here everyone has somehow adapted. They are grown as windbreaks New Zealand linen- grass 3 human height. A plant considered an invasive weed in a neighboring area is finally doing some good here.

Dry clothes on a sunny wall that protects from the wind

If you remove the body from the pickup truck, it will turn into a greenhouse with giant plants (because it’s warm, there’s no wind and the sheep can’t eat this grass)

City water supply against the background of wind barriers made of New Zealand flax:

For a garage, the main thing is to protect it from the wind, not from precipitation:

Snow in this city, despite the harsh appearance environment, does not happen: the record low temperature is +5°C (higher than in the much more northern and more tropical). But here’s something else: the 37th parallel of southern latitude (see Children of Captain Grant) Tristan da Cunha corresponds to the latitude of Sicily. A person here gets sunburned in an hour in the summer, but the plants and climate, due to the cooling influence of the roaring forties, are similar to the Kolyma or Karelian summer

A flag was raised over the residence of the governor of St. Helena (for the first time in 3 years, for 2 days) - because the governor came with us to RMS

Urbanists have worked on Edinburgh - the city is implementing a large-scale program of installing street lights

In a couple of months it will be cool, but for now, after sunset, you can’t see a damn thing in the city and tourists walk around highlighting the paths with smartphones that are useless for anything else

It's getting dark

Lobsters

The island economy is structured much the same way: government jobs and small incomes from hardcore tourists. But Tristan is lucky: there are lobsters here and the Japanese aliens are willing to pay dearly for them - it pays for production and expensive logistics. Every day, when weather permits (~70 days a year), they go out to sea, catch lobsters and process them at the lobster factory.

It is not possible to gut the entire catch in real time, so the difference is stored alive in an aquarium workshop similar to the Matrix

Lobster fishing boats in the port: between exits they must be pulled ashore: the wind is unpredictable and strong, it can break

Local lobsters eat only their tails: to satisfy the special needs of aliens, the tails are packaged either in rings (in the picture) or flattened, all of this is bought and consumed in very different ways

Packaging of tailings in plastic bags

Sorting by weight

Aliens love beautiful presentation of food, so antennae and inedible shells are collected and placed in boxes - so that the cook can decorate the dish

We live in a fascinating world. There are still many secrets on the planet to be discovered. The more a person studies the world around him, the more curious he becomes. There is one very interesting place– remote group volcanic islands in the South Atlantic called Tristan da Cunha. It's also called main island archipelago. This place is ideal for those who want to take a break from the noisy city life.

Tristan da Cunha is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world

It was not until 1767 that a complete exploration of the island of Tristan was carried out. The crew of the French corvette stayed on it for three days. And the island remained uninhabited until the 19th century.

In 1810, a man named Jonathan Lambert arrived from Massachusetts and settled on the island. He immediately demanded ownership of the archipelago. He arrived in December of that year with two other men and claimed the islands as his own, calling them the Recuperation Islands. However, two years later, only Thomas Curry remained on the island. He was a farmer. In 1816, the archipelago was annexed by the United Kingdom.

The only settlement of Tristana da Cunha is located in the north of the island, and is called Edinburgh of the Seven Seas

Photo: Brian Gratwicke/flickr (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

The islands are home to volcanoes that have erupted in the past. So, when large eruptions, landslides and an earthquake occurred in 1961, the entire population left for England. The men reportedly eventually grew tired of city life and the English weather, and returned to Tristan when experts confirmed that the danger had passed.

Islands of Tristan da Cunha

(from the series "On the outskirts of the planet")

Tristan da Cunha(eng. Tristan da Cunha) - archipelago in the southern part Atlantic Ocean, part of the British Overseas Territory consisting of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.

Along with Easter Island and the Pitcairn Islands, it is one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth. Located 2816 km from South Africa, 3360 km from South America and 2161 km south of St. Helena.

The main island of the archipelago, also called Tristan da Cunha and the only island with a permanent population (37 degrees 06 minutes S, 12 degrees 16 minutes W) has an area of ​​98 sq. km. There are several more more or less large islands: Inaccessible - 14 sq. km; Nightingale (Nightingale) - 3.4 sq. km; Middle - 0.1 sq. km; Stoltenhoff - sq. km; Gough (Diego Alvarez) - 68 sq. km, as well as many small islands and rocks. Since 1956, the South African weather station has been located on a section of Gough Island leased from the British. Gough, Nightingale and Impregnable Islands have been declared nature reserves wildlife.

View of the archipelago from space

Tristan da Cunha is an island of volcanic origin that appeared about 1 million years ago. The island is located highest point archipelago - Queen Mary (Queen Mary) peak, 2055 meters above sea level. In winter, the top of the mountain is covered with snow. Queen Mary is a volcano that has erupted several times since the island's discovery.

The main island of the archipelago is Tristan da Cunha

The island of Tristan da Cunha has a rocky coast and mountainous terrain, there are numerous ravines that local residents called “gorges” (“gulches”). The only territory of the island adapted for permanent human life is the northern and northwestern part. You can also land there from the sea without much risk.

The climate of the islands is temperate oceanic, rainy and windy. On Gough Island average monthly temperature ranges from +9 to +14.5, on the northern islands - from +11 to +17.5. Annual precipitation ranges from 2000 mm in the north to 2500 mm on Gough Island.

On the islands of Tristan da Cunha there are no mammals (with the exception of seals on the shore and mice brought by humans to Gough Island), reptiles, and butterflies. But the remoteness of the islands from the mainland affected the animal and vegetable world. There are many endemic plants on the islands (or growing on several islands of the archipelago); the smallest flightless bird on Earth, the “Inaccessible Island Shepherd” or “Tristan Shepherd,” has been preserved on Inaccessible Island. The islands are also home to the crested penguin.

Domestic animals and livestock of the inhabitants of the island of Tristan da Cunha do not run wild and do not pose a great danger to nature.

It is believed that northern islands The archipelago was discovered in 1506 by the Portuguese Tristan (Trishtan) da Cunha, but he did not land on the shore. Gough Island was discovered by the English navigator Charles Gough in 1731. The first landing was carried out by French sailors - members of the crew of the frigate "L'Heure du Berger" in 1767.

The first settler on the island was Massachusetts-born American Jonathan Lambert in 1810, who died in 1812. And in 1815, Great Britain annexed the islands. Before the opening of the Suez Canal, the islands were of strategic importance for travel from Europe and East America to the Indian Ocean.

In 1906, a volcanic eruption occurred, resulting in the death of livestock and potato plantations. People were resettled in Cape Town. In 1961, an eruption damaged a fish factory and residents were evacuated to St. Helena or the UK. When the factory was restored, the residents returned home.

The island of Tristan da Cunha is the only island in the archipelago with a permanent population. The main settlement of the island is Edinburgh of the Seven Seas in the northwestern part of the island. Other settlements are temporary and are scientific bases and meteorological stations. The population of the island according to the 2008 census is 284 people.

The Administrator (Sean Burns), appointed by the Governor (Michael Clancy) of St. Helena, is the head of the Island Council, consisting of eleven people: eight elected, three appointed. At least one member of the Council must be a woman. The Council member who receives the majority of votes in the election is appointed Chief Islander.

The islands are not connected by regular passenger flights to the mainland. However, the island can be reached by fishing boats and scientific ships. Fishing boats from South Africa go to the island of Tristan da Cunha once a month, they are equipped with places for passengers. Expeditions use helicopter transport.

The islands were visited by the heroes of Jules Verne's novel "The Children of Captain Grant" during their trip around the world along the 37th parallel in search of the missing expedition of the Scottish navigator.

Illustration copyright NASA Image caption The area of ​​Tristan da Cunha is 98 square kilometers, but most these kilometers are occupied by the steep slopes of the volcano

What do the collective farm, Napoleon Bonaparte and the Royal Institute of British Architects have in common?

Island of Tristan da Cunha.

This island is unique. British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean. The most isolated settlement on Earth. To the nearest inhabited island(St. Helena) - 2 thousand kilometers of open ocean.

Illustration copyright RIBA Image caption All land on Tristan da Cunha is jointly owned by the islanders

Why Napoleon? Because the island was annexed by Britain in 1816 to prevent the French from helping Napoleon escape from exile on the "neighboring" island of St. Helena.

Why collective farm? Because when Great Britain stopped being afraid of French conspiracies and withdrew its troops from the island, some people decided to stay there. And, according to the principles established by the colony's founder, William Glass, in 1817, all land on the island is owned jointly by the islanders.

Illustration copyright Getty Image caption Until the end of the 60s, houses on Tristan da Cunha looked like this

Local residents grow potatoes and raise sheep, the number of which is strictly controlled by the entire community, so that, God forbid, the sheep do not eat all the grass, or the owners of the sheep do not get too rich. When the weather permits, people go out to sea to fish. In addition, all residents, to the extent of their physical abilities, participate in community service– renovating a government building, or laying a “road”.

Why British architects? Because the islanders and their local government asked the Royal Institute of British Architects to help them reorganize all the local architecture and infrastructure so that the island would be even more self-sufficient than it is today.

Illustration copyright Thinkstock Image caption Tristan da Cunha has neither port nor airport

The population of the island is about 280 people. All of them are descendants of the first settlers who arrived here 200 years ago from England, Holland and Italy. The island's inhabitants have only seven surnames - Glass, Green, Hagan, Lavarello, Repetto, Rogers and Swain.

Tristanians speak a dialect in English, close to the dialect of the north of England at the beginning of the 19th century.

Illustration copyright Thinkstock Image caption Among other things, Tristan da Cunha receives income from the sale of stamps. There are more penguins on the island than people

Since the entire island belongs to the community as a whole, outsiders are prohibited from settling there. Britain sends a teacher and sometimes a policeman to the island - but only for three years, and these migrants are not considered members of the community and have no right to work the land, raise sheep or go to sea to fish.

The only connection with the outside world is the very slow Internet, which appeared there only a few years ago, and a ship that calls here about once a month, depending on the weather, from Cape Town.

Illustration copyright Thinkstock Image caption Tristan da Cunha has its own flag and its own government

There is no port on the island, as a result, when the ship does arrive from Cape Town, the entire adult population drops their business, gets into boats, and goes to receive the cargo.

This is what prompted the islanders to turn to architects for help in order to create a more independent economy and infrastructure - they are too dependent on imported diesel fuel and want to switch to renewable energy sources.

Illustration copyright Thierry Assef Image caption The capital of the island, Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, is called "the village" by locals.

All the islanders live in the only one on the island locality, which is also the capital of Tristan da Cunha. No other capital in the world has a more romantic name - Edinburgh of the Seven Seas (although locals simply call it “The Settlement”).

The island is governed by the governor of St. Helena, who sends an administrator to Tristan da Cunha every three years. He, in turn, relies on the local “parliament” - a council of five people. The leader of the "parliament" is not officially called the Prime Minister, but the Chief Islander.

Illustration copyright Getty Image caption This is what the "supermarket" looks like in Edinburgh of the Seven Seas

Tristan da Cunha represents the tip active volcano, protruding above sea level. The island's area is 98 square kilometers, but most of these kilometers are occupied by the steep slopes of the volcano.

It would seem - who would want to stay on a tiny island, almost completely cut off from the rest of the world, where all people are related to each other?

Image caption Fishing is one of the main local industries

But, as it turned out, almost everything.

In 1961, the Tristan da Cunha volcano began to erupt, and the British government evacuated the entire local population to England. Everyone who heard at least something about the living conditions on the island was convinced that, having tasted the benefits of real civilization, the islanders would remain in England.

Illustration copyright Getty Image caption Evacuation of residents of Tristan da Cunha

But it was not there. Evacuation and life in a foreign land among people who did not understand the idea of ​​​​joint collective farming only further united the community, and after a couple of years almost all Tristanians insisted on being returned home to their native potato gardens, sheep and waiting for a ship from Cape Town.

Illustration copyright Getty Image caption Residents of Tristan da Cunha survived only two years of life in evacuation in England

British architects now hope to install solar panels on Tristan da Cunha, rebuild local houses, many of which look more like shacks, help with the collection drinking water and in general, do everything so that even on this almost forgotten island it is possible to live as it should be in the 21st century.

Well, or at least in the twentieth century.